Phoenix roommates' murder unsolved, 5 years later

Megan Cassidy | The Republic | azcentral.com

If there is any good fortune for Rachel Glass to speak of on Dec. 3, 2010, it was her decision not to drop by her daughter Nicole’s house that afternoon.

She had planned on helping Nicole install a printer in the home she and her roommate Melissa Mason shared near 44th Street and Thomas Road. But after a long day of work, Rachel decided the errand could wait until the weekend.

Had she gone, it likely would have been Rachel knocking on the door, Rachel peeking into a back window, Rachel the first to catch a glimpse of a lifeless body lying on the floor.

“I’m just thankful that I didn’t stop and try to load the printer for her,” Rachel said in a recent interview. “It would have made it 1,000 times worse to find her. A million times.”

Instead it was the roommates’ friend who discovered the bodies of Nicole Glass and Melissa Mason after failing to reach them since the previous day.

The women, both 27, had been strangled. Their deaths remain a mystery five years later, as their mothers continue to search for answers.

The case has been labeled a triple homicide — Mason was 8 weeks pregnant.

Motive unclear

There didn’t appear to have been any forced entry, leading police to question whether the women knew their killer or killers. The doors were locked by the time the roommates were discovered.

Detectives declined to comment on whether any items were stolen from the home, but said they couldn't rule out robbery or any other motive.

At the onset of the investigation, Mason’s friends and family were quick to point detectives to two obvious suspects: The father of her unborn child and her ex-fiance.

Mason’s mother, Sandra Minjarez, said both men were interrogated, but nothing materialized.

It's been frustrating having so few answers, Rachel said. Her mind has wandered to various scenarios, and none of them can be ruled out.

“That’s really the hard part, because then you suspect everyone,” she said. “A lot of people have reached out to me and told me how sorry they were, and then it just, it’s like, then the thought goes through your mind. One of them? Who? I don’t know.”

The lives of Melissa and Nicole

The two young women had been friends since they were 23, when they met while working as bartenders, according to Rachel.

At the time of her death, Nicole was enrolled at the University of Phoenix, majoring in communications. She hoped to get a job in public relations.

People always gravitated toward Nicole, her mother said. Afternoons on schools days were an “eating extravaganza” at the Glass house.

As an adult, Nicole's patrons would follow her around the Valley while she filled in for relief shifts bartending.

She was a great hugger, her mom said.

“When she would come in she’d go, ‘Mom! Where are you?’ And she’d throw her arms around and hug me, rub her face in the nape of my neck,” Rachel said. “It’s funny, because the smell that you have with your kids … you relax, completely.”

Mason was waiting until Christmas to tell her mom that she was pregnant. The news was instead delivered by Minjarez’s younger daughter, the day Mason died.

Minjarez said her daughter told friends she was excited about the pregnancy. She was working to become a dental hygienist, but wasn’t worried that it would put a wrinkle in her plans.

“What I hear from her friends, she wasn’t afraid that things would be OK on her own,” Minjarez said.

She lived a happy life, Minjarez said. She was a frequent traveler, and considered moving to Qatar after visiting a cousin there.

Both mothers now keep their daughters’ case alive through vigils, social media and talking to anyone who will listen.

“We relive the moment over and over again,” Minjarez said. “And we get asked the same questions, and I have the same answers because I have no new information. We just pray to God that one day we’ll see justice.”

If you have any information regarding this case or any other cold cases, contact Silent Witness at 480-948-6377 or silentwitness.org.