by Robert Scott
Zero hour came at 6:00 a.M. as Detective Inskip knocked on the Helzers’ door and announced the presence of the police. Sergeant Hynes and the others beat in the door of the Helzer home. Inskip said later, “After a knock and notice, I went to the back of the SWAT team and they used a battering ram and force. They eventually got in the door after a few hits with the ram.”
As the SWAT team went in, Detective Erin Inskip covered the front yard. Two people were detained inside the house. They turned out to be Justin Helzer and Dawn Godman. Taylor Helzer, however, was not so cooperative, and he made a dash for freedom. Taylor jumped out his bedroom window, leaped a fence and took off across a field toward Kirker Pass Road.
Detective Steve Nash saw Taylor take off running across the field and instructed other officers to track him down. Canine units were used in the chase. This was accomplished fairly rapidly, and Taylor was brought back to Saddlewood, wearing only a black T-shirt and nylon underwear.
Detective Lisa Lellis was there too, and detained Dawn Godman. Soon Taylor was brought back, handcuffed, up the driveway. One thing Lellis noticed almost immediately was a newspaper account of the disappearance of Selina Bishop. That section was folded and placed faceup on a counter.
While Lellis was dealing with Godman, Detective Inskip wanted to talk with Taylor Helzer and he agreed. At this point, Justin Helzer was the main suspect because it seemed that his gun might have been used in the murders of Jenny Villarin and James Gamble. So many officers were now in the Saddlewood home and in the yard that Inskip placed Taylor in her squad car. She wanted to talk with him, face-to-face, so she placed him in the front passenger seat of the vehicle. She decided to move the squad car a short distance from the house onto Saddlewood Drive because so much activity was taking place, and neighbors were starting to come into their yards to see what all the fuss was about.
Detective Inskip moved her vehicle a short distance down the block and parked. She and Taylor talked for a considerable length of time and he seemed to be cooperative. (One source would state later that Inskip and Taylor talked for nearly forty-five minutes out in the patrol car.) The windows were initially all the way up on the vehicle, but Inskip pushed a button so the windows went down about eight inches to give them some air. Right after this occurred, Inskip received a call on her cell phone. It was a sergeant requesting more evidence bags from the trunk of Inskip’s vehicle.
At this very moment, Taylor somersaulted through the window and took off running. Within moments, he was out of Detective Inskip’s view. Inskip put out a call immediately to all the officers in the area that the person she was detaining had escaped.
Out of view of the officers, Taylor ran down Saddlewood Street. His main concern now was to get a vehicle and escape out of the area. Not far away, a middle-aged man named William Sharp lived alone with a Border collie, a malamute and a cockatoo. His morning that day began routinely with “bathroom, kitchen and coffee,” as he stated later. He was just sitting down in his favorite recliner with a cup of coffee when a young man, clad only in a T-shirt and boxer shorts, literally ran into his house through the screen door.
As Sharp recalled, “He was a tall young fellow. He proceeded to scuttle from one sliding door to another. I thought, ‘This guy’s screwy.’
“He pointed his finger, as if he were pointing a gun at me, and said, ‘I’ll kill you if you don’t give me your car keys.’”
Sharp could plainly see that the young man did not have a weapon on him. The whole scenario was somewhat ridiculous to Sharp.
“You can have all of the keys you want, but the cars don’t work,” he said.
“Just then the dogs started coming around the house and [Taylor] saw them. So he ran out the back and jumped right over the back fence.”
Taylor ran on down Laurel Drive and turned onto Helena Drive. At a house near the end of the block, Mary Mozzochi was calling Enterprise Rental Car because her husband had taken her car to work and the other vehicle was in the shop.
She recalled, “I was walking around the kitchen. My son was in the house sleeping because he stayed over the night. I started to go out the back door and spied my watch outside. There was a person there at the sliding door. He was wearing a black T-shirt and plaid shorts. I was surprised and asked, ‘Who are you?’
