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2:08 pm Sat Nov 23
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Roman Gokhman <email address not displayed>
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Roman Gokhman wrote on the message board: > Wife's note offers possible motive in husband's slaying > Woman says gambling, drugs led to demise of their relationship > By Roman Gokhman, STAFF WRITER > Article Last Updated: 04/22/2007 02:40:21 AM PDT > > > SAN RAMON This is the story of Bill and Jill. It has all the elements > of a classic film noir. Set in Las Vegas, it involves a professional > poker player down on his luck, drug use, the illusion of wealth, a hit > man, grand theft, murder and a botched suicide. > > We know this story, as told by accused killer Jill Rockcastle, because > she wrote a 10-page suicide note and e-mailed it to friends, family > and others before she was found unconscious from a suicide attempt in > a central California bed-and-breakfast. > > "If for some reason I fail in this," the note concluded, "at least > this will guarantee my conviction and I will have to pay everyday for > my disgusting life." > > Rockcastle's story is not over yet. The courts can take months to > years. But to tell it, one should start with facts, the most important > of which is the alleged murder of her 44-year-old poker player > husband, William Gustafik, on April 13. > > The scene > > The Panorama Towers is a high-rise condo building just off the Vegas > Strip. It is the home of celebrities Pamela Anderson, Leonardo > DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire. > > At 7:30 p.m. on April 13, Las Vegas police received an anonymous tip > they would find a body in a condo on the 23rd floor. > > When they arrived, they found Gustafik dead in the master bedroom, > Homicide Lt. Lew Roberts said. > > A kitchen knife was found in a trash bin. Based on evidence found at > the scene, they immediately suspected 49-year-old Rockcastle as the > suspect. Investigators determined that during an argument Rockcastle > stabbed Gustafik to death, cleaned up after herself and left. > > The next day, police were contacted by her attorney and they hoped > Rockcastle would come back to Las Vegas to turn herself in. But "it > didn't happen that way," Roberts said. > > On Monday, the suspect e-mailed a suicide note to family members and > business associates. Police also got a copy. > > Rockcastle and Gustafik own a house, reportedly one of several, in San > Ramon. Acting on the note, Las Vegas police called San Ramon police > and asked them to go to the house on Britannia Drive and either arrest > her or transport her to the hospital, if necessary. > > San Ramon Sgt. Eric Webb said police broke down the door to the house. > But she was not even there. > > Then, Las Vegas Police received another call telling them that > Rockcastle was staying at Petit Soleil Bed and Breakfast in San Luis > Obispo. Police from that city went to her room and found her > unconscious from an apparent suicide attempt. She was taken to a > hospital, where she remained for several days before being arrested > Wednesday. She is now awaiting extradition to Las Vegas. > > But before Rockcastle attempted suicide, she sent an e-mail to various > people, and this is confirmed by police, with the big explanation. And > if one really wants to understand what happened, one needs to go to > the beginning, according to the note. > > Bill and Jill > > In what appears to be a splice from an e-mail from Rockcastle's > attorney, whose name was redacted out on the note, to police that was > included in the note, the writer says that sometime after 2000, > Gustafik graduated from chiropractor school. During this time, he > divorced his previous wife, Joanne. > > He met Rockcastle six months after his divorce and the two were > friends for a couple of years and married in 2005. > > "This is my final statement done to help all the people affected by > (our) actions," begins the suicide note. "When Bill and I met, we > discovered that we both had the ability to get pretty much anything we > wanted out of people." > > From the beginning of their relationship, she wrote, Gustafik wanted > to be the best, richest and most popular person in the room. Although > he made a good living, that wasn't enough. > > From the time Rockcastle knew Gustafik, he was involved in a hotly > contested custody battle with his ex-wife over their daughter, now 9. > > People who know the suspect, meanwhile, said she was well off > financially because of an inheritance. She worked in the real estate > business, according to the note and people who know her. It is not > clear if she was licensed. > > When Gustafik was going through a custody evaluation and was required > to provide two years of tax returns, he allegedly