Crime & Safety

Voicemail Gives Grim Details of Marine's Alleged Abuse of Girlfriend

Marine Gunnery Sgt. Anthony Eugene Rollins, 33, of Murrieta has been charged with torture and spousal abuse, and is being held on $1 million bail.

An inadvertent cellphone message was what convinced a 30-year-old woman that she had allegedly been severely beaten by her Marine boyfriend in a Murrieta home they shared, Patch has learned.

Murrieta police began investigating Marine Gunnery Sgt. Anthony Eugene Rollins, 33, when his girlfriend of four years came forward with a one minute, 26 second voicemail recorded the night she was allegedly beaten, according to a copy of the search warrant police served against Rollins.

The woman, who is identified only as Jane Doe in court records, had gone for a few drinks with two of her friends the night of Nov. 30, 2012. While she was out, she received a threatening text message from Rollins, she told police.

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She returned to couple’s Murrieta residence between 11 p.m and midnight, and told police though she’d had four beers, she did not remember what happened when she got home. She woke up the next morning with a severe headache and could not stop throwing up.  

“Anthony Rollins told the victim she was ‘drunk’ when she got home and fell down the stairs,” Murrieta police Detective Kelly Sik wrote in the warrant.

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On Dec. 1, 2012, the victim called her mother, a registered nurse, and told her how she was feeling. Her mother advised she go to an emergency room.

Rollins agreed to take her, but not until two days later, the victim alleged.

She was admitted to Loma Linda University Medical Center in Loma Linda after medical staff told her she had skull fractures, bleeding in her brain and was suffering amnesia from the injuries.

She was discharged four days later, and based on limited recollections from the night of Nov. 30, 2012—as well as previous alleged episodes of domestic violence toward her by Rollins—she told police she decided to leave him.

After staying with her mother in Nebraska for several weeks, the victim returned to a nearby Southern California city and was staying with a friend.

It was when she was going through her old cellphone—Rollins had purchased her a new one before she left for Nebraska—that she began listening to old voicemails, she told police.

The voicemail from Rollins’ cellphone number was allegedly received at 12:52 a.m. Dec. 1, 2012.

“The voicemail appears to be a call accidentally made by Anthony Rollins while the phone was still in his pocket,” Sik wrote. “The victim listened to the voice message and recognized herself crying in pain and Anthony Rollins’ voice.

“The victim can be heard crying and saying, ‘My face hurts,’ while Anthony Rollins can be heard saying, ‘You are not going to call police, stop crying, don’t fight, it’s only going to get worse.’ The victim again repeats, ‘My face hurts.’

“What followed is the sounds (of) screaming, crying and hitting sounds...

“I would describe what followed as the sounds of a violent attack on the victim (then) the phone disconnected.”

Rollins has been in the Marine Corps for 16 years and is a black belt in Marine Corps martial arts, police learned from the victim.

The victim additionally alleged she suffered four prior domestic violence incidents at the hands of Rollins. In two of the cases, she called police; Rollins was arrested by Murrieta police during one of the calls.

She also recalled that during one incident, Rollins allegedly was cutting the heads off her teddy bears, she told police.

Another time, he allegedly used his iPad to take pictures of her as she was on the floor vomiting.

The victim was granted a temporary restraining order against Rollins on Feb. 26 and a permanent restraining order on March 15, court records show.

Rollins is currently being held in lieu of $1 million bail at Southwest Detention Center after his Feb. 26 arrest in the case and has been charged with torture and spousal abuse. He has pleaded not guilty to both charges, and is due in court again April 3.

Murrieta police seized a cellphone, laptop, tablets, an external hard drive and the victim's medical records from Rollins' Avery Place address.


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