“He grabbed me by the arm and came inside the house. He grabbed a knife off the countertop and he had a choke hold on me. ‘I need to change my appearance, and get away,’ he said. ‘Don’t call the police or I’ll kill you!’
“He held the knife to about ten inches from my face. He asked for my car keys. He said a lot of profanity. He said, ‘Give me the fucking car keys!’
“I said, ‘See the phone book opened to Enterprise? My car doesn’t work. I was about to call them.’
“He saw some replica Civil War rifles and a pistol my husband owned. ‘Give me the handgun!’ he said.
“‘It’s not a real gun,’ I replied. ‘It’s a replica.’
“‘I need clothes to get away,’ he said. ‘Gimme the fucking pants.’
“The pants were too big, but he took off his boxer shorts and put on the pants. Then he wanted a shirt. I didn’t want to give him my husband’s good golf shirts. So I gave him an old orange golf shirt.
“‘Go sit in the corner!’ he said. The pants wouldn’t stay up, so he asked me for a belt.
“‘Gimme something for my hair,’ he said. ‘Gimme scissors!’
“He grabbed his hair and cut off a large piece of hair, straight across. He asked who was home with me. ‘Is there anybody else in the house?’
“I said, ‘Yes, my son and his friend. But both of them were asleep.’ I was glad my boy didn’t appear.
“He said, ‘Be quiet. You don’t want any drama here. So you do what I say, or I’ll kill you.’
“I answered, ‘Look, I’m a nurse. I don’t hurt people, I help them. So I’m not going to hurt you.’
“He wanted to make a call, but the cell phone had a dead battery.
“I asked him, ‘Have you killed anybody?’
“He answered, ‘Not yet.’
“I said, ‘Okay, you have everything you need. So you leave!’
“‘You come with me,’ he said. He’d walked outside when he said it.
“‘No!’ I answered, and slammed the door shut and locked it. He took off running.
“Right then, I saw my son standing with a cell phone in the hall. He said, ‘Mom, I’ve been on the phone the whole time, with nine-one-one.’
“They stayed on the line and guided him through it. An officer came soon.”
In fact, there were several officers who saw Taylor Helzer trying to run away and detained him. Soon they had him back at Saddlewood Court, wearing baggy pants, an orange golf shirt and no shoes.
Mary Mozzochi was driven by an officer to Saddlewood Court. Standing outside the residence in handcuffs and wearing his bizarre attire was Taylor. Mozzochi looked out the squad car window and identified him as the intruder who had been in her house. Later, crime scene analysts and police dogs that could sniff out items spent the rest of the day at her house. Investigators found a large swatch of Taylor Helzer’s hair right on top of the phone book.
After all the excitement of Taylor’s escape, it was down to business for the officers on Saddlewood Court. Steve Nash soon realized that they were going to need a second search warrant with broader scope for all the items in the Saddlewood residence. The initial search warrant only allowed searches for clothing, weapons, shell casings and documents about the weapons. Initially their focus had been on the murders of Jenny Villarin, James Gamble and the clothing of a missing Selina Bishop. It was apparent now, however, that the people on Saddlewood were mixed up in a lot more than just those two murders. For one thing, there was an apparent bloody outline of a person on the family room’s carpet, as if someone had bled there. And there were two professional carpet blowers running.
Once the officers obtained a second broader search warrant
, the residence on Saddlewood Court became a beehive of police activity. Detective Nash noted and collected handcuffs and duct tape in the master bedroom. Items were collected all day long. The first day’s search ran from just after 6:00 A.M. until 6:00 P.M., when the house was secured overnight. The next day, the searches began at 8:15 A.M.
Over the next few days, every officer and detective in the residence had specific tasks as far as evidence collection went. Detective Judy Elo, of CPD, collected a box of items that contained In To Me See business cards. She also collected various notebooks and papers with writing on them. One paper stated, “I choose the straight and narrow.” On another was written, “There is no such thing as imagination. If I think it . . . it is.”
There was a card in a Rolodex that contained information on Dean Witter accounts. This was in Taylor’s bedroom on a dressing table. Missing from the Rolodex were two items under the letter S. These two items were cards bearing the names Ivan and Annette Stineman. The cards were later found in an attaché case.