asked Rockcastle to > lower his income in the books so he would have to pay less child > support. > > Rockcastle said in the note that at first she refused, but he > threatened her and she finally gave in. It worked, and his child > support was set at $1,800 instead of $4,000, the note said. > > "This when our partnership in crime was launched. Our first act of > joint deception. We began living without rules and not afraid of > consequence. Bill told me if we were ever caught, he would have enough > money to buy us out of trouble." > > She wrote that Gustafik opened an office in Antioch and had her fix > the books to increase their profit. She said he also began to have her > finance real estate deals for some of his patients so the income would > go to her instead of him. > > They made a lot of money this way and that's when they began going to > Las Vegas together and he began to play poker, the note says. > > In February 2004, the note said, she helped her husband purchase an > office building in San Ramon as a limited liability corporation, which > did not affect his personal credit. > > "He viewed this as such a coo (sic) and was so impressed with my > ability to 'pull one off.'" > > The note said that her husband would often get off the phone with a > client or patient and be proud of "how much he got out of that guy." > > "He was so impressed with his self net worth and began spending > excessively. He wanted to live his status. He wanted to be visibly > rich. ... He wanted to live the high rollers life and become a > professional player on TV. Getting on TV was an obsession. He wanted > to be recognized publicly." > > They had the money, so they both had plastic surgery and "physical > enhancements" done, she wrote. > > "I did so many things to my body to be his 'trophy.' ... I liked it. I > wanted it." > > The poker player > > Gustafik decided to play poker full time, she wrote, so he gave > control of his offices to other chiropractors. > > In his first professional poker tournament, he allegedly lost $10,000 > in four hours. > > "But the rush of doing it was now what he needed. Bill began flying > through money. He played online, he played constantly and he played as > if there was no end to the money." > > All the while, the note says, he continued the custody battle with his > ex-wife. In the portion of the note that is an e-mail between an > attorney and police, the writer says "there is an extensive paper > trail of the problems, threats and issues." > > The e-mail listed five people, including therapists and counselors, > who reportedly witnessed him behaving violently toward his ex-wife or > Rockcastle. > > The names included Oakland therapist Erica Meyers and Gustafik's > former attorney, Vera Hartford of Pleasanton. The Tri-Valley Herald > could not reach any of the five on Thursday. > > One of the climaxes in this battle, Rockcastle wrote, occurred just > before Christmas in 2005, when Gustafik told her he had hired a hit > man to kill his ex-wife and her mother. > > "Two years ago, he did plan to have you and your mom killed," said a > portion of the note addressed to the ex-wife. "He paid a guy to do it > while we had (the daughter) in Las Vegas for our Christmas time." > > Apparently, the hit man took the money and ran. > > Through gambling, the couple was losing most of their money. "We were > living this fake life of millionaires. But we weren't. We were going > broke. This is when some of the schemes were hatched." > > The note said the scams usually involved selling fake real estate > deals. Several people interviewed said they were victims of these > deals, but that they believe Gustafik was not directly involved with > them. > > The victims > > A south Peninsula resident who asked for anonymity said he was one of > the victims. He and his wife met the couple on the poker circuit more > than a year ago. "We became good friends with them, and did things > with them, got to know them really well," the man said. "They met our > families. She was really nice." > > He said they came across as very wealthy, and three months ago offered > him a deal he couldn't refuse on a condo at Panorama Towers. > Rockcastle told him she and Gustafik already owned one condo and were > buying another. In reality, they were guests at the condo where they > were staying. > > "She says, 'Would you like to go in halves with us? We'll hold on to > (the money), we'll sign a contract,' which I did," he said. "I have > the contract. I wrote her a check for ... $60,000." > > He said he continued to speak to the couple regularly up until a > couple of weeks ago. He was not worried when his check was cashed > because he knew the condos had not been completed at the time. > > The first sign he saw that something was wrong came Monday morning in > the e-mail from Rockcastle. > > The