Chilling bodycam footage captured the moment Las Vegas police discovered a murdered woman’s body stuffed inside a freezer during a welfare check.
Authorities arrived at Monique Gilbertson’s home in the 500 block of Tres Piedras Road on November 6 after a worried loved one notified them that they hadn’t heard from her for two weeks.
Upon arrival, police knocked on the door, but when nobody answered, they had a locksmith gain entry inside.
As the door unlocked, Gilbertson’s transgender roommate Daniel Roush, 37, who also goes by Jazlynn, suddenly appeared and told cops that he had ‘rights’ to the property and that Gilbertson wasn’t there.
After 15 minutes of talking to police, Roush finally let cops inside the home, where they soon discovered a locked white chest freezer in a utility room that was covered in pieces of clothing.
Police advised the locksmith to open the freezer, as a tarp was found inside with Gilbertson’s dead body underneath.
Gilbertson, 68, was found ‘folded up’ inside the freezer and appeared to have been ‘frozen for some time,’ Clark County Deputy District Attorney Jame Puccinelli said on January 10, 8 News Now reported.
Puccunelli also said that ‘massive amounts of fentanyl’ were found in Gilbertson’s system, adding that prosecutors suspect Roush fed her the deadly drug in a bid to ‘go into her house and take over her life.’
Harrowing bodycam footage captured the moment Las Vegas police officers discovered a woman’s body ‘folded up’ inside of a freezer
Officers discovered the body of Monique Gilbertson, 68, on November 6 after arriving at her home in response to a welfare check
While officers tried to make entry into the home, Gilbertson’s transgender roommate, Daniel Roush, 37, also known as Jazlynn, appeared and said he hadn’t seen her
Gilbertson, who met Roush at a Home Depot, offered him a place to stay in exchange for doing projects around the house for her, according to an arrest report obtained by Fox 5.
At the time of his arrest, Roush claimed that he paid Gilbertson’s portion of rent while living there, and that she often took pain pills.
‘Monique enjoyed her Kahlua drinks and took pain pills, but Jazlynn didn’t know what else Monique took because they didn’t party,’ Roush told authorities.
He also said that they enjoyed using meth, but that Gilbertson preferred cocaine and opioids.
Police uncovered messages between Roush and Gilbertson that indicated that she wanted him to leave her home.
Messages between the roommates indicated that Gilbertson wanted Roush out of her home as court documents revealed she suspected he might have been stealing from her.
‘Good luck to you. I just can’t live with anybody, I’m so sorry,’ one message, obtained by 8 News Now, read.
‘I helped you for way longer than I thought I would so just think of it as a gift. So, you have to find another person,’ Gilbertson told Roush.
Gilbertson met Roush (pictured) at Home Depot earlier last year and offered him a place to stay in exchange for doing project around the house for her
Upon checking the home, officers came across a large white freezer chest with clothing on top of it. When they cracked it open, they found Gilbertson’s body
When police first attempted to gain entry into the home in November, Roush said she wasn’t inside.
‘She’s not here right now. Monique’s not here right now,’ he kept telling officers.
Once they made their way into her home and found Gilbertson’s frozen body, they immediately arrested Roush.
‘There is a person in here, go get him in handcuffs,’ an officer was heard saying.
As they searched the property, authorities found white powder residue in the home. Roush later identified it as fentanyl.
Gilbertson had 400 nanograms of fentanyl per millimeter in her system at the time of her death, which is 200 times the amount that could kill someone.
‘Daniel Roush gave Monique Gilbertson massive amounts of fentanyl in an effort to cause her to be deceased so he could go into her house and take over her life, essentially,’ Puccinelli said.
Gilbertson had 400 nanograms of fentanyl per millimeter in her system at the time of her death, which is 200 times the amount that could kill someone
‘I put her in the icebox because I didn’t know what to do,’ Roush told police after claiming he found her dead
Investigators believe that she died around October 22 and has been in the freezer ever since.
After her body was found, Roush shared conflicting stories with police on what happened to her.
He first told them that he found her near a drug-filled table with her head back, and then he said he found her dead in a wooden chair in the room filled with pet birds.
Roush also said he chose not to call 911 right away because he was unsure of what to do with her body.
‘I put her in the icebox because I didn’t know what to do,’ he told police.
The police report also noted Gilbertson’s missing phone, which Roush said was stolen by a friend and later sold.
Roush’s wife, Gina Lopez, who was at the home at the time of the gruesome discovery, told police that she had no idea Gilbertson’s body was in the freezer.
During another interview days later, Lopez admitted that she knew the body was in there for at least four days. She also said that she helped Roush buy fentanyl and laced cocaine.
Roush pleaded not guilty in court on November 13. A Clark County grand jury indicted him on January 10, meaning his case will now bypass justice court and go right to district court
The couple were both arrested and charged in connection to Gilbertson’s death.
Roush pleaded not guilty in court on November 13. He has since been charged with murder, abuse of an elder and multiple drug-related charges, including administering drugs in the commission of a felony, court records reviewed by DailyMail.com show.
A Clark County grand jury indicted him on January 10, meaning his case will now bypass justice court and go right to district court.
He is set to be arraigned on Thursday. Lopez is listed as a co-defendant in the criminal case but she does not face murder charges, records show.
