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The American whose New Zealand boyfriend kept her body kept frozen in a small box in his Californian hotel room for nearly a year died from a cocktail of cocaine and alcohol, it has been revealed.
Toxicology tests showed the cause of death of Monique Felicia Trepp, whose body was packed on dry ice in Stephen David Royds' room in Newport, but did not show if the death was accidental or a suicide, the Orange County Register reported today.
Ms Trepp's body was found in a 60cm by 90cm plastic box when police arrested Royds in March for allegedly selling cocaine.
Prosecutors have said Royds, whose parents John and Sally Royds live in Queenstown, will not be prosecuted for failing to report a dead body.
He has pleaded not guilty to felony narcotics charges and is being held at Central Men's Jail in Santa Ana, with his next court hearing set for July 9.
The County Register said that according to an affadavit Royds, 46, told detectives he returned to room 966 at the Fairmont Hotel on March 24, last year, and discovered Ms Trepp, 33, dead on the floor.
He had given varying explanations for freezing her, ranging from "everything that happened was for religious reasons", to not reporting the death because he was wanted on warrants stemming from an earlier drug conviction.
Though he managed to keep the body under wraps without rousing the suspicion of hotel management, police discovered the corpse after an informant dobbed in the New Zealander for drug dealing.
Detectives said that Royds' room contained articles on body decomposition and hundreds of photographs of Miss Trepp - a blue-eyed blonde stripper who wanted to be a model.
Royds' father John is a former Queenstown deputy mayor and a respected figure in the real estate industry.
He said at the time of Royds' arrest that he had not seen him for 20 years, and that they hadn't spoken in nearly eight years.
- NZPA
