MARTINEZ, Calif. There’s been a strange development in another high-profile trial underway in the Bay Area.
As jurors were about to begin considering yesterday if convicted murderer Justin Helzer should be sentenced to death, he told the jury — quote — “I want this life to be over…I want to die.”
His lawyers tried to calm him, and the judge scolded Helzer and told him to be quiet.
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Helzer’s mother was in the courtroom. She burst into tears. Some jurors also wept, before they were hurried out of the courtroom by the judge.
The 32-year-old Helzer, his older brother, Glenn, and a former roommate were convicted of killing five people during the summer of 2000.
One of their victims was the 22-year-old daughter of blues guitarist Elvin Bishop.