A New Jersey man has confessed to his role in the grisly murder and dismemberment of a local landlord, whose body parts were later found stuffed inside trash bags behind a house in Toms River.
Jared Krysiak pleaded guilty to a charge of desecration of human remains in connection with brutal slaying of Kerry Rollason, according to a statement released by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday.
Authorities discovered the remains of 57-year-old Rollason on July 12 as they investigated a separate murder allegedly carried out by Maxwell Johnston. Police believe he killed 25-year-old Gabriella Caroleo on June 27 in Manchester Township, and then managed to evade law enforcement in the days that followed.
Officers eventually discovered Johnston hiding out at Rollason’s home along Ravenwood Drive in Toms River, police said. Another four other people were also inside the residence, including 34-year-old Krysiak. The prosecutors office said he fled amid a subsequent standoff with law enforcement alongside Danielle Bolstad and Jarred Palumbo. They were all eventually taken into custody.
The fourth person, Elizabeth Mascarelli, eventually exited the home and surrendered to authorities. She was arrested on the scene.
Inside, authorities found Johnston dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A further search of the property also turned up garbage bags filled with several body parts as well as additional evidence that has since been linked to Rollason’s murder.
A post-mortem examination conducted by the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the victim to be Rollason — the owner of the property — and determined his cause of death to be multiple gunshot wounds as well as blunt force trauma.
Earlier this month, Mascarelli pleaded guilty to murdering Rollason, her landlord, as part of a plea deal. In turn, prosecutors recommend she be sentenced to 30 years in prison without the possibility of parole.
Charges remain pending against Bolstad and Palumbo, authorities said.