Unholy Sacrifice

by Robert Scott

  “Ten-ten P.M. Mike again.”

  Tuesday, 5:02 A.M. No message.

  Tuesday, 9:07 A.M. “We have your dog.” (This was from the Animal Control Services.)

  Tuesday, 10:03 A.M. “Carpet cleaning.” (Requesting to pick up dryers.)

  Tuesday, 10:06 A.M. “Mike again. Call my cell phone or the house.”

  Tuesday, 2:57 P.M. “Mike again. Some reporters are looking for you.” (These last three calls were probably placed on August 8.)

  There were also phone numbers programmed into the phone for Sky and Selina.

  Two handcuffs and keys were found in the Saturn’s passenger side, and a button found in the fireplace, along with a lot of ashes. A bank statement for Cal Fed from May 3, 2000, to June 2, 2000, and a deposit from MBNA of $10,000 into a Cal Fed account was discovered as well.

  Nash also saw that Justin Helzer owed people a lot of money. He discovered that Justin owed $6,409 to Household Finance, and a list of other debts totaled nearly $30,000.

  Searching further, he found an owner’s manual for a 9mm Beretta—the same type of pistol that might have been used to kill Jenny Villarin and James Gamble.

  Even more intriguing was a note that simply said: “Two Bird Café.”

  On another note was “Ivan’s check. Get him to fix it.”

  Items found in the bathroom of Saddlewood were a box of tools, screwdriver, valve from a sink, metric wrench, needle-nose pliers and a hammer.

  Other rooms contained a military-style knife with serrated edges and a black knife with a seven-inch blade. There were more daggers, knives and even a sword in the garage.

  Other things were more obscure as to their significance. There was a note about someone named Keri. It had a date of April 10, 2000, on it and the amount of $1,078.

  Detective Nash also found a letter from Selina Bishop to Jordan. It read in part, “What’s up buttercup.” It was mostly a love letter. At the end, she signed it, “I miss you so much. Selina.”

  There were papers about addresses in Marin County, Vallejo, Richmond, Piedmont Avenue in Oakland, and Novato. When these were checked later, they all corresponded to Washington Mutual Savings branches. There was also a list of items to be performed:

  Call Vicki

  Mexico and taxi

  Wake up at 5:30 A.M.

  Date rape drug

  And there was a last chilling item—“Head and teeth—two hours.”

  There seemed to be notes on an amazing array of things: plans to go to Mexico, guns and even crossbows. There was also a note stating wash cord, ashes, vacuum, toothbrush bathroom, wipe Taylor’s stand and chair.

  Detective Nash noted that an electrical cord was found in the bathtub and two ends of it tested presumptively positive for blood. There were also two vacuum cleaners in the house. Physical evidence specialists couldn’t find anything of value in the fireplace, but on the kitchen counter, Detective Nash found a receipt from Not Too Naughty that concerned leg irons.

  There were notes about computers, travel agents, cars and a safe—but a safe was not found at the Saddlewood residence. Detective Nash, just like Detective Elo, found a note about girls and points. But this one was different. It stated: $1 = 1 point. At 500 points, a girl could get full benefits. At 7,500 points, she could get a breast augmentation. And at 10,000 points, she would receive a vacation to the Bahamas.

  Along with these notes on points were receipts that added up to $60.98 from Yardbirds, dated August 5, for plumbing supplies. The supplies were paid for in cash. There were also receipts from Home Depot for sawhorses and concrete.

  Receipts for supplies abounded at the Saddlewood residence. On July 12, 2000, the occupants had bought fence boards, window locks and reciprocating saw blades. The amount had come to $411.12. There were also receipts for duffel bags and attaché cases from Kmart.

  Some receipts were dated July 30, 2000, and included such diverse items as hair coloring, Lysol, lighter fluid and acetone. There was also a receipt for barbell weights from Copeland’s Sports.

  Taylor, Justin and Dawn had left an incredible paper trail all over their Saddlewood home. In the mass of items were receipts for wine and cigars at the Cork and Bottle—July 30, 2000—to a receipt at Monument Car Parts. Every receipt led to some cashier with whom the detectives wanted to talk.

