Autopsies Unveil Gruesome Details
By Corey Lyons
Contra Costa Newspapers
Nov. 14, 2000
SACRAMENTO -- Three months after gym bags surfaced in the Delta loaded with human remains, an autopsy report Monday revealed for the first time the details that led to the three deaths.
A report by the Sacramento County Coroner's Office confirmed that the daughter of blues guitarist Elvin Bishop and a retired Concord couple were beaten and stabbed before they were dismembered.
There was no indication that the victims had been tortured or drugged before being killed, according to the report. The nearly 150-page report showed that each victim had been stabbed scores of times in the upper torso, arms and head.
"The files are now complete and document the circumstances, manner and cause of death for each of the victims in this complicated and horrific case," said Sacramento County Coroner Paul Smith.
The report detailed how the body parts of Ivan Stineman, 85, Annette Stineman, 78, and Selina Bishop, 22, were intermingled and arranged among nine duffel bags that floated to the surface of the Mokelumne River on Aug. 7-12.
It also revealed the manner in which the accused killers had attacked and how methodically they had prepared to dismember the bodies.
Three people are accused of conspiring to kill the Stinemans and Bishop, the 22-year-old daughter of electric blues guitarist Elvin Bishop.
Glenn Helzer, 30, his brother Justin Helzer, 28, and their housemate Dawn Godman, 26, all of Concord, are the suspects. They are being held at County Jail in Martinez and will return to court Dec. 1 for an update conference.
The autopsy described what the coroner's officials found in each bag and their painstaking effort to link the pieces to the appropriate bodies.
The killers appeared to have taken their time in securing the body parts in plastic garbage bags, fastened by yellow-coated wire ties, before zipping them shut in nylon duffel bags.
Bishop had suffered from skull fractures and deep stab wounds, some of which penetrated her heart, lungs and liver. After she was killed, her lower jaw was removed and her head, arms and legs were severed, the report said.
Ivan Stineman was also beaten and stabbed, including 26 "sharp-force injuries" near his lower abdominal and pelvic regions. The report concludes that he may have suffered a heart problem during the assault.
The report showed that coroner's officials found trace amounts of methamphetamine on the body of Annette Stineman. But the coroner theorized that it may have been accidentally transferred there by one of the killers.
Prosecutors have also charged the Helzers and Godman with the Aug. 3 fatal shooting of a Marin couple, James Gamble, 54, and 45-year-old Jennifer Villarin, Selina's mother.
The preliminary hearing, where a judge will decide whether enough evidence exists to take the case to trial, is scheduled for Jan. 22.
The Contra Costa District Attorney's Office, which will prosecute all five homicides, has received the autopsy reports, said deputy district attorney Harold Jewett.
Concord police Lt. Paul Crain referred all questions to the District Attorney's Office.
"We're pretty close to the point where we will turn everything over to the D.A.'s office," he said. "We will continue to investigate as things come up, but we are turning most of it over in the next couple weeks."
Authorities said the suspects began planning their crime spree months in advance.
Their alleged goal was to extort $100,000 from the Stinemans, for whom Glenn Helzer had served as a financial adviser.
But the case, which spanned three counties, started to unravel once the bags containing the body parts of the victims began surfacing in the Delta.
Authorities believe the remains, weighed down by colored stones, were deliberately intermingled to make identification more difficult.
On Aug. 31, Sacramento County coroner's officials -- nearly three weeks after the last duffel bag was found -- released what had been its most detailed account of the crimes, concluding that the victims had died from beatings and stabbings.
There was no indication that they had been shot. A forensic pathologist at the time said the victims' lowered jaws had been removed in an attempt to thwart identification.
But until the autopsy was released Monday, few details of the killing and dismembering had been released.
The Stinemans were last seen alive July 30. Bishop was last seen alive Aug. 2.
Contra Costa Newspapers
Nov. 14, 2000
SACRAMENTO -- Three months after gym bags surfaced in the Delta loaded with human remains, an autopsy report Monday revealed for the first time the details that led to the three deaths.
A report by the Sacramento County Coroner's Office confirmed that the daughter of blues guitarist Elvin Bishop and a retired Concord couple were beaten and stabbed before they were dismembered.
There was no indication that the victims had been tortured or drugged before being killed, according to the report. The nearly 150-page report showed that each victim had been stabbed scores of times in the upper torso, arms and head.
"The files are now complete and document the circumstances, manner and cause of death for each of the victims in this complicated and horrific case," said Sacramento County Coroner Paul Smith.
The report detailed how the body parts of Ivan Stineman, 85, Annette Stineman, 78, and Selina Bishop, 22, were intermingled and arranged among nine duffel bags that floated to the surface of the Mokelumne River on Aug. 7-12.
It also revealed the manner in which the accused killers had attacked and how methodically they had prepared to dismember the bodies.
Three people are accused of conspiring to kill the Stinemans and Bishop, the 22-year-old daughter of electric blues guitarist Elvin Bishop.
Glenn Helzer, 30, his brother Justin Helzer, 28, and their housemate Dawn Godman, 26, all of Concord, are the suspects. They are being held at County Jail in Martinez and will return to court Dec. 1 for an update conference.
The autopsy described what the coroner's officials found in each bag and their painstaking effort to link the pieces to the appropriate bodies.
The killers appeared to have taken their time in securing the body parts in plastic garbage bags, fastened by yellow-coated wire ties, before zipping them shut in nylon duffel bags.
Bishop had suffered from skull fractures and deep stab wounds, some of which penetrated her heart, lungs and liver. After she was killed, her lower jaw was removed and her head, arms and legs were severed, the report said.
Ivan Stineman was also beaten and stabbed, including 26 "sharp-force injuries" near his lower abdominal and pelvic regions. The report concludes that he may have suffered a heart problem during the assault.
The report showed that coroner's officials found trace amounts of methamphetamine on the body of Annette Stineman. But the coroner theorized that it may have been accidentally transferred there by one of the killers.
Prosecutors have also charged the Helzers and Godman with the Aug. 3 fatal shooting of a Marin couple, James Gamble, 54, and 45-year-old Jennifer Villarin, Selina's mother.
The preliminary hearing, where a judge will decide whether enough evidence exists to take the case to trial, is scheduled for Jan. 22.
The Contra Costa District Attorney's Office, which will prosecute all five homicides, has received the autopsy reports, said deputy district attorney Harold Jewett.
Concord police Lt. Paul Crain referred all questions to the District Attorney's Office.
"We're pretty close to the point where we will turn everything over to the D.A.'s office," he said. "We will continue to investigate as things come up, but we are turning most of it over in the next couple weeks."
Authorities said the suspects began planning their crime spree months in advance.
Their alleged goal was to extort $100,000 from the Stinemans, for whom Glenn Helzer had served as a financial adviser.
But the case, which spanned three counties, started to unravel once the bags containing the body parts of the victims began surfacing in the Delta.
Authorities believe the remains, weighed down by colored stones, were deliberately intermingled to make identification more difficult.
On Aug. 31, Sacramento County coroner's officials -- nearly three weeks after the last duffel bag was found -- released what had been its most detailed account of the crimes, concluding that the victims had died from beatings and stabbings.
There was no indication that they had been shot. A forensic pathologist at the time said the victims' lowered jaws had been removed in an attempt to thwart identification.
But until the autopsy was released Monday, few details of the killing and dismembering had been released.
The Stinemans were last seen alive July 30. Bishop was last seen alive Aug. 2.
posted by Corey at 3:44 PM
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