The American Beauty Killer

A seemingly wonderful marriage has addiction, betrayal and murder brewing beneath its surface. 

Season 1 Episode 2 - The American Beauty Killer from California Crime with Amy Jean, a true crime podcast based out of California.

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Transcript

Speaker 1 0:00

It was fall of 2000, a week after Halloween, when emergency responders found a particularly unusual scene. Inside a bedroom of an apparent overdose, several red rose petals are strewn about the floor. In the scattered rose petals, a bed with a body laying next to a wedding photo taken less than two years earlier. This is a case of the American beauty killer. Greetings, this is California Crime with Amy Jean. I'm your host out of California, Amy Jean. On this podcast, we will be covering true crime stories bi-weekly. I wanted to take a moment to thank you if you listened to our last episode, The Kidnapping of Danielle Van Dam. It truly means a lot. And also, thank you for listening today. Earlier, I opened the episode with the crime scene, but now I'm going to take us back in time. Kristen Margaret Rossom was born October 25th, 1976, in Memphis, Tennessee, growing up in Claremont, California. Her father, Ralph Rossom, was a constitutional law professor and an advisor to former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Her mother, Constance, was a former high-powered ad executive and current marketing professor. While growing up, Kristen had a charming life. She was a successful child model and studied ballet. Friends of hers remember Kristen as an intelligent, goody chooshoose who kept to herself. At 14, Kristen danced at the Sugar Plum Ferry in the Nutcracker with the Orange County Ballet Company. Once after her triumphant performance, an injury would destroy her career, taking her down an unlikely path. In 1991, the prominent family moved to Richmond, Virginia, where Kristen attended a private hall girls' college prep school, St. Catharines. It was here where Kristen's life would change forever. After sustaining multiple injuries dancing, it was clear that Kristen's ballet aspirations were over. Depressed, she began to partake in underage drinking and smoking. Typical juvenile rebellious habits, apart from one, methamphetamine use. By 1995, the 18-year-old's life had been in a downward spiral. Without telling her parents, Kristen left college and traveled to San Diego to hide a relapse of her drug use. In February of that year, while alone on a pedestrian bridge at the U.S. Mexican border near Tijuana, Kristen bumps into a stranger. The person she runs into is a good-looking dark-haired man named Greg, a current college student. Accompanied by his two brothers, the men invite Kristen to spend the day with them in Mexico. She accepts. For the rest of the night, the four hang out, ending when Kristen goes home with them. Days after meeting, Kristen, the beautiful blonde, moves into Greg, the French-American San Diego apartment. Gregory de Villers was born November 12, 1973, in Park Ridge, Illinois. The son of a renowned Los Angeles plastic surgeon, Greg was described as kind, big-hearted, compassionate, and honest. After Kristen moves in, Greg helps her quit using drugs. She was reported to have said, quote, he was my angel because he saved me, end quote. In the fall of 1995, she re-enrolls in college, majoring in chemistry. She avoids drugs and things are looking up for the couple. Greg graduates and begins his career at a biotech company. Kristen lands a part-time job at the San Diego Medical Examiner's Office. By the end of the year, they're engaged. Later, a family friend commented that Kristen, quote, always seemed to be looking up at Greg with these big eyes, end quote. On June 5th, 1999, Kristen 22 and Greg 25 are married. Kristen is adorned in pearls and an embroidered empire-cut wedding dress. Greg is trimmed in a tux fastened with a green and black striped bow tie. In footage taken from their wedding video, Greg addresses a room of guests, gushing about his new bride. Quote, Kristen is the most wonderful person I have ever met. She's incredible in so many ways, so kind and caring. I actually just can't wait to spend the rest of my life with her. End quote. After the wedding, they settle into an apartment on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. In May of 2000, Kristen graduates from college with honors and lands a full-time position as a toxicologist at the medical examiner's office. During this time, Greg becomes a manager at his company. But beneath the surface, addiction and betrayal is brewing. On November 6th, 2000, around 9:20 p.m., a frantic 911 call is made. Upon arrival, paramedics find Greg unconscious in his bed, surrounded by fresh rose petals, a wedding photo, and a crumpled diary later found to belong to Kristen. Greg is swiftly taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital. An hour after the 911 call was made, at 1016 p.m., Greg is declared dead. Kristen initially cooperated with police, explaining to campus police officer Bob Jones that she believes Greg intentionally overdosed on old drugs she had purchased in Mexico. Jones begins