N.J. woman pleads guilty to murder of man found dismembered in trash bags

A New Jersey woman accused of killing a man, whose body was found chopped up and stuffed in trash bags behind a house in Toms River, has pleaded guilty to his murder, prosecutors announced.

As part of a plea deal, Elizabeth Mascarelli confessed to killing 56-year-old Kelly Rollason. In turn, prosecutors recommend she be sentenced to 30 years in prison without the possibility of parole, according to a statement from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.

She’s one of four people facing charges in connection with Rollason’s slaying.

Rollason’s remains were uncovered on July 12 as authorities investigated a separate murder, that of 25-year-old Gabriella Caroleo. Police said she was killed in Manchester Township on June 27 by a man named Maxwell Johnson. They managed to track him down about a week later, on July 11, hiding out at Rollason’s home along Ravenwood Drive in Toms River.

An hours-long standoff followed, ending only after Johnston turned a firearm on himself and died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Police said four other people were in the home at the time, including Jared Krysiak, who was also recently offered a plea deal. He allegedly left the residence amid the standoff along with Danielle Bolstad and Jarred Palumbo, and all three of them are facing charges of hindering apprehension and desecration of human remains.

Mascarelli was also arrested on the scene. Police said they only became aware of Rollason’s death after they examined her phone, where they found photos of the deceased victim  with his legs amputated from his torso, and Mascarelli holding a hatchet. They initially believed Johnston to be his killer, but later concluded it was Mascarelli who shot Rollason to death.

“Although Mascarelli was originally facing more significant charges with greater sentencing exposure,” Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said in a statement, “this plea agreement has been entered into in the interests of justice and with the approval of the victim’s next of kin.”