Seaside Heights woman, 29, three others indicted in 'house of terror' murder

TOMS RIVER−A 29-year-old Seaside Heights woman was indicted Thursday on murder and other charges in the slaying of a 56-year-old Toms River man.

Those charges are part of a case that included the slaying of a 25-year-old woman, a standoff with police that ended in the suicide of the man who killed her and an effort by a group of drug-addicted co-conspirators to get rid of human remains, authorities said.

Elizabeth Mascarelli faces charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the slaying of Kerry Rollason, who was shot and beaten to death around July 3 at his home on Ravenwood Drive in Toms River, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Other charges against her are hindering her apprehension, desecration of human remains and a slew of weapon offenses pertaining to guns and a hatchet.

Mascarelli was initially charged with harboring a fugitive from justice.

Authorities said she kept Maxwell Johnston, 35, in the Ravenswood Drive home for four days after he killed Gabriella Caroleo, 25, of Seaside Heights. Johnston shot Caroleo in the torso in Manchester on June 27. Before she died, she was able to call 911 and identify Johnston, her ex-boyfriend, as her killer.

Gabriella Carolea, 25, of Seaside Heights, shown with her nephew Geno Souders at a recent family gathering. Maxwell A. Johnston, 35, of Manchester, is accused of gunning down the young mother on June 27, 2024. Johnston was still on the loose on July 3, 2024.
Gabriella Carolea, 25, of Seaside Heights, shown with her nephew Geno Souders at a recent family gathering. Maxwell A. Johnston, 35, of Manchester, is accused of gunning down the young mother on June 27, 2024. Johnston was still on the loose on July 3, 2024.

After Manchester police, the Major Crime Unit of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and the U.S. Marshals Service descended on the home on Ravenwood Drive on July 5, Danielle Bolstad, 42, of Barnegat, Jared Krysiak, 34, of Brick Township, and Jared Palumbo, 36, of Manchester, came out.

Several hours later Mascarelli emerged.

Once inside, investigators found Johnston dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head and evidence that another murder had taken place there. Detectives discovered a defaced .22 caliber pistol and a 9mm handgun in the residence, Billhimer said.

Authorities did not become aware of Rollason's murder until July 11, when detectives examined Mascarelli’s cell phone and found photos of Rollason, clearly dead, with his legs amputated from his torso, and Mascarelli holding a hatchet that was lodged in his chest, a prosecutor said during a detention hearing for one of the defendants.

Authorities found Rollason's body parts the next day in a wooded area behind a home on Toms River Road in Jackson, nearby an axe, shovels and other tools.

Maxwell A. Johnston, 35, of Manchester, ended his life on July 5, 2024 in a standoff with law enforcement. After being implicated in the murder of Gabriella Caroleo, 25, of Seaside Heights on June 27, 2024, Johnston became a fugitive.
Maxwell A. Johnston, 35, of Manchester, ended his life on July 5, 2024 in a standoff with law enforcement. After being implicated in the murder of Gabriella Caroleo, 25, of Seaside Heights on June 27, 2024, Johnston became a fugitive.

“Although our investigation originally led us to believe that Johnston murdered Mr. Rollason at the Ravenwood Drive residence, our continuing thorough and extensive investigation has revealed that Mascarelli conspired with Johnston and was, in fact, the person responsible for Mr. Rollason’s death,” Billhimer said.

Bolstad, Krysiak and Palumbo were each indicted on charges of hindering apprehension and desecration and disturbing of human remains.

Attorneys for Mascarelli and Palumbo declined comment. An attorney for Bolstad could not be reached.

An attorney for Krysiak, Danny Ljungberg, said at a detention hearing for his client in July that Krysiak did not dismember Rollason’s body but cleaned up the crime scene.

"He was essentially trying to keep it together, to make sure he was not the next victim and that none of the other people there were the next victims,'' Ljungberg said of Krysiak, adding “"I think we can all agree this was essentially a house of terror.”

Ken Serrano covers crime, breaking news and investigations. Reach him at 732-643-4029 or at kserrano@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Seaside Heights woman, others indicted in 'house of terror' slaying