Erin Gilbert murder: Update on case of nurse found dead in Merrylands, Sydney

The killer of a nurse found dying on the floor of her apartment is still on the run – as her husband reveals he doesn’t want to leave the unit they shared to “stay close to her.”

Nicholas Gilbert, 38, returned home to his apartment in Merrylands, western Sydney, around 11:30 pm on Easter Sunday, April 9, to find his wife Erin Gilbert, 42, choking on her own blood.

Mr. Gilbert frantically tried to save her life before calling an ambulance, but she died before paramedics arrived.

He spent nearly 24 hours in a police cell covered in his wife’s blood and was told he might be charged with murdering her, but was released and continues to insist that he had absolutely no involvement in her death.

A spokesman for NSW Police said on Monday the investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been made – a situation Mr Gilbert told Daily Mail Australia is so stressful that ‘I’m going crazy’.

Two months after the tragedy, he still lives in the apartment where she died and fears he will be evicted because he was involved in a serious car accident a few years ago, suffered a brain injury and cannot work enough to pay rent. .

The bloodstains on their home’s carpet cause him to break down every time he looks at them, Mr. Gilbert said.

Nicholas Gilbert (pictured with his wife, Erin Gilbert) said he is about to be evicted from the house they shared

“I’ll be out on the streets for the next few days, but it’s hard enough to stay there because of the[traces]in the carpet — I tear every time I see them,” he said.

“But then again, it’s the only place I feel close to Erin.”

Mr. Gilbert said he realized he wanted to spend his life with her when a few years ago he was hit by a car traveling at 50 mph, rolled three times and injured his neck, cheek, jaw, nose, teeth, shoulder, broke eight ribs. his hip, leg and toes and suffered a brain injury.

“I’m actually lucky to be alive,” he said.

He explained that Mrs. Gilbert, who was a registered nurse, lost her job because she was taking care of him at home.

“Then I got down on one knee with my cane and my neck brace and proposed,” he said.

They got married in 2020 and on their first wedding anniversary she made him a box full of pictures and love letters.

One letter read, “I don’t want you in my life, I need you in my life. You are not my friend, you are my best friend. I don’t like you, I love you and I’m glad I found you because I was absolutely lost without you.’

Another read: ‘Because of you all my other dreams have changed, now everything I ever wanted will be complete [because] you’re the one by my side.’

Mrs. Gilbert made a photo book for her husband for their first wedding anniversary (pictured)

Mrs. Gilbert wrote a series of love letters to her husband for their first wedding anniversary (pictured)

A third letter read: “I am the happiest girl in the world. To call you my husband and I your wife. I love you, Boo.’

Mr. Gilbert said he got goosebumps when he found the letters.

“It brought me happy tears and I still smile when I think about it,” he said.

In April it was revealed that Mr. Gilbert lost his keys the night his wife died – he tried to knock on the door but no one answered so he used the bin to climb onto their first floor balcony.

He went in to find the aged care nurse lying on a mattress in their bedroom “suffocating on her own blood.”

According to the police, the 42-year-old had suffered ‘serious’ stab wounds in the head with an unknown sharp object.

Police sifted through the trash, inspecting vehicles and interior drains for clues.

In a statement to Daily Mail Australia on Monday, a police spokesman said: ‘Detectives from the State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad – assisted by detectives from Cumberland Police Area Command and the South West Metropolitan Region – are continuing to investigate the murder of Erin Gilbert under Strike Force Trevelyan.

“Anyone with information that could assist strike force investigators is urged to contact the police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.”

Ms. Gilbert’s body was discovered in a pool of blood in a unit block (forensic police pictured)