Greenacres man accused of decapitating roommate, tells cops things got ‘a little carried away’

By Alexandra Seltzer

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Gerard Longo once described Scott Tobiassen as a violent man who brags about his fighting ability and just how “bad” he is.

Longo said Tobiassen owns knives, axes, machetes and switch blades. He sharpens his knives as a hobby, and shows other just how sharp the weapons are by using them to shave his own legs. That information was in court documents, in which Longo asked a judge in 2011 to grant him a restraining order against Tobiassen.

The order was dismissed, and Tobiassen, a crane operator, and Longo, a handyman, became roommates.

Today, Tobiassen, 49, is in the Palm Beach County Jail, accused of killing Longo, 48, and then removing his head and limbs from his torso.

Judge Caroline Shepherd on Thursday morning ordered Tobiassen, who is facing a murder charge, be held in jail without bail. Tobiassen’s attorney Jennifer Marshall entered a plea of not-guilty on his behalf.

Greenacres Police were first notified of Longo’s murder Tuesday night after Tobiassen’s longtime friend Alexandra Peirce called for help and reported seeing Longo’s body. Tobiassen brought her to the apartment in the Seven Springs community, which he shared with Longo and Longo’s grandmother, who was not harmed. He showed her Longo’s body, which was placed in the shower. The man’s head, which was still attached to the body, was covered with something, which Tobiassen removed. Peirce saw the bloody head and thought her friend was playing a joke on her, according to a probable-cause affidavit.

“Can you believe I did this? He deserved it,” Peirce said Tobiassen told her.

She said Tobiassen called her earlier that night, upset over losing his job after not passing a drug test. He told her he hurt “Jerry” because they were fighting, and that he hit him with a big, black metal pipe and then stabbed him with a knife. He said he had nothing to live for, and planned on swallowing pills, but would first try to hide his roommate’s body.

Tobiassen then told Peirce not to tell anyone: “What I did was murder and now that you know about it you are an accomplice,” Peirce recalled to police.

However, Peirce did call police and led detectives to the apartment where they spotted a man, with blood on his body and shoes, holding what appeared to be a tote bag in his hand. Detectives would later find what they described as a “gruesome discovery”: Longo’s legs in plastic trash bags, his head, arms and hands in one tote and his torso and legs down to his kneecaps in another.

Police on Wednesday tried interviewing Tobiassen, who requested a lawyer. He then said, “things just got a little carried away today,” police reported in the affidavit.

Tobiassen was arrested on June 11, 2011 on a charge of battery after Longo reported a fight between the two. Longo told police Tobiassen charged at him and punched him after Longo snapped his sunglasses in half, according to documents.

On June 16, 2011, Longo filed for a restraining order against Tobiassen, who he said also goes by the name “Cash.” He said the two have known one another since January 2011. A temporary injunction was granted. However in July 2011, the injunction was dismissed due to insufficient evidence, documents show.