  There were directions to Selina’s house in Marin County and a phone number for Keri Furman down in southern California.

  Detective Lellis found eleven Baggies of pills that contained cocaine or ecstasy. There were also Baggies of mushrooms and a bong.

  Detective Barry Heying looked at videos on a VCR. All of them contained newscasts about either the murders of Jenny Villarin and James Gamble, or the fact that Ivan Stineman, Annette Stineman and Selina Bishop were missing.

  Some of the more interesting bits of evidence were things that weren’t there. These included several stepping-stones from the backyard that appeared to have been pulled up from the ground. They were not in the house or other parts of the yard.

  Detective Ron Mingas videotaped the entire house and yard just as it was found. He also videotaped the apparent bloodstains in the family room.

  Detective Nash noted that eleven swabs were collected in the family room in the supposedly bloodstained area. He also noted that the exterior of the entry door to the bathroom was swabbed and the side door to room number three. There were apparent blood-transfer stains in the bathroom as if someone’s body had been dragged from there.

  Around the fireplace, they found blood on the hearth and, of course, the apparent bloody outline of a body on the family room’s rug.

  Most intriguing of all the piles of documents and notes at Saddlewood were some that pointed toward the Delta. There was a receipt dated August 1, 2000, for a down payment on a personal watercraft that Dawn rented. Another receipt was of the actual rental. These receipts were from Cool Rides in Livermore, and signed by both Justin Helzer and Dawn Godman. According to the receipts, the watercraft was only to be used in the Delta and not taken out of the area. On a nearby scratch pad were handwritten directions to Cool Rides. The directions stated: “680 south to 5. 5 toward Stockton. Drive two miles to Enterprise car rental. Next door is Cool Rides.”

  Detective Mike Warnock went to Cool Rides and found that it was already closed, but he looked in the garbage cans, since garbage in the open doesn’t need a search warrant to be searched or seized. Warnock found a torn-up rental agreement in the middle part of the trash. On the receipt were the names Justin Helzer and Dawn Godman.

  On a later date, he got more details about the account from Robin Miller. She picked Justin out of a photo lineup. Detective Warnock also spoke to the manager at Pep Boys. The manager said that Justin Helzer had a hitch attached to his pickup truck. Justin had even told him, “I’m going out to a lake or the Delta.”

  The detectives also began to speak with people who were either mentioned in notes at the Saddlewood residence, or lived close to the Stinemans’ residence. A detective talked to Rise Bradfield-Minder. She said she had known the Stineman since she was eighteen years old and knew of their habits. Shown a photo lineup of six men, she picked Taylor Helzer out of the group of six as the man she had seen walking up to the door of the Stinemans’ residence on Sunday, July 30. She also picked out a photo of Dawn Godman from a six-photo lineup.

  Minder and the detective reenacted the scene she had witnessed on the evening of July 30. She recalled very well seeing Dawn on the corner, sitting in a white pickup truck. She also was aware at the time that the van was driven by a man and there were no noises coming from the back of the van. In retrospect, however, she seemed to sense at the time that there were individuals in the back of the van.

  Alexandra Price read some of the first news about the missing Stinemans, and had said to a friend, “I think I just saw a couple of hit men walking down the street.”

  She was watching television when she saw an arrest of the Helzer brothers and their photos. She thought, Thos
e look like the two guys I saw.

  In response, Price called the Concord Police Department and was asked to come in and look at a photo lineup. She picked Taylor Helzer out of a group of six mug shots.

  With all of this going on, and her parents still missing, Judy Nemec and her husband flew up to the Bay Area from southern California. They met Lieutenant Paul Crain, of the Support Services of the CPD. He was a liaison to the media, which was very interested in the case by now. It was still only understood dimly by the police on how the deaths of Jennifer Villarin, James Gamble and the disappearance of Selina Bishop and the Stinemans were interconnected.

  Crain told reporters, “There’s a connection based on what we found inside the [Saddlewood] house. We don’t know if the Stinemans are still alive. The investigation is still classified as a missing persons case, but we are concerned about their welfare.”

