Murder confession blocked by marriage? Las Vegas judge to decide

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Should spousal privilege be lifted so a possible murder confession can be admitted in court?

That's what prosecutors are asking a judge, according to new court documents.

This all stems from an incident in November 2024. Las Vegas police received a report from the officer manager of an HOA who was concerned that she hadn't seen resident 68-year-old Monique Gilbertson in at least a week, that Gilbertson lived alone with her dogs and birds, and an unknown vehicle was parked in front of her house.

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When officers arrived at the home, court documents state officers knocked on the front door for over 45 minutes with no response. However, after they saw several dogs and excrement, they contacted a locksmith to remove the lock on the outer screen door and Daniel/Jazzlyn Roush opened the inner door. Officers also discovered Gina Lopez inside the home.

As officers searched the home, court records state officers looked "anywhere a person could be or a body could be." They found a locked deep storage chest freezer that was covered in "blankets, towels, and junk." The locksmith was called to open it and officers found Gilbertson wrapped in a tarp.

"It appeared to LVMPD officers that Gilbertson had been there for quite some time as her body was completely frozen, showing signs of frostbite, and smelled as if the body had begun to decompose," court records state in part.

In addition to finding Gilbertson, records state police also found methamphetamine, fentanyl pills, fentanyl powder and various drug paraphernalia.

During an interview with police, the officer manager told officers about a conversation she had with Gilbertson. Gilbertson said she met a transgender person, later identified as Roush, at Home Depot and she wanted to help Roush by letting them stay with her, records state.

"Within one week of Roush moving in, problems emerged. Gilbertson complained Roush was a filthy/messy person, and many of Gilbertson's belongings mysteriously went missing. Drug paraphernalia also started to appear throughout the house," court records read in part. "Gilbertson decided to contact a lawyer friend about eviction. Ultimately, Gilbertson kicked Roush out and changed the locks."

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That's a different story than what Roush told police.

According to court records, Roush told officers that Gilbertson was "someone who used cocaine, opiates, and pain pills, and was also taking Ozempic." They also said while Gilbertson briefly threatened to evict them, they had resolved those issues.

Roush said a week before Halloween, he returned to the house and found Gilbertson "slumped back in a chair in the 'bird room' with her head and arms hanging limp, rigid to the touch." They also claimed there was powder and a straw on a nearby dining table, which Roush assumed was cocaine. Rather than call 911, Roush "panicked" and "claimed to be extremely afraid that, as someone who had recently moved in and had conflicts with Gilbertson, Roush would be suspected of causing Gilbertson's death."

They also state the next day, his wife, later identified as Lopez, wrapped Gilbertson in a tarp, emptied the freezer and placed the body inside. Roush also told officers they locked the freezer and cleaned up the drug paraphernalia, according to court records.

In an interview with detectives, Lopez told officers she had been married to Roush for about 16 years, and while they weren't divorced, they had not been living together for years. She said Roush had come back into her life a month before Gilbertson's death.

Lopez told officers that she and Roush used methamphetamine and that Roush dealt drugs as their "sole means to make money and had been supplying Gilbertson with cocaine and fentanyl."

While Lopez initially told officers that she had nothing to do with placing Gilbertson in the freezer, court records show officers found Lopez's DNA on a towel inside the freezer and Gilbertson's identification was in Lopez's purse.

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According to records, detectives "also confronted Lopez with anonymous tips alleging that she had not only supplied drugs to Gilbertson but had also smothered her." Lopez initially denied those claims but disclosed that "Roush had told her, during the car ride to the residence on the night of the arrest, that Gilbertson had been overdosing in her chair and that Roush had smothered her with a pillow because she panicked and did not want to be blamed for the overdose."

Lopez then admitted to grabbing Gilbertson by the ankles while Roush took her under the arms and that together they placed Gilbertson into the freezer," records state.

The question is if those admissions will be allowed in court due to spousal privilege.

In Nevada, spousal privilege protects married couples from being forced to testify against each other, either through testimony or protecting private, confidential conversations during marriage. There are certain exceptions. For example, spouses suing each other in civil court cases and juvenile or family court proceedings to protect children from abuse or neglect.

Prosecutors are asking the court to rule that spousal privilege doesn't apply in this case because while the two are legally married, "they have been irreconcilably separated for numerous years." They also argue spousal privilege does not apply because they fall under the crime-fraud exception, which allows such communications.

Court records show that Judge Tierra Jones has set an evidentiary hearing to discuss the matter on Thursday.