Detective Judy Elo also came across something called the Twelve Principles of Magic. Also found was a yellow legal pad with various questions. Some of the questions were numbered.
1. What are your top vacation spots?
2. Spell your daughters’ names.
3. Ask about cell phone.
4. If going on vacation, would you call one, or both of your daughters?
5. Who would you call to let know other than your daughters?
These were topics that Taylor and Dawn questioned the Stinemans about on July 30.
Among other items was a script for Cal Fed for when someone was supposed to talk to them on the phone. In part, it read, “Okay, hon. I’ll do it later. I’ll be right there.”
There was also a letter from Jordan to Sky. This was found on the floor of Taylor’s room. Jotted notes stated that Dawn was going to Livermore. It also mentioned that she was having a hard time renting a personal watercraft, and noted that if he had to, he could rent one at Lake Berryessa.
Detective Elo also discovered that Taylor was in trouble with his credit rating. On an MBNA credit card, he was over the limit, and on a People’s Bank card, he owed $2,640.
A receipt also stated that Taylor bought forty ounces of red phosphorous. Elo knew that red phosphorous was used in the manufacturing of methamphetamine.
In a garbage can, she found a note that stated, “Escape plan.” It told of creating resistance. In another part, it stated, “I’m not going to jail. I’m going to put a gun to my head. Justin is, too.”
Things obviously hadn’t turned out that way for Taylor or Justin Helzer.
Receipts for handcuffs were found from Not Too Naughty. There was also a Pacific Gas and Electric bill discovered for the Saddlewood residence, but the bill was in the names of Shirley and Emil Robinson. [Emil and Shirley Robinson were fictitious names used by Justin and Dawn for the purpose of obtaining water and electricity for the house on Saddlewood Court.]
Among the piles of papers was one written by Justin in Taylor’s room. It described his life purpose and listed what he wanted for his future. Another document concerned something about a sex tour and prices for items that could be purchased for the tour. There was one catalog showing a bare-chested woman with a whip.
In Justin’s room, Elo found an ad about better orgasms. Not far away was a nineteenth-century discourse about the LDS Church and their views on African Americans. In fact, Mormon documents were indiscriminately piled with sex articles and catalogs all over Taylor’s room. One ad promised a bigger and better penis. There was also a 900 number to call, entitled 1-900-Cum-All.
Taylor had drawn up all sorts of schematics concerning women, sex and money. One described something with a woman with ten men for 50 percent. Another described five women with ten men for a total of $15,000. It was not clear what he meant, other than the possibility of sex for money.
There was an attached note to one document. On the note was written: “Afterwards, party-goers can meet girls one on one for prices significantly higher.”
Even a quote from his mother, Carma, who was calling herself Teonae at the time, was mixed in with the other documents. She wrote, “There is one temple in the universe and that is the human body.”
One of the most interesting folders that Detective Elo discovered went into detail about In To Me See. In it, Taylor spoke of dressing his girls nicely and training them how to take care of men, both sexually and otherwise. Then it went on to discuss 401K plans for the girls. The 401K plans would be set up by Taylor.
There appeared to be four levels in this particular program, even though there never seemed to be a consistent formula. In one document, Taylor mentioned things along these lines:
1st year—$388,000
2nd year—$649,000
3rd year—$987,000
4th year—$1,029,000
The amounts appeared to be what he hoped to make from the operation.
In another scheme he wrote: “$116,000 for the woman, $117,000 for me.” Just what he based these numbers on was not clear.
In still another scheme he claimed that ecstasy = money. “What I need is the ability to manufacture. What I have is the process. What I need is someone who has the know-how and ability to buy.”
Detective Elo also found papers referring to Taylor’s stint in the National Guard, including the fact that he’d earned a sharpshooter status with an M16 rifle. Everything in his bedroom seemed to be a mixture of the worldly and the ethereal. There was a quote from Taylor that said, “Joyful relationships are created by only those who can see the truth.” It was next to porno catalogs.
