Woman Was Allegedly Photographed While Dismembering Murder Victim’s Body
A newly released court document revealed disturbing details about a string of crimes that ended in a standoff at a New Jersey home earlier this month, including that one woman involved took photos with a man’s dismembered corpse.
Elizabeth C. Mascarelli, 29, was charged on July 13 with offenses including hindering apprehension and desecration of human remains, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said. Mascarelli allegedly helped Maxwell Johnston, 35, hide for several days inside the Toms River, New Jersey home where she was living, after Johnson killed his girlfriend, 25-year-old Gabriella Caroleo, HuffPost previously reported.
Mascarelli was arrested after a July 5 police standoff, along with three alleged accomplices: Danielle Bolstad, 42, Jared Krysiak, 34, and Jarred Palumbo, 36. Johnston killed himself before he could be taken into custody, authorities said.
As authorities investigated Caroleo’s death, they discovered the remains of another person in a separate home in Jackson ― 56-year-old Kerry Rollason, who owned the home Johnson was hiding in. Rollason’s body had been dismembered and stuffed into bags.
A forensic search of Mascarelli’s phone revealed photographs of her and Johnston next to a “clearly deceased” Rollason, whose legs had been amputated, according to the newly released arrest affidavit. The picture shows Mascarelli holding a hatchet in the body’s chest, per the affidavit.
Additional images discovered during the search show Mascarelli, Johnston, and Bolstad in a wooded area. In one, Johnston holds a large ax and an “active” burn barrel is seen behind him, according to the affidavit. An unspecified item with possible bloodstains can be seen protruding from the barrel.
Palumbo told detectives that