On a cold January day in 1981, the small town of Delmar, Iowa, was shaken by a horrific discovery that would forever leave a scar on its community. Inside a two-story home on Market Street, law enforcement officers uncovered a tragic scene. Thirteen-year-old Dawn Marie Roling, a White female, was found deceased, a victim of a devastating act of violence that also claimed the lives of her mother and siblings.
The grim discovery was made after police were asked to notify Dawn's mother,
Bonnie Gilbert, of her husband's death. Gene Gilbert had taken his own life in South Dakota. When officers arrived at the Gilbert home in Delmar to deliver the news, they were met with an unnerving silence. Unable to make contact with anyone inside, they eventually forced entry, ascending the stairs to find an unimaginable tragedy in the bedrooms. Bonnie Gilbert, 34, and all five of her children had been shot to death. The victims included Dawn and her two younger siblings from a previous marriage, 10-year-old Michelle and 8-year-old Jason Roling, as well as her two young half-siblings, 2-year-old Gene Gilbert Jr. and 10-month-old Rachelle Gilbert. Investigators noted that Dawn appeared to have been awake during the attack and struggled with her assailant, as she had been bound with a nylon cord. The other family members were believed to have been killed in their sleep.
The investigation into the deaths quickly identified Gene Gilbert as the sole suspect. Ballistics tests confirmed that the. 38 caliber handgun he had used to commit suicide was the same weapon used to murder his entire family. Authorities pieced together a timeline suggesting that after killing his wife and the five children, Gilbert drove to his father's home in South Dakota, where he ended his own life. The motive for the brutal killings remained a mystery, as the suicide note he left behind offered no explanation, only an apology for "not being much of a son." The community was left to grapple with the shocking loss of a mother and her five children at the hands of their protector. There were no arrests to be made, as the perpetrator had also died, leaving behind a legacy of unanswered questions and profound grief.
