MACABRE
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Police thought they were handling a routine drug bust at a ritzy hotel until they opened a large container and found a woman's body preserved on a bed of dry ice.
In the days since the macabre discovery, the tale has only gotten more bizarre.
Acquaintances said Monique Trepp, a 33-year-old aspiring model, died a year ago and that her boyfriend, a convicted drug dealer, held a wake for her at the hotel where he lived for three years. Authorities said she had been dead "a while," but released few other details.
The person who likely knows more, Trepp's 46-year-old boyfriend, Stephen David Royds, made a cryptic statement from jail, where he's being held on $1 million bail on felony drug charges and a warrant from a 2002 conviction for selling cocaine.
Authorities have not said whether they will prosecute Royds for keeping her body or not reporting her death. An autopsy found no signs of homicide. Toxicology reports were pending, but authorities have said Trepp likely overdosed on drugs.
"Right now, we only have sufficient evidence to support the drug-related charges," said Susan Schroeder, spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney.
Silence surrounding the case has baffled those who know the couple. The pair acted strange at times, but were polite and engaging, said Arturo Flores, general manager of Tapas, a restaurant the couple frequented.
A driver would chauffeur them a few hundred yards from the Fairmont Hotel across the street to Tapas, where Royds and Trepp drank liberally, paid cash and tipped waiters with lottery tickets.
"We saw these people on a daily basis. Just because you see they are weird doesn't mean they're bad people," Flores said.
Police had been tailing Royds for some time when they arrested him last week. An informant said he was selling cocaine on the beach, Sgt. Evan Sailor said.
Trepp's body was found stuffed in a giant Rubbermaid container packed with dry ice in Royds' executive suite, which goes for up to $400 per night.
A hotel spokeswoman said Royds had negotiated a discounted rate because of his extended stay, but did not elaborate.
Christmas presents and drug paraphernalia were scattered across the room, said Dennis Conway, assistant district attorney.
Royds used multiple aliases, including Mel Proffitt, a variation on the name of Kevin Spacey's character in the 1987 TV series "Wiseguy," about a drug kingpin, Conway said.
In a jailhouse interview, the New Zealand native told The Orange County Register that "everything that happened was for religious reasons." He repeated the sentence four times, but said no more.
Royds' public defender did not speak after a court appearance Monday and did not return phone messages left by The Associated Press.
Flores said Royds told wait staff at Tapas that Trepp died a year ago and he held a wake in her honor.
"He was quiet, kept to himself, but then he got social again," Flores said.
Royds often engaged staff and customers in long conversations about the Iraq war, the economy and politics, Flores said.
Trepp never shared stories from her past and would talk mostly about fashion and cosmetics.
Mike Smith, the property manager at Trepp's apartment complex, said her rent checks bounced every couple of months and that she was working as a stripper.
"She was real cute, a blue-eyed blonde, a typical beach girl," Smith said. "Whenever I talked to her, she was always going to get a better job and she was going to go back to school. She was always kind of running between the raindrops."
Smith said he believes he saw Trepp as recently as November, when he went to her apartment to report another bad check.
Calls to her younger brother, Allen Trepp, were not returned and her grandmother, Ramona Trepp, told the AP she hadn't seen Trepp for 20 years.
Royds' father, John Royds, told The New Zealand Herald he hadn't seen his son in 20 years, when he moved to the U.S. to pursue downhill skiing. He said they hadn't spoken in nearly eight years.
Sometime after his arrival, Royds got into drug trouble. In 2002, he pleaded guilty to charges of possessing and selling cocaine. He was awaiting sentencing when he disappeared.
In 2005, Trepp was charged with several felonies in Colorado, including possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, court records show. But she disappeared after a man posted bail for her, attorney Mark S. Rubinstein said.
There were still outstanding warrants for her arrest when her body was discovered.
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NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Police thought they were handling a routine drug bust at a ritzy hotel until they opened a large container and found a woman's body preserved on a bed of dry ice.
In the days since the macabre discovery, the tale has only gotten more bizarre.
Acquaintances said Monique Trepp, a 33-year-old aspiring model, died a year ago and that her boyfriend, a convicted drug dealer, held a wake for her at the hotel where he lived for three years. Authorities said she had been dead "a while," but released few other details.
The person who likely knows more, Trepp's 46-year-old boyfriend, Stephen David Royds, made a cryptic statement from jail, where he's being held on $1 million bail on felony drug charges and a warrant from a 2002 conviction for selling cocaine.
Authorities have not said whether they will prosecute Royds for keeping her body or not reporting her death. An autopsy found no signs of homicide. Toxicology reports were pending, but authorities have said Trepp likely overdosed on drugs.
"Right now, we only have sufficient evidence to support the drug-related charges," said Susan Schroeder, spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney.
Silence surrounding the case has baffled those who know the couple. The pair acted strange at times, but were polite and engaging, said Arturo Flores, general manager of Tapas, a restaurant the couple frequented.
A driver would chauffeur them a few hundred yards from the Fairmont Hotel across the street to Tapas, where Royds and Trepp drank liberally, paid cash and tipped waiters with lottery tickets.
"We saw these people on a daily basis. Just because you see they are weird doesn't mean they're bad people," Flores said.
Police had been tailing Royds for some time when they arrested him last week. An informant said he was selling cocaine on the beach, Sgt. Evan Sailor said.
Trepp's body was found stuffed in a giant Rubbermaid container packed with dry ice in Royds' executive suite, which goes for up to $400 per night.
A hotel spokeswoman said Royds had negotiated a discounted rate because of his extended stay, but did not elaborate.
Christmas presents and drug paraphernalia were scattered across the room, said Dennis Conway, assistant district attorney.
Royds used multiple aliases, including Mel Proffitt, a variation on the name of Kevin Spacey's character in the 1987 TV series "Wiseguy," about a drug kingpin, Conway said.
In a jailhouse interview, the New Zealand native told The Orange County Register that "everything that happened was for religious reasons." He repeated the sentence four times, but said no more.
Royds' public defender did not speak after a court appearance Monday and did not return phone messages left by The Associated Press.
Flores said Royds told wait staff at Tapas that Trepp died a year ago and he held a wake in her honor.
"He was quiet, kept to himself, but then he got social again," Flores said.
Royds often engaged staff and customers in long conversations about the Iraq war, the economy and politics, Flores said.
Trepp never shared stories from her past and would talk mostly about fashion and cosmetics.
Mike Smith, the property manager at Trepp's apartment complex, said her rent checks bounced every couple of months and that she was working as a stripper.
"She was real cute, a blue-eyed blonde, a typical beach girl," Smith said. "Whenever I talked to her, she was always going to get a better job and she was going to go back to school. She was always kind of running between the raindrops."
Smith said he believes he saw Trepp as recently as November, when he went to her apartment to report another bad check.
Calls to her younger brother, Allen Trepp, were not returned and her grandmother, Ramona Trepp, told the AP she hadn't seen Trepp for 20 years.
Royds' father, John Royds, told The New Zealand Herald he hadn't seen his son in 20 years, when he moved to the U.S. to pursue downhill skiing. He said they hadn't spoken in nearly eight years.
Sometime after his arrival, Royds got into drug trouble. In 2002, he pleaded guilty to charges of possessing and selling cocaine. He was awaiting sentencing when he disappeared.
In 2005, Trepp was charged with several felonies in Colorado, including possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, court records show. But she disappeared after a man posted bail for her, attorney Mark S. Rubinstein said.
There were still outstanding warrants for her arrest when her body was discovered.
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