Point Reyes Light - August 2, 2001
Hearing & memorial set in Bishop murder case
By Gregory Foley
A Contra Costa County Superior Court judge last week set a December date for a preliminary hearing where evidence against three murder suspects in the Selina Bishop case will be weighed.
The three defendants are being held for the murders last summer of five people including Woodacre resident Bishop and her mother Jennifer Villarin.
Villarin and a companion, James Gamble, 54, of Laytonville, were shot to death Aug. 3 in Bishop’s Woodacre apartment while house-sitting.
A memorial for all of the victims will be held Saturday in Forest Knolls.
Contra Costa Deputy District Attorney Harold Jewett said that the defendants – Glenn Helzer, his brother Justin Helzer, and their friend Dawn Godman, all of Concord – agreed to appear at the Dec. 3 hearing in Martinez.
Jewett told The Light that the preliminary hearing will determine if prosecutors have adequate evidence to bring the three defendants to trial for five murders that occurred last July and August in West Marin and other parts of the Bay Area. Jewett said he expects the preliminary hearing to take "at least a week" because such a large body of evidence has been introduced to support charges against the trio.
The murder victims
The three defendants were charged last year with murdering Villarin, 45, a bartender at the Papermill Creek Saloon in Forest Knolls, and Gamble as part of an elaborate scheme to cover up the slayings of Bishop and an elderly Concord couple. The bodies of Bishop, 22, Ivan Stineman, 85, and Annette Stineman, 78, were found dismembered in duffel bags in the Sacramento Delta after they had been reported missing.
Prosecutors have alleged that the trio attempted to extort more than $100,000 from the Stinemans before killing the couple. Glenn Helzer was a former stockbroker for the Stinemans and a short-term boyfriend of Bishop, who authorities concluded was not actively involved in the trio’s illegal affairs.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for all three defendants, who last September pled innocent to the allegations.
Prosecutor Jewett told The Light that the December date marks the fourth time a preliminary hearing has been scheduled in the case. He explained that the three previous hearings were postponed because such a large amount of evidence had to be reviewed by the defense attorneys.
20,000 pages of evidence
He said that 20,000 pages of written documents and approximately 100 audio-visual tapes have been entered as evidence. The evidentiary discovery process is in its final stages, he noted.
"The reports are voluminous, but the defense should have an adequate opportunity to digest the information," he said.
Judge Douglas Cunningham set a Sept. 28 date for a status conference to ensure that attorneys on both sides are prepared for the December hearing.
Jewett noted that the delays in getting to the preliminary hearing have caused the case to proceed slowly. Court proceedings last Thursday were marked by several outbursts by defendant Glenn Helzer in which he objected to the delays.
"He expressed his desire to get the preliminary hearing moving," Jewett said. "Like a lot of people, he wanted to see the process moving forward."
Memorial in Forest Knolls
To mark the one-year anniversary of the murders, San Geronimo Valley residents have planned a memorial get-together for all of the victims at 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 4, in the Papermill Creek Saloon. Saloon owner Thomasina Wilson, who was a close friend of Bishop and Villarin, said that her employees as well as other friends of the victims plan to collect donations at the event to make additions to a memorial that was established last year to honor Bishop, Villarin, and Gamble.
A small memorial park near Sir Francis Drake Boulevard features an 8.5-foot-high grizzly bear carved from a 70-year-old pine log to commemorate Bishop’s affection for bears. Wilson said that friends and well-wishers can join a potluck dinner and barbecue at the saloon from 4 to 7 p.m., followed by live music by Walt Dixon and the Sky Blue Band.
Funds raised by the event will be used to add benches at the memorial park and a plaque engraved with the names of the victims. Leftover money will be donated for a charitable cause, probably to the Lagunitas School District, Wilson said. "It’s been a hard year," she added.