by Robert Scott
“When it came time to rule on Justin’s motions, Judge O’Malley reminded Justin that Mr. Jewett hit his file with the hammer one time to show the jury a person’s intent to kill Selina Bishop. Since the hammer blow came during the guilt phase, it was allowed as evidence.
“Judge O’Malley refused to recuse herself and said she had made all of her decisions during the trials based upon the law. O’Malley stood fast that no inappropriate actions had occurred on her bench during the trial or at any time thereafter, and therefore she would remain the presiding judge in his case.”
Simon Read, of the Tri Valley Herald, was also there and wrote of Justin’s antics: “As he (Justin) explained his concerns with the prosecutor’s case, Helzer often looked directly at Jewett and spoke as if scolding a child. Helzer castigated his defense team for not calling additional witnesses on his behalf. Among those he wanted called were his former neighbors for whom he had baked cookies.”
By February 2005, Justin Helzer’s cookie baking days were over. In that month he awaited Judge O’Malley’s formal declaration of his sentence, as did Taylor Helzer. The formal sentencing finally arrived on March 11, 2005. One of those allowed to speak for the families was Judy Nemec, the Stinemans’ daughter. She said, “I’ve had four and a half years to compose this. I’m the youngest daughter of Ivan and Annette Stineman. My parents did the right things in life. They worked full time, paid their bills and taxes and provided a secure home life for my sister and me. As they raised their family, they invested in company stock with an eye toward retirement. They weren’t wealthy, but they sacrificed to save for their retirement years. Once retired, they entrusted their savings to what they perceived to be a reputable trading company.
“My mom and dad were not ready to die. They were not terminally ill. They still had their faculties and were extremely active. They were members in several clubs, volunteers at the senior center, traveled frequently and enjoyed their pets, family and friends. They were the stereotypical elderly couple in their sunset years, living simply to assure their retirement money would see them through their lives.
“My parents didn’t pass away. The Lord didn’t call them home. And their time on earth was not up. Someone they knew, trusted and cared for handcuffed and shackled them and abducted them from the safety and security of their home. They were then drugged and forced to write checks for a large portion of the nest egg they worked so hard for.
“I still am haunted by the fact my parents were held hostage for a period of time. I don’t care how smooth the perpetrators thought they were. I know my mother and dad. It doesn’t matter that they were told they would be released in three days. The fact that they were handcuffed and guarded led them to suspect otherwise.
“It sickens me to know the last faces my parents saw were those of evil, uncaring people who were so greedy for my parents’ retirement money that they were willing to kill for it. I am still dumbfounded that an impersonator can request your investments be liquidated by phone and it is done without question as long as the right information is provided.
“These murders go beyond cruel, based on Dawn Godman’s testimony. After my parents were drugged and carried into the bathroom, they were awakened to say good-bye. Did the murderers need to see the panic and fear in my parents’ eyes to know what it was like to kill?
“After unsuccessfully trying to smother my struggling parents, Justin Helzer beat my father to death, hammering his head on the bathroom floor again and again until his heart gave out. Daddy’s autopsy report also indicated contusions to his upper chest and abdomen. These cowards found pleasure in beating a drugged, defenseless and arthritic eighty-five-year-old man.
“Glenn Taylor Helzer slit my mother’s throat. Mama’s right orbit bone fractured and she was stabbed more than twenty times, some wounds occurring before death according to the medical examiners. These gentle people spent their last hours on earth as terrified captives who were cruelly and brutally slain by evil personified for their retirement money. I can not think of anything more cowardly than to target helpless people to satisfy selfish greed.
“It would seem that learning my parents were captive, beaten, drugged, stabbed, dismembered, and my mother eviscerated and thrown out like garbage would be the hardest part of coping with this horror. It is not. Not finding them or knowing what happened to them was far worse. If nature hadn’t intervened, the murderers would have been successful in their plan to hide what they had done.
“Mama and Daddy should have died with dignity. Instead, we laid our murdered and dismembered parents to rest on their 55th wedding anniversary. The mortician leading us throughout the early days of this horror, explained that the coroner was trying to assure that the right parts went to the right family. When we discussed the mortuary’s involvement in my parents’ preparation for burial, we were told that very little could be done other than to add a disinfectant to keep the smell down.
“My mother had an unnatural fear of water. Because of this, she and daddy arranged for a mausoleum crypt so she wouldn’t be laid to rest in the wet ground. To know she was left in a watery grave haunts me to this day. There is no penalty in our judicial system to adequately compensate these people for their acts against these two sweet, trusting, elderly people. If the world were fair, the same amount of compassion would be shown the Helzers as they showed my parents. But the world is not fair.
“The impact of my parents’ murders have [sic] had on my life a huge impact. After hearing the testimony, with four and a half years to adjust, I still have trouble believing the acts these three people carefully planned out. I know my mom and dad are gone, but the brutality of their deaths is still too horrific to accept. I’m confused, distracted, fearful, depressed, lost and alone. My life is a little too complicated for my long-time friends. I have suffered financially, since I am self-employed.
