Monroe police hope pill evidence leads to slaying suspect

MONROE — Detectives continue to face vexing questions in the March stabbing death of Jacqueline Rothenbuhler outside her Monroe home.

At the top of the list: Who did it?

Monroe police hope that unravelling one mystery discovered at the crime scene may help lead them to Rothenbuhler’s killer.

Law officers found dozens of pills of varying colors on the ground near the victim’s left hand. They want to know whose pills those were and how they got there.

No pill container was found at the crime scene.

“The detectives have looked at these pills to try to get some kind of connection and really haven’t come up with anything,” Monroe Police Department spokeswoman Debbie Willis said. “We found no evidence of anything like these pills in the house.”

There were dozens of pills scattered near the body, too many pills to carry in two hands, Willis said.

Rothenbuhler, 59, was found dead about 4 a.m. March 18 in the back yard along W. Maple Street. Her throat had been cut.

She last was reported seen about 5 p.m. the afternoon before. At the time, she was cooking corned beef and cabbage for a Saint Patrick’s Day dinner.

Detectives searched the house and the property for clues. They pulled Rothenbuhler’s phone records, canvassed the neighborhood and interviewed family and friends.

They are waiting on laboratory test results from potential evidence collected, Willis said.

At the same time, detectives are circulating fliers with photographs and details about the pills, hoping it will jog peoples’ memories. The fliers describe four kinds of pills and how they are typically used.

The pills include:

•Loperamide hydrochloride, which is used to treat diarrhea and also in detox centers;

Fluoxetine hydrochloride, also known as Prozac, which is used to treat depression, anxiety and stress;

Amantadine hydrocholoride, which is used to treat Parkinson’s disease but also can be used to treat the flu and cocaine withdrawal;

An unknown red capsule that might be a generic cold medicine or fish oil.

“We are hoping to get the information about this out to find someone who may have known someone who might have been detoxing,” Willis said. “We are just hoping that someone will say, ‘Oh I think I know something about that.’ We still believe somebody knows something and we just haven’t got to that person with the right information. Sometimes people have information they don’t understand may lead to a break in the case.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Monroe Police Department at 360-794-6300. Anonymous information may be left on the department’s tip line at 360-863-4600.

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order halting work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.