Suspect in death of Las Vegas woman found in freezer pleads not guilty

The attorney for the suspect accused in the death of a woman found in a freezer entered a not guilty plea on behalf of his client in court Wednesday.

Police discovered the body of 68-year-old Monique Gilbertson last Wednesday at a 55-plus mobile home park in the east Las Vegas Valley.

Daniel Roush, 37, was arrested in connection with Gilbertson’s death and faces a charge of second-degree murder. A Metropolitan Police Department arrest report said Roush also uses the name Jazlynn Roush.

At a brief hearing before Justice of the Peace Eric Goodman, Chief Deputy Public Defender Robert O’Brien said Roush pleads not guilty.

The defense plans to request bail in the future, according to O’Brien.

Attorneys have not yet received a coroner’s report for Gilbertson’s death.

Police said Gilbertson and Roush met at Home Depot. Gilbertson invited Roush to come live with her, according to the report, but she got upset about Roush’s cleanliness, kicked Roush out and changed the locks.

Roush’s wife, Gina Roush, told police that her husband was a drug dealer and had sold drugs to Gilbertson, a report alleged.

She also told police that her husband had given Gilbertson narcotics laced with fentanyl and that she overdosed right in front of her husband, an allegation which Roush denied, though Roush did express regret for not reporting the death immediately, Metro said.

Roush told police he found Gilbertson dead and thought she’d taken drugs, according to the report.

“I put her in the icebox, because I didn’t know what to do,” police said Roush told them. “Until I could figure it out, I had her in the icebox.”

Police said they found blood at the scene near the freezer.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.