Category: Glenn and Justin Helzer

Cult murder-extortion brother attempts suicide

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.”

Prosecutor calls killer a ‘psychopath,’ religious extremist

Saw similar to that used in murders activated in court Glenn Helzer says he killed five people in the opening salvo of a battle to save the world from Satan, but he is nothing more than a “psychopath” and a religious extremist who sought to promote himself instead of God, a prosecutor said Tuesday. During closing arguments in Helzer’s death penalty hearing, Contra Costa County prosecutor Harold Jewett at times choked back tears as he described the savage murders and the victims. At other times, Jewett raised his voice as he pointed at Helzer. At one point, while talking about

Ex-wife wants Helzer spared

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

Killers’ lawyers blame seminars

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,

Helzer witnesses talk of his religion, youth

Glenn Taylor Helzer returned from his Mormon mission in Brazil in the early 1990s a changed man, interpreting Scripture with a belief system that differed from traditional church doctrine, defense witnesses said Monday in the penalty trial of the confessed quintuple killer. “He started to say that the church was going in the wrong direction,” said Dane Williams, a friend from the Mormon ward in Martinez. “The whole church was incorrect.” Williams was one of nearly a dozen witnesses Monday, the first day the defense presented its case to a jury that will recommend life in prison or the death

Defense seeks to spare Helzer

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

Ex-Playmate rehashes Helzer’s extortion plot

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

Jury recommends death for Justin Helzer

MARTINEZ – A jury recommended the death penalty Tuesday for Justin Helzer in the deaths of the daughter of blues guitarist Elvin Bishop and an elderly couple as part of a bizarre crime spree four years ago. The jury also recommended life in prison without the possibility of parole for Helzer’s role in the deaths of two other people. Many in the jury of 10 women and two men held hands in the jury box and cried as a clerk polled them about their decisions after the three-month trial. Juror {PI:EF}5 was sobbing so hard, she could barely answer when

Jury to begin deliberating quintuple murderer’s fate

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