One schematic promised that for $800 to $1,000 per man, a male client could play strip poker with a beautiful woman, or dance with her, or play pool with her. Then they could have sex with the woman for a price she chose. All of this would take place in the Feline Club. The woman had to be free of drugs and alcohol. He promised to teach men how to take two women at the same time and “make them scream for you.”
There were to be tutorials in the Feline Club about how to give and receive oral sex and how to stimulate a woman’s clitoris so that she had a profound orgasm. A man could purchase a half-hour practice session with a live model for x amount of dollars.
Then there was something called “points.” Points were to be given to the girls who worked in the Feline Club. A woman with the most points would get the first choice of clientele. A woman working for the club would get points by performing various sexual favors for the men.
Among the tracts on sex and religion, there were also documents pertaining to the mundane. Detective Elo learned that Taylor owed Carma $16,000 and he owed a Chase account $8,441. Chase was threatening him with a collection agency. Taylor owed MCI $1,230 and First Select $9,900.
Detective Elo discovered a Gothic-looking poster in Dawn’s room. It depicted a misty landscape with demons and dragons. In Taylor’s room, there was a demon ring and dagger. Nearby was a note about fear and love.
Another note nearby referred to magical stones. Each colored stone was reputed to have certain magical powers. He even claimed in the note to have a seer stone. In Mormon tradition, in 1827, Joseph Smith had obtained a seer stone that allowed him to read the golden tablets left on a hill in New York State. By this means, he was able to translate the wording into English. This version in time became the Book of Mormon.
Detective Lellis found a day planner while searching through the house on Saddlewood. It was in the kitchen, lying on a countertop in plain sight. There were also work order receipts and a receipt for leg irons.
Detective Lellis discovered three ski masks that skiers might use during chilly conditions, or could be used to cover up identities. There was also a receipt from the Home Depot for two spade bits, duct tape, a staple gun, a polyurethane sheet and a bottle of hair dye.
Sergeant Mike Crain of the Marin County Sheriff’s Office was looking in the garage and found a business card from the Conco
rd Cab Company. A scribbled note nearby read: “Alibi—Bob pulled a knife. He grabbed gun from me and shoot. Panic.”
Then there was a flowchart on another piece of paper.
The chart read in part: with no mask/with mask; leaving; denial; use alibi; no shots fired; shots fired.
On another was: “Hair, shop, cut, clips for hair.”
On a brown desk in the garage, Sergeant Crain found an owner’s manual for a Craftsman variable-speed electric reciprocating saw.
He also found a tall wooden staff with a carved wooden skull on its top. Another staff contained a wooden eagle’s claws grasping a large crystal.
Detective Nash was one of the leaders on the task force that was implementing the search at Saddlewood Court. While he was there, he found a briefcase near the front door. Inside the briefcase were narcotics, pills and mushrooms.
In Dawn’s bedroom, Nash discovered a taser; in Taylor’s room, he found a wallet that contained money and an ID card of Glenn Taylor Helzer. He also found a note that referred to a PO box number.
Near the closet was an XL Hydrogen water-skier’s glove. A business card for In To Me See had the name Jordan Andrew Taylor on it, along with an 800 number. There was also a cell phone on the floor near the closet. On a dresser, Detective Nash found a stack of yellow twist ties for garbage bags.
Moving to the family room, he discovered a pager. Nearby was another pager and an answering machine, along with two tapes that fit the answering machine.
Detective Nash made recordings of the answering machine’s tapes. One of the tapes stated, “Friday. Hi, Dawn. This is (inaudible). Friday nine fifty-nine P.M.”
Later on the tape: “Hello, this is Sophie. I’ve moved back to Walnut Creek. Love to hear from you.”
“Monday—three thirty-five. Hey, Justin. This is Mike (probably Mike Henderson). Dude, call me back.”
“Eight-forty P.M. Hey, Justin. This is Mike. Give me a buzz. Reporters are looking for you. It’s about that Bishop thing.”