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Thread: Glenn Taylor Helzer - California Death Row

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    Glenn Taylor Helzer - California Death Row


    Ivan and Annette Stineman


    Selina Bishop


    Jennifer Villarin


    James Gamble


    Glenn Taylor Helzer


    Summary of Offense:

    From July 30, 2000 to August 3, 2000, Justin Helzer and his cohorts, Glen Helzer and Dawn Godman, killed five people in an extortion and murder scheme. Helzer and his cohorts kidnapped Ivan and Annette Stineman, forced the Stinemans to write $100,000 in checks, killed them, dismembered their bodies and dumped the body parts in the river. Helzer and his cohorts then killed and dismembered Glen Helzer’s girlfriend, Selina Bishop, because they were afraid she would be able to testify about their plan if they were caught. They also shot and killed Bishop’s mother, Jennifer Villarin because they were afraid she knew too much. They also killed Villarin’s friend, James Gamble, because he was present in the apartment when they went to kill Villarin.

    Glen Helzer and Justin Helzer were sentenced to death in Contra Costa County on March 11, 2005.

    Dawn Godman was sentenced to 38 years to life.

    Justin Helzer committed suicide on April 15, 2013.

    For more on Justin Helzer, see: http://www.cncpunishment.com/forums/...=justin+helzer

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Helzer's direct appeal has been fully briefed before the California Supreme Court since June 28, 2017.

    http://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca.g...doc_no=S132256

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On November 8, 2023, oral argument will be heard in Helzer's direct appeal before the California Supreme Court.

    https://supreme.courts.ca.gov/sites/...0-%20FINAL.pdf

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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    State Supreme Court upholds death sentence for self-described prophet who killed 5 in Bay Area

    By Bob Egelko
    San Francisco Chronicle

    The state Supreme Court on Monday upheld the death sentence of Glenn Helzer, a self-described prophet who murdered five people in Contra Costa and Marin counties in what he described as a plan to bring about the second coming of Jesus.

    In a unanimous ruling, Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero rejected a challenge to a sweeping police search of Helzer’s Concord home, and defense arguments that the trial judge should not have dismissed a prospective juror who said she was against the death penalty but might be able to vote for it.

    While jurors who oppose capital punishment can take part in death penalty trials if they agree to keep an open mind, this juror said there was only a 1% chance she would vote for a death sentence. She said she would consider all the evidence but did not “repeatedly affirm that she could be a fair and impartial juror,” Guerrero said, so Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Mary Ann O’Malley was entitled to remove her from the jury pool.

    And although officers seized some things unrelated to the case in their search of Helzer’s home, Guerrero said, their search warrant allowed them to recover a broad range of items related to the crimes, including guns and ammunition, and prosecutors were entitled to present them as evidence.

    Helzer, now 53, left his job as a stockbroker in 1998, began taking drugs, and soon started describing himself as a prophet who would save the world from Satan with killings that would return Jesus Christ to Earth. He called himself and his followers the “Children of Thunder,” and, as the court described his attitude, he was prepared to “sacrifice a few to save billions.”

    In the summer of 2000, Helzer and his younger brother, Justin Helzer, went to the Concord home of a wealthy retired couple, Ivan Steinman, 85, and his wife, Annette Steinman, 78, in hopes of extorting $100,000 for their plan. After the couple initially refused to turn over the money, the brothers drugged them and they signed the checks. Glenn Helzer then slit Annette Steinman’s throat, and Justin Helzer battered her husband to death.

    They gave the money to Glenn Helzer’s girlfriend, Selina Bishop, 22, daughter of blues guitarist Elvin Bishop, then went to her home and killed her. The three bodies were found dismembered in gym bags in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

    Fearing that Bishop’s mother, Jennifer Villarin, could identify him, Glenn Helzer went to her home in Marin County and fatally shot Villarin, 45, and her boyfriend, James Gamble, 54.

    Glenn Helzer pleaded guilty to the five murder charges, then sought a life sentence but was sentenced to death by a jury in 2005. Justin Helzer pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity but was convicted and sentenced to death. He hanged himself with a bedsheet in his San Quentin State Prison cell in 2013. Their roommate, Dawn Godman, who admitted taking part in some of the crimes, testified for the prosecution and was sentenced to 38 years to life in prison.

    California has 650 prisoners who have been sentenced to death. Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a moratorium on executions after taking office in 2019, but has not reduced any of the death sentences to life in prison by granting clemency.

    Glenn Helzer’s lawyer, Jeanne Keevan-Lynch, declined to comment on Monday’s ruling.

    The case is People v. Helzer, No. S132256.

    https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics...e-18621618.php
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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