  This was all big news in the Bay Area by now. Newspaper reporters swarmed the once quiet cul-de-sac at Saddlewood Court and the once equally quiet Frayne Lane. There were several television news vans parked on Frayne Lane near the Stinemans’ residence. It was starting to take on a media circus aspect.

  Judy Nemec said later, “I was in an emotional state of panic. It was like losing a child at the mall. We didn’t know where my parents were.”

  The media was calling Nancy Hall at her home constantly, asking for updates. She said, “It was all very nerve-racking.”

  Nancy helped detectives at her parents’ home as much as she could. She looked at a business card that had “G. Taylor Helzer” written on the front. On the back of the card, in her father’s handwriting, was “Check with Taylor.”

  She didn’t know exactly what the message was supposed to convey.

  Nancy was shown a tin recovered from the Saddlewood residence. It was a tin which was owned by her parents, from Coco’s Restaurant. Inside the tin were illegal drugs and a crack pipe. She knew very well that her parents never used any of those illegal substances.

  She also listened with a detective to audiotapes taken from her parents’ phone message machine.

  Message number one was of her father’s voice telling to leave a message.

  Message number two recorded, “Hello, this is Raymond from Terminix.” It was about the pest control service.

  Message number three was just an advertisement.

  Message number four recorded, “This is Vicki Sexton at Cal Fed.” It was the first call asking them to call her back.

  Message number five recorded, “Hi, this is Vicki Sexton again. It’s very important that you call me back.”

  Message number six stated, “Hi, this is Vicki from Cal Fed. We found your information and will call you next week.”

  Nancy didn’t know what the information concerned. The financial and banking aspect of the Helzers’ scheme was very shadowy to the detectives at this point.

  Detectives also looked for Selina’s car in Berkeley, but to no avail. Even more important than the car was the question: where was Selina Bishop? And for that matter, where were Ivan and Annette Stineman? More realistically at this point, the detectives were wondering where their bodies might be. The only link so far to the Helzer brothers and all the rest of this were some 9mm slugs found in Jenny Villarin and James Gamble and an array of cryptic notes and documents found at Saddlewood.

  The first news coming out of Saddlewood Court was fragmented, illusory and stunning. The San Francisco Chronicle reported, “Tight-lipped Marin County Sheriff’s detectives offered few details about the investigation, but said that a man is being held on drug charges and is a possible suspect in the homicides.” (This referred to the deaths of Jennifer Villarin and James Gamble.)

  The Chronicle also said that detectives were interrogating him about the disappearance of Selina Bishop. At present, all that the media knew was that Taylor and Justin Helzer and an unnamed woman were arrested for drug charges and seemed to have connections to the other crimes.

  Marin County Sheriff’s captain Tom McMains told reporters, “Taylor Helzer is a key individual because he is the last person to see her (Selina Bishop). But I’m not overly optimistic because I don’t know where this will lead us. This case has got a lot of twists and turns, including some very surprising ones.”

  Little did he know at the time how right he was. The twists and turns would meander like a delta slough of murky water. Just below the surface, a vital piece of evidence was about to return to the light of day. It was something that no one anticipated—but once it surfaced, it would blow the case wide open.

  CHAPTER 10

  The Delta of Death

  When Steven Sibert discovered the first body bag floating in the North Fork of the Mokelumne River, it set off a chain reaction of searches and discoveries. Detective Steve Nash would later note, “The dismembered bodies of Ivan Stineman, Annette Stineman and Selina Bishop were discovered inside nine duffel bags, which were found floating separately in various locations in the Mokelumne River in the Sacramento River Delta.

  “Some of the bags were discovered by civilians, some by law enforcement personnel looking for these bags and any evidence that might be related to them, and one was found by a biologist employed by the State Department of Fish and Game. All nine bags were in the water, some floating freely in the river and at least one was up against the riverbank. The people discovering two of the bags saw apparent body parts.”

  On August 8, in the Contra Costa Times, there was as yet no mention of body bags in the Delta. Lieutenant Paul Crain told a reporter, “This is very unusual. We have very little information. There is nothing we can say that is a definite lead at this point.”