searching for the source container that held the pills. He finds none. He wonders, where was the substance that was used? Police question why Greg intentionally overdosed in an attempt to take his own life. Kristen reveals they were having marital issues, which made Greg depressed. She also states that Greg called out sick that morning. After a day out, she came home around 8:30 p.m. to find Greg sleeping. Not wanting to disturb him, she grabs a bite to eat and takes a bath. When Jones asks about the rose petals, Kristen states that the rose petals came from a bouquet of long-stemmed roses Greg had given her a couple weeks prior for her birthday. He had picked roses as they were her favorite flower and were an ode to her favorite movie, American Beauty. In the movie American Beauty, there are several scenes that depict actress Mina Sewari surrounded by roses, including one of her lying in a bed of rose petals. Jerome De Villers, one of Greg's brothers, contacts police days after his death. He informs police that he does not believe Greg's death is an intentional overdose. He explains that Greg rarely consumed pills, even Tylenol for pain. Greg was optimistic about his future and had plans to go on a fishing trip. He also shares some startling news. Back in 1995, when Kristen initially moved in with Greg, Jerome had been living with them and noticed some odd occurrences. Jewelry, particularly family jewelry, had not only gone missing, but had been found in Kristen's purse. The situation had become so bad, Jerome eventually moved out. And then Jerome drops a bombshell. Kristen is having an affair with her boss, Dr. Michael Robertson. After these revelations, detectives open a new investigation. They learn that the male companion with Kristen on the night of Greg's death was no other than Dr. Robertson. They also received startling reports from staff members from the San Diego Examiner's office. After staff allowed Kristen to go in with Greg's body, she is seen embracing and kissing Dr. Robertson. As if all of this isn't suspicious enough, detectives discover that the night Greg died, Kristen donated his skin and eyes. During autopsies, skin can show needle marks or other signs of drug use. Fluid in the eyes can indicate what substances were ingested and when. After the autopsy, Kristen immediately had Greg's remains cremated. The de Villers demand more toxicological tests and an independent autopsy on Greg. The test cannot be performed at the San Diego County Medical Examiner's office. Since Kristen would not be able to perform the tests, the job would be assigned to Dr. Robertson, so the tests are sent to an independent laboratory. The independent laboratory not only finds non-lethal doses of cholanzopam and oxycodone in Greg's system, they also find a lethal dose of fentanyl. Just to clarify, in the early 2000s, fentanyl wasn't a widely known drug. It mostly just stayed in surgical settings, with the general public never having heard of it before. As a toxicologist, Kristen would have known that the medical examiner's office didn't routinely check for fentanyl. Also, as a toxicologist, she would have had access to the painkiller more powerful than morphine. Police order a search warrant of the medical examiner's office where Kristen and Robertson worked. Please come through impound records. They also question Robertson. He states that he and Kristen became fond of each other shortly after he started working at the lab, but denies a relationship. During the search of the medical examiner's office, drawing clues are uncovered. In a desk, police find drug paraphernalia with residue on it. After police test for DNA on the pipe found at the desk, it comes back as a match to Kristen and tests positive for meth. Shortly afterwards, police find an empty vial of fentanyl and find out that clonzopam and oxycodon are missing in the office. That's not all. Evidence continues to grow. Police learned that not only was Kristen in charge of the drug inventory logbook, but she and Dr. Robertson traveled together to a forensic conference weeks before Greg's death. Not only that, but also that they had shared a room together for the week. And one of the topics at the conference? Fentanyl. As the investigation continues, Kristen is fired from her job at the medical examiner's office for lying about her past drug use, her current drug use, and her affair with Dr. Robertson. Dr. Robertson is also fired for prior knowledge of Kristen's drug use and not reporting it. Greg's death goes from overdose to murder investigation. When police bring Kristen in for questioning, they notice she is exceptionally thin and can't sit still. They realize that she is probably under the influence. They begin their interrogation. Police asks Kristen what soured the marriage, to which she replies that she was feeling suffocated by Greg, that she didn't need his constant clinging. When questioned about her drug use, she admits she relapsed but is working with a counselor. Police continue to build their case. They confiscate almost 20 computers, including Dr. Robertson's laptop. It takes police thousands of hours to go through all the hard drives. The search uncovers torrid