Category: Glenn and Justin Helzer

One of two brothers sentenced to death in Contra Costa County in 2005 for slaughtering five people in a bizarre murder-extortion plot designed to hasten Christ’s return to Earth has been hospitalized after apparently trying to commit suicide.

The man’s brother has enlisted him and a roommate in a cult-like plot to train Brazilian orphans to slaughter the leaders of the Mormon Church so he could become its prophet and “transform America.”

Two brothers responsible for a gruesome spate of slayings in West Marin were officially sentenced to death on Friday by a superior court judge in Contra Costa County.

But despite the death sentences, which were welcomed by many of those close to the victims, it may be years before the convicted killers are executed.

Former spouse says execution would ‘devastate’ daughters MARTINEZ — Sending confessed murderer Glenn Taylor Helzer to California’s death chamber would devastate his two young daughters, Helzer’s former wife testified Monday. Ann Helzer was the final witness called by defense attorneys in a trial that explored issues of religious fanaticism and centered on a murderous plot to secure Christ’s return to earth. Helzer said her ex-husband — whom she married in April 1993 — was a television junky who, prior to marriage, had lived a sheltered life. “He knew a lot about church — and that had been most of his

Motivational courses harmed pair, they say Two men who killed five people in a bizarre extortion plot completed intense motivational “trainings” similar to those that garnered charges of brainwashing in the 1970s, and, their attorneys claim, the seminars contributed to their troubled state of mind. Glenn and Justin Helzer ‘s participation in Impact Trainings and similar programs run by Impact graduates, in Utah and Sacramento, profoundly affected the brothers and should be considered by jurors in Glenn Helzer’s punishment, the attorneys argued. See Also The Awareness Page : Large Group Awareness Trainings (LGATs)/ They have also argued that drug use,

Attorney probes history of mental illness in family of confessed murderer MARTINEZ — Confessed murderer Glenn Taylor Helzer harbored an apocalyptic view of the world and hoped to lead elements of the Mormon church against the forces of Armageddon, a one-time friend testified Monday. Helzer’s friends and family took the stand as the defense opened its case Monday and sought to spare Helzer’s life. The day’s testimony portrayed Helzer as an individual whose disillusionment with the Mormon church sent him down a dark path. Ohio resident Jonathan Taylor — who met Helzer in the early 1990s while both were on

MARTINEZ – Jurors in the penalty trial of Glenn Taylor Helzer heard two witnesses once close to Helzer describe how he masterminded an extortion plot and five murders in the summer of 2000. Victims’ family members and jurors cried as they heard how Helzer and his accomplices killed two of their victims in a bathroom and then placed their body parts in bags. The jury, which must recommend either life in prison or a death sentence for Helzer, heard from former Playboy Magazine model Keri Mendoza and Dawn Godman, a confessed accomplice of Helzer’s. Mendoza wove the story of how

MARTINEZ – The jury that found Justin Helzer guilty of murdering five people, then decided he was sane when he did it, now must decide whether he should die for his crimes. The sentencing phase of the 32-year-old man’s trial concluded Monday in Contra Costa County Superior Court. Closing arguments were scheduled for Wednesday, then jurors must decide between life in prison and the death penalty for Helzer. Helzer was convicted last month of killing Selina Bishop, the 22-year-old daughter of blues guitarist Elvin Bishop, her mother, her mother’s boyfriend and an elderly Concord couple who once employed Helzer’s older