man said the couple also cheated his brother and Rockcastle's best > friend. > > He said that he has never seen Gustafik be violent or controlling with > Rockcastle, for all he knows, he said, she ran the scams without him, > but, he said, at least one of her allegations is correct. > > "I do know the husband was on cocaine," he said. "I know that for a > fact. He went to poker tournaments wired and coke'd out." > > Another friend of both the victim and suspect of many years who did > not want her friends to know she was talking to the press, said > Rockcastle was the sole scammer in the family, although Gustafik > probably knew what she was doing. > > "He was a good guy," the woman said. "Even if he did bad things with > money, he did not deserve this." > > The woman, along with longtime family friend Jim Rivera, portrayed an > unfavorable picture of the suspect, saying she also had a cocaine > habit and was very aggressive. > > Everyone in their circle of friends has been talking about the murder, > and Rockcastle's confession, the woman said. People keep coming > forward saying they were cheated. The most costly scam she has heard > of was for $300,000. > > "She's been doing this for a long time," the woman said. "Everyone > knew it, but they just tried to steer clear of her. No one did > anything about it. > > "Her cons started a long time before (Gustafik) got into the picture," > she said. "She lured him into the relationship with money and he > enjoyed the lifestyle." > > She said she had never seen the victim acting violently. > > Rivera, who said he was Gustafik's closest friend since the two were > 18, said the suspect's story was inconsistent with the man he knew. > > "It's pretty disturbing that people are having this impression of > Bill," he said. > > He said the fighting Gustafik had been doing with his ex-wife was not > over the custody of his daughter, but how much child support he had to > pay. That's why hiring a hit man to kill her did not make sense. > > "Bill was drawn into the vacations, nice cars, expensive watches, all > the houses," Rivera said. "He was her puppet." > > The confrontation > > Gustafik continued to lose money playing poker, Rockcastle wrote. He > had won a total of $165,597 since he became a pro. But according to > the suicide note, he lost $200,000 between January and April 2007. > > The note says their checks began to bounce and the bills for their > "toys" went to collections. Among those toys, Rivera said, were a $6.5 > million house and $2.5 million yacht in Florida. > > "They were defaulting on everything," he said. > > One day, Gustafik allegedly told her that a friend who had given him > money to hold needed it back, but it was gone. > > "I went into shock," Rockcastle wrote. "I don't know what happened to > me but I changed. I became convinced I had to stop him somehow." > > The homicide suspect wrote in the suicide note that Gustafik left for > the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas the day before he was stabbed to > death. Before he left, he instructed Rockcastle, allegedly, to pay his > buy-ins for a tournament. She was also supposed to bring $30,000 for > him to play with, according to the e-mail between the attorney and > police. > > She was unsuccessful in prepaying the buy-in and he had not had enough > money either, the note said. When she arrived at their condo, he was > upset at her. > > They went to sleep after a fight. > > Her attorney said in his statement to police that Gustafik continued > his demand in the morning that Rockcastle give him $7,500, but she > said she would not. He became aggressive, threatening to kill both his > ex-wife and her, and she decided to leave. > > According to the attorney, Gustafik blocked the exit and forced her > into the kitchen, where she grabbed a knife and maneuvered into the > bedroom. She was afraid he would kill her, the note said. > > "Unable to retreat, (she) began striking at him with both hands. He > went down, and she realized, for the first time, that she still had > the knife in her hand, and that she had inflicted 3 (to) 4 wounds in > his upper chest area." > > In a panic, she cleaned up the apartment, washed the sheets, "cleaned > around so no one had to" and she left the apartment. > > "I fully intend at this time to end this entire tragic string of > events by ending my life as well," Rockcastle wrote. > > Las Vegas Lt. Roberts said his department has started to receive > reports of fraud by the couple, but has yet to open up a separate > investigations. The murder investigation comes first, he said. > > "We have not looked at the fraud angle," he said. "We have to take a > serious look." > > Roman Gokhman can be reached at (925) 416-4849 or at > rgokhman@trivalleyherald.com.
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