  Nancy Hall also made a statement to a reporter that she couldn’t think of anyone who would want to hurt her parents. “They’re just regular people,” she said. “They had lots of friends and didn’t get into confrontations.”

  By Wednesday, August 9, however, news of the discovery of the body bags was big news in all the local papers. The San Francisco Chronicle ran the story, “Marin County homicide investigators and Concord Police detectives are working closely with Sacramento authorities to identify the human remains discovered near Willow Berm Marina on Brannan Island.”

  The Contra Costa Times headline said: TWO CASES COULD BE LINKED. Within the text it stated, “In a sharp twist to a case mired in questions, police said the disappearance of guitarist Elvin Bishop’s missing 22-year-old daughter may be linked to that of an elderly Concord couple.”

  Even then, Lieutenant Paul Crain admitted, “We’re trying to find out who, if anyone from the Saddlewood house, has a connection to the Stinemans.”

  Captain Tom McMains told reporters, “At this point, we only know that bodies were found. We don’t know if they have anything to do with our case.”

  Marin County Sheriff’s Office sergeant Doug Pittman added, “There is nothing to tell me that Selina is deceased. It is our hope that Selina is alive. There is a chain of events surrounding her life which causes us to be concerned for her safety, but at this point I don’t have any information about whether she has been harmed.”

  By Thursday, August 10, more information surfaced, and the Contra Costa Times reported that the Stinemans’ van contained fingerprints that belonged to both Helzer brothers and Dawn Godman. Harold Jewett, a deputy district attorney for Contra Costa County, told a reporter, “I don’t think I have words to describe what I’m beginning to see in this case. There is something truly horrible and perhaps evil in the commission of these crimes. It’s obvious to us that the relationship between Taylor Helzer and the Stinemans was very suggestive of a motive.”

  With the news coming out, the media were heading in all directions—to the Delta, to Saddlewood Court, to Frayne Lane and to Woodacre. At the Paper Mill Creek Saloon, patrons were glued to the television set as more and more news hit the airwaves. A worker there told reporters, “Everybody loved Selina and Jenny and Jim around here.”

  A bulletin board was plastered with memento
es and recollections of the trio. One memo read, “Uncle James, I will forever miss your giant bear hug.”

  Another card stated, “Selina, your heart was bigger than this valley. Goodbye, sweet light.”

  The Helzer brothers’ mother, Carma, was initially overwhelmed by the barrage of media questions. She spoke later of almost wilting under their persistent questioning. She did tell reporters at this point, “They (Taylor and Justin) haven’t done anything criminal. This is a whole new experience for us.” Then she answered a question by saying, “How am I getting through this? By trusting in God, man and the universe. In the end, everything is going to be okay.”

  An acquaintance of the Helzers, Paul Moses, of Martinez, was also stunned by the news. He told reporters, “They always seemed to be straight arrows. I never would have envisioned something like this in a million years. The brothers were very polite. Overtly kind. Their mannerisms were always like, ‘Yes sir, yes ma’am.’”

  Cousin Charney Hoffman said, “I felt sick. Literally. It was like someone kicked me in the stomach.”

  Aunt Dana Hoffman told reporters, “They were wonderful kids. They were an ideal family. Taylor loved people so much he was willing to go out of his way to help out the person who was not included. He was just an incredible young man.”

  A woman named Susan, who went to an LDS church in Martinez, said, “You couldn’t find better kids. But you don’t go from being a model Mormon missionary to drugs. Something had to happen in between.”

  Susan not only had taught Kelly Lord when she was young, but seemed to remember that Justin had been in her Sunday school at one time as well.

  At a press conference in Concord, Gerry and Carma Helzer were besieged by reporters. Gerry said nothing, but Carma made a short statement, while crying. “They are innocent. I would like the victims’ families to join me in prayer for the truth.”

  Flowers began to be placed at the end of the Stineman driveway by neighbors and friends. One card stated, “On your family’s loss, may there be peace in knowing they are together. A neighbor who cares.”