“My parents’ ordeal was not an episode of Law and Order, in which fictional characters meet an untimely death and there is an arrest and trial in an hour. Ivan and Annette Stineman were living, kind, gentle and happy people. These two lovely people have always been a source of love and support in my life. They taught me that things happen for a reason, but there is no good reason for what happened to them.
“I will forever be haunted by the events that began on July 30, 2000. My sister and I knew something serious had happened to my mom and dad. I can only imagine how frightened they were before they were murdered. Due to the fact my mother’s internal organs were removed, I’ll never know if she was beaten, raped or whatever motivated these evil people to eviscerate her. It’s not that I think of these things occasionally. Even with the passage of this incredible amount of time, I think of them constantly. Every day, every hour of my life.
“My parents were my best friends. Birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Thanksgiving are times when the grief is overwhelming. Christmas used to be a holiday our family looked forward to with food, family, friends and gifts. Now my husband, sister, aunt and I spend Christmas at the movies. I feel cheated and realize what I am feeling is nothing like the betrayal that Mama and Daddy must have felt.
“Throughout the Helzer trials, I have heard repeatedly the plan to bring unconditional love to the world. I found it ironic that the first comment I made when my parents’ remains were recovered from the Delta was that my unconditional love was gone. I didn’t appreciate it for what it was until it was taken away.
“Thankfully, I spent some quality time with Mama and Daddy two months to the day before they were murdered. I can still see them at the airport with their arms around each other, waving as I boarded my plane for home. My love for them is still as strong as it was the last time that we hugged good-bye.”
After Judy Nemec, Justin Helzer spoke briefly. “I hope to see the day when globally all spiritual truths are fully and voluntarily embraced in our collective spiritual beings, the awareness in every mind great and small. And violence is never necessary, that love joy and peace are the only
eternal constants so that confusion, fear and suffering no longer exist amongst us. That day’s birth is in process, and though at times, the process is painful, when that day arrives, all will rejoice together. Thank you. That’s all.”
A few more matters were discussed between the judge and Justin’s lawyers, and it almost went unnoticed that Carma Helzer wanted to speak from the gallery until Daniel Cook said, “Before you impose sentence in the remaining counts, would you please give the opportunity for my client’s mother to be heard?”
With a soft, kind voice Judge Mary Ann O’Malley responded, “Absolutely. Ms. Helzer, go ahead.”
In a voice, very much akin to Heather’s voice on the stand, Carma said through tears, almost gasping for breath, “First of all, I would like to express my gratitude for the makers of the Constitution of the United States who attempted to the best of their ability to provide each of us as citizens to [sic] have a fair trial. I have never seen the system in action before and I thank all those who formed it and all those who are doing their best to implement the intention of giving us a fair trial.
“I want to express my gratitude to all of you who took part in this and did your very best. I know that everyone in this room . . . well, I feel that those who took part in this are doing their best to create a safe place for us to live in comfort and peace. And I do not take this as a personal vendetta against anyone in particular. This (case) has moved through with a desire and intention for peace and safety for all.
“I want to acknowledge the tremendous amount of suffering that has been experienced because of all of this and I also acknowledge the natural tendency to blame families and mothers and parents for people who they believe committed the crime. Everybody who does blame me, I don’t blame you for blaming me. And those who blame Justin, I don’t blame you for blaming him. And I understand all the reasons for it.
“I want to thank you, Judge O’Malley, today, publicly, for your efforts in creating a safe place for us to live. I want to thank you, Mr. Jewett, publicly today, for doing what you think is right in creating a safe place for us to live. And I want to thank the juries publicly and all the people, the time and sacrifice that they made in following through on their duties as citizens. And I know how hard . . . well, I don’t know how hard it must have been, because I wasn’t there, but I can imagine it.
“And I want to thank Justin’s attorneys for doing their best.
“I want to thank my son, for being my son, and for all the blessings he’s brought into my life and to many other people in his life before these events occurred. I know, Justin, that you are not the sum of what you’ve been convicted of, but you are far more than that. All of us are far more than just one event in our lives and one stupid mistake.
“Thank you for letting me speak.”
Once again in a thoughtful voice, Judge O’Malley said, “You’re welcome, Mrs. Helzer.”
Now it was time. Judge O’Malley read through the various counts and said, “Therefore, this is to command you, the Sheriff of said Contra Costa County, as provided in said judgement, to take Justin Alan Helzer to the State Prison at San Quentin, California, and deliver him into the custody of the warden of the State Prison.
“Further, this is to command you, the warden of the State Prison at San Quentin, California, to hold in your custody the said Justin Alan Helzer pending the decision of this cause on appeal, and upon this judgement becoming final, to carry into effect the judgement of said Court at a time and on a date to be hereafter fixed by order of this Court within the State Prison and at which time and place you shall then and there put to death said Justin Alan Helzer, in the manner and means prescribed by law.
