Grieving husband of nurse who was stabbed in the face and left in a pool of her own blood breaks his silence and reveals HE was initially arrested over her death: ‘I didn’t kill my wife!’
- Erin Gilbert found dead in Merrylands unit
- Husband reveals he was arrested but later released
- Nic Gilbert is desperate for answers
A heartbroken widower has recalled the harrowing moment he was arrested after he arrived home to find his dying wife.
Erin Gilbert, 42, was stabbed multiple times in the head with a sharp object in the living room of her Merrylands unit in western Sydney on Easter Sunday.
Her husband Nic Gilbert, 38, was at a friend’s place that evening before arriving home.
He had lost his keys so he used a bin to climb onto their first floor balcony and went inside to find the aged care nurse lying on a mattress in their bedroom ‘choking on her own blood’.
Mr Gilbert revealed on Tuesday that he was actually arrested by police shortly after she passed. He spent almost 24 hours in a police cell covered in his wife’s blood.
Mr Gilbert was later released without any charges laid and insists he had absolutely no involvement in his wife’s death.
Nic Gilbert is desperate to find out who stabbed his wife Erin to death. Pictured are the couple on their wedding day in 2020
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Mr Gilbert denied ever harming his wife, adding he still feels like a ‘suspect’ due to the lack of information he’s received from police since her death.
He recalled: ‘I’m sitting there in the cop station thinking ‘I’m helping them catch who just killed my wife, I’ve still got her blood all over me’ … and they say “You’re being arrested and detained for the murder of Erin Gilbert.”‘
‘I nearly f***ing collapsed … I didn’t kill my wife.’
Police have seized the mobile phone the couple shared, as well as Mr Gilbert’s electric bike, wedding ring and necklace as the strike force investigation into his wife’s death continues.
Mr Gilbert is desperate for answers as to what happened to Erin and believes ‘someone must have seen something’.
‘She knew not to let random people in … if someone comes around and I’m not home, Erin would tell them to come back in an hour,’ he told the publication.
Nic Gilbert (right) was initially arrested and questioned over the death of his wife Erin (left) but was released without any charges
Mr Gilbert arrived home to find his wife lying in a pool of blood inside their Merrylands unit. Pictured, police at the western Sydney complex
Mr Gilbert doesn’t know when his wife’s funeral will be and has repeatedly tried to contact her parents but to no avail.
Mr Gilbert also opened up about the couple’s battle with drug addiction and plans to ‘get clean’ – but denied either of them owed money to dealers.
Daily Mail Australia previously revealed Ms Gilbert had unsuccessfully been trying for a baby via IVF prior to her death.
Ms Gilbert had recently given up smoking as she and her husband were desperately trying to have a baby.
Nic Gilbert (pictured last week) is struggling to come to terms with the death of his wife
‘Erin had so many plans for her future,’ her best friend Shane Niquet told Daily Mail Australia.
‘She just gave up smoking so she could start IVF again – she wanted a baby more then anything.’
Detectives have launched Strike Force Trevelyan to investigate Ms Gilbert’s death.
They previously revealed her husband has been ‘very forthcoming’ with police during their inquiries.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Nic Gilbert said his wife had been struggling with depression after an unsuccessful round of IVF