messages between Kristen and Dr. Robertson. They wrote about destiny, being soulmates, heaven and earth, and about the forces that brought them together. Investigators also find dozens of documents in Dr. Robertson's files pertaining to fentanyl. With the mind-blowing amount of evidence, after seven months into the murder investigation, Lisa arrests Kristen as she is coming home from work. They charge her with murder. Dr. Robertson is uncharged, denies involvement in Greg's death, and returns to Australia. In January 2002, after spending six months in jail, Kristen's parents posted her $1.25 million bail. Testimony for the murder trial began in October of 2002. Deputy District Attorney Dave Hendron gave a possible timeline of the crime. He theorized that on November 5th, Kristen and Greg had an argument. After finding out that Kristen was having an affair, Greg threatened to expose her drug use to the medical examiner's office if she didn't leave her job. On November 6th, Kristen calls out sick for Greg. Sometime early in the morning, it is suspected that Kristen drugged Greg with the oxycote on and Colonzo Pam, putting him into a coma. At 12:41 p.m., Kristen goes shopping for groceries and pays in cash. Unbeknownst to her, this is her unraveling. Prosecutors explain that at the time of Kristen's arrest, seven months after Greg's death, a Vaughn's grocery store discount card was confiscated by police. Vaughn's keeps a record of every purchase made at the time of transaction. Vaughn's records show that Kristen purchased chicken soup, cold medicine, and a single rose. A rose that could have been used to stage the American beauty crime scene. It creates doubt in one of Kristen's stories she told police. Greg didn't use an old birthday bouquet to scatter rose petals around the room. Kristen intentionally went grocery shopping to make it look as though she was caring for Greg, but also to purchase the rose that would make it look like he took his own life. The defense claims that Greg took his own life because he was so despondent over their marital issues, including the affair Kristen was having with her boss, Dr. Robertson, the former chief toxicologist. After eight hours of deliberation, on November 12th, what would have been Greg's 29th birthday, the jury came back with their verdict. Guilty of first-degree murder and a special circumstance of murder by poison for the November 6, 2000 death of her husband, Gregory De Villars. Dr. Robertson said in 2002, he was shocked by Rossom's conviction. He stated, quote, I still don't know how she could have anything to do with his death, and I hope it is in a case of an innocent person being convicted. Having said that, I believe in fair punishment for a crime. If she did do it, then she should be punished. End quote. Her conviction made her eligible for the death penalty, but prosecutors chose instead to seek a life term. In December 2002, the sentencing phase began. Greg's youngest brother Bertrand read, quote, You killed Greg, and by doing so, you changed my life forever, end quote. He reminded Kristen that Greg rescued her from addiction. Quote, your reward for him was to push him off the cliff when he wasn't looking. Your betrayal was the most despicable act imaginable. You are the only person in the world I hate, end quote. Marie de Villers stated her son, quote, paid the ultimate price for his goodness. The image we have of his murder will never leave our minds. Kristen never turned to acknowledge the De Villers. Ralph and Constance Rossom also made a statement through their attorney, quote, We are horrified by the verdict and the sentence. Our innocent daughter has been wrongly convicted. We know Kristen did not murder Greg. End quote. Kristen wept during most of the sentencing hearing. On December 15th, Judge John A. Duffy sentences Kristen, 26, to life in prison without parole. She left the courtroom without making a statement. In 2006, the DeVillers filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Kristen and San Diego County. A jury awarded the family $6 million in damages and $14 million in punitive damages. As part of that suit, Kristen is not allowed to profit from her story. As of 2014, it is reported that Dr. Michael Robertson now runs a forensic consulting service in Australia. I do remember this case as it happened. It was a story that was sensationalized all over the news. It was the first time people had really ever heard of the powerful drug Fentanyl. In 2010, I read the book Dunly American Beauty, written by John Glatt, and I remember it being absolutely chilling. There was a quote from, I believe, one of Greg's friends who said he remembered soon after Greg died, Kristen threw away a pair of his favorite Nike slippers. And seeing those slippers in the trash can crushed him because he knew how much Greg loved them. I think it really shows how Kristen thought of Greg. Well, I'm done with them. I'll just throw them away. Thank you so much for listening. This is episode number two. We're looking forward to giving you another story in two weeks on June 26th. I need to give another special thanks to my husband and sound engineer Josh for helping me record and edit.