“In witness thereof, I have hereunto set my hand as Judge of said Superior Court and have caused the seal of the said Court to be affixed hereto, in open court this day of March 11, 2005.”
Then in the absolutely silent courtroom, she wrote her name on the document, and everyone could hear the sound of the pen as it moved along the paper.
That same afternoon, it was Taylor’s turn. Robert Asuncion once again spoke for his side of the family and former Detective Erin Inskip spoke of what the tragedy had done to her personally. She said in part, “In the thirteen years I was in law enforcement, I have to say this, in the courtroom when I entered here, I was scared to death. I thank you Mr. Jewett and his team for every sacrifice that they made. It makes me really sad to know that Mr. Helzer took out five beautiful people in a very brutal fashion.”
Turning directly toward Taylor she said, “You profoundly affected my life, and I mean it affected every aspect of my life. It still does today. Unfortunately, I lost my career as a result of this. During a conversation in the jail (with Taylor) he said, that he was afraid. That’s why he jumped out of the car and took off running. And said that he was sorry that he had done that. He hoped that he hadn’t hurt my career.
“You know, I think that at times, people have an expectation of law enforcement, that we’re strong and that we have to be in order to do our job. Without going into great detail, what I witnessed was awful. It was absolutely awful, and to know that it happened to a person . . . well, they weren’t strangers to Mr. Helzer. They trusted him and allowed him into their lives.
“I’ll never be able to understand how a person can do that to another person. It just makes no sense. I’m not the only one who struggles with that. I will always struggle with that.
“As I reflect on the initial part of our investigation. . . Selina was a smart cookie. Her intuition told her that something was not right. And she put the pen to paper and put her thoughts down on paper. And she left her pager behind. Nobody will know why she did that. I think she had a sixth sense. I think she knew that something wrong was happening. And as an investigator I’m so glad we had that information, because it took us to the right place in a very short period of time.”
(Pointing to the Stineman daughters and Selina’s relatives) “I have an extended family now. More brothers and sisters. I love each and everyone of you. And God bless you. I am so, so sorry.”
Ms. Chapot spoke briefly on Taylor’s behalf, saying there was more to him than just a murderer. “Taylor is not all evil. There is a wonderful, wonderful part of Taylor. A fascinating, interesting, good part of Taylor. That I was not able to show that sufficiently in court is a burden that I have to bear for the rest of my life.”
Finally it was the turn of the mastermind of everything that had happened in the Days of Thunder in 2000. A hush fell over the court room as Taylor Helzer stood and began to address the gallery.
He told the people in the packed gallery that he felt like he risked giving offense by speaking or keeping silent, and he apologized if his words did give offense. He acknowledged that even his presence might give offense. He said that his hope was that his words might speed the healing process for them. And then he said that he realized that his actions had been “unspeakably horrific,” and that he was very, very sorry. Taylor said that at the time, his actions were not meant to be horrific. He turned toward Detective Erin Inskip and said that he had been doing a good thing.
Taylor explained that if he was purely evil, he would delight in their misery. Then he added, this was not the case, and to continue hating him was to give him power. He said, “I cannot conceive of suggesting that you forgive. I suggest that if you choose not to forgive, that you consider me less than dirt on your shoes, and do whatever you can to forget me. If your peace of mind depends on my execution, you give my life and my choices continuous power over you and your lives.”
Taylor said that evil had no value, and that he hoped their memories of him would fade when he was executed. If they obtained joy from his death, then he was for that. He asked why they should even taint their thoughts with him, and he understood why they, and society, would want to execute him. From here, however, his words veered in a different direction. Taylor spoke of children who were mentally, emotionally, sexually and physically addicted to drugs and dan
gerous behavior. They turned to crime to support their habits. He said these things led to murder, but could the people in the courtroom, say in all honesty, that the murderers should not have time to repent and change their ways?
He announced that a trial often hund in the balance between two unequal actors (in a reference to Mr. Jewett and Ms. Chapot). He said that in America, a great deal of time and money was placed in a capital case to try and enforce fairness. Then he added that governments less noble than America’s used capital punishment for political ends. He called it legalized, state-sanctioned murder.
At this point, Mr. Jewett became incensed at the direction that Taylor’s speech was going. Jewett said to Judge O’Malley, “Could I request if the defendant is going to talk about the government, he be admonished to contain his comments to the Court and not the gallery, please?”
Taylor replied, “If you want me to, I will.”
Judge O’Malley said, “If you’re talking about policy on the death pentalty, address those comments to me. If you’re apolgizing to the victims’ families, you may make your comments to the audience. Thank you.”
Taylor replied, “Thank you. And thank you, Mr. Jewett.” He then faced Judge O’Malley and said that governments less noble than that of the United States murdered thousands of innocent people with the specific intent to keep themselves in power. He added, that by having the death penalty in the United States, the government lost whatever moral high ground they sought to obtain within the whole community. Then he said he was done talking about the death penalty, and turned once more toward the gallery, and Detective Inskip in particular.