Point Reyes Light - May 6, 2004
Bishop case's new theory
By Ivan Gale
Defense and prosecution attorneys in the Selina Bishop murder case gave sharply different descriptions of Justin Helzer during opening statements last Friday in the Martinez Contra Costa County Superior Court. Helzer is standing trial for the murder of Woodacre resident Bishop and four others in 2000.
Defense attorney Daniel Cook painted Helzer, 32, of Concord, as the impressionable and awkward younger brother to Glenn Taylor Helzer, 33, the alleged architect of the botched extortion and murder scheme, which led to the murders of five people. Helzer last October changed his plea from "not guilty" to "not guilty by reason of insanity."
Jekyll or Hyde
Prosecutor Hal Jewett meanwhile described the younger Helzer as a shrewd and sane accomplice in the alleged crimes, and said there was no history of mental illness until Helzer met his attorney, Daniel Cook.
He said Justin helped scheme a sex service named "Intimacy" for newly-rich executives from the dot-com boom, supplying them with ecstasy and call girls. In order to fund the bizarre venture, the two Helzer brothers decided to extort money from elderly couples, Jewett told Judge Mary Ann O’Malley.
Helzer’s co-defendants, elder brother Glenn and former housemate Dawn Godman of Concord, each pleaded guilty to the murder charges last year.
In all, Justin Helzer is accused of five murders with "special circumstances" (an augmentation that could make him eligible for the death penalty), two counts each of kidnapping and robbery, one count each of extortion, conspiracy, burglary, and possession of drugs for sale.
Last August, Godman cut a deal with prosecutors to "truthfully" testify against the two Helzer brothers in exchange for a reduced sentence. She now faces a 37-year-and-eight-months-to-life sentence.
Glenn Helzer will be sentenced following the conclusion of his brother’s trial.
Faking an inheritance
In the summer of 2000, Bishop, her mother Jenny Villarin, and a friend of Villarin, James Gamble, were murdered as part of an elaborate scheme to extort $100,000 from two elderly Concord residents, Ivan and Annette Stineman.
The scheme included using 22-year-old Bishop, daughter of Forest Knolls rock guitarist Elvin Bishop. Glenn Helzer allegedly told Selina Bishop that he was receiving an inheritance and would pay her to help him handle the money.
Bishop, who was dating Helzer at the time of the crime, was to deposit money for Helzer in her bank account.
Her mother Villarin, who was a bartender at the Papermill Creek Saloon in Forest Knolls, and Gamble were found shot to death on Aug. 3, 2000, in Bishop’s Woodacre apartment.
Days later, authorities found the dismembered remains of Bishop and the Stinemans in numerous duffel bags that had been dumped into the Sacramento River Delta.
Bishop was spellbound
During opening statements, prosecutor Jewett said the extortion plan began in the late 1990’s, when the Helzers’ Mormonism evolved into an unorthodox philosophy. The two hoped to spread their message through a nonprofit corporation called "Impact America."
In order to finance their future good deeds, Jewett said the two developed the idea for "Intimacy" and began recruiting Mexican women at drug-filled rave parties to turn them into sex workers.
Jewett described Selina Bishop as one of many woman who fell under Glenn Helzer’s spell, enabling him to persuade her to open up a bank account.
At Wednesday’s court proceedings, defense attorney Daniel Cook said testimony was heard that $100,000 was transferred into the new account.
Unexpected eyewitness
In a surprise twist, Jewett argued Jenny Villarin and Glenn Helzer met accidentally, prompting Helzer to kill Villarin and her companion, eliminating any possible eye-witness testimonies should his plan go awry.
Villarin and her companion were housesitting for Bishop when they were shot, and it was assumed the Helzer’s mistook Villarin to be Bishop.
Helzer’s attorney Cook told The Light Wednesday evidence will be brought forward to prove Justin saw messianic qualities in his older brother Glenn.
"There will certainly be plenty of evidence in this trial to show that my client held the belief that his brother was able to communicate directly with God," Cook said. "I think that the evidence will be beyond any controversy as far as who the architect of these plans was, and that was Glenn Tayor Helzer."