Hollywood Secrets

Summary

48 Hours: "Hollywood Secrets" – Detailed Summary

Introduction

In the gripping episode titled "Hollywood Secrets," CBS News' "48 Hours" delves deep into the unsolved 1977 murder of Krista Helm, a young Hollywood aspirant whose life was tragically cut short. Hosted by award-winning correspondents, the episode navigates through decades of mystery, uncovering the complex web of relationships, hidden evidence, and persistent investigative efforts that seek to bring justice to Krista and closure to her family.

Krista Helm's Life and Ambitions

Krista Helm was a vibrant and ambitious young woman from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who dreamed of making it big in Hollywood. As her daughter Nicole Helm recounts, Krista was determined to escape her small-town roots:

“From the time she was a little girl, she would dance and sing and tell everybody she was going to be a movie star when she grew up. And of course, in little Milwaukee, Wisconsin, no one believed her.”
[05:57] – Nicole Helm

Krista's journey led her to New York City, where she quickly immersed herself in the bustling party scene, mingling with famous personalities such as Mick Jagger, Warren Beatty, and Jack Nicholson. Her magnetic presence and ambition earned her roles in films like "Let's Go for Broke," although her movie career had its setbacks, including a short-lived film that closed after just four days in Cincinnati.

The Murder and Initial Investigation

On February 12, 1977, Krista Helm left a party in West Hollywood and was brutally attacked and stabbed multiple times outside her agent's house. The violent nature of her murder left the community in shock. As Nicole Helm reflects on the night of the tragedy:

“I think the fight just got to be a little too difficult for her. It got ugly. There were a lot of dark people and dark lifestyles that she didn't really want to be part of.”
[30:05] – Nicole Helm

Initial investigations were complicated by the disappearance of Krista's personal effects, including a critical diary and numerous sex tapes she had recorded with various celebrities. These items were believed to contain information that could have served as a motive for her murder, possibly involving extortion.

Missing Evidence: Diary and Tapes

Krista's diary and tapes were central to understanding the motive behind her murder. According to Nicole Helm:

“They think that the diary was what was taken from her body when she died and that she was going to blackmail people with the diary.”
[02:48] – Nicole Helm

The disappearance of these items created significant dead ends in the investigation. Over the years, most of Krista's belongings were recovered from the home of her close friend, Lenny Barron. However, the whereabouts of the diary and tapes remained unknown, fueling suspicions of foul play within her inner circle.

The Cold Case Reopened

Decades later, driven by a desire for justice, Nicole Helm urged authorities to revisit her mother's unsolved case. This led to the involvement of Detectives Larry Brandenburg and Tom Harris from the LA Sheriff's Department's Cold Case Unit. Their approach involved meticulously retracing the steps of the original investigation and re-examining old evidence with modern forensic techniques.

Detectives Brandenburg and Harris emphasized the challenges of reopening a case three decades old:

“Well, actually, you try and go back in time yourself. I mean, you try and go back and look at it the way it looked that night one more time.”
[17:32] – Narrator

Key Suspects and Leads

Several individuals emerged as potential suspects over the years, each connected to Krista's tumultuous life:

1. Tony Sirico: Known for his role as Paulie Walnuts in "The Sopranos," Sirico had interacted with Krista after her murder. According to Krista's roommate, Sirico removed some of Krista's tapes, raising suspicions about his involvement. However, his DNA was eventually cleared.

2. Rudy Mazzella: A flamboyant drug dealer who bragged about killing Krista. Despite his assertions, there was insufficient evidence to link him conclusively to the murder, and he remains deceased.

3. Patty Collins: Krista's girlfriend, whose relationship with her was tumultuous and marked by jealousy. Patty provided a DNA sample, which did not match the evidence found under Krista's fingernails, though her evasive behavior continues to raise questions.

4. Lionel Williams: Convicted for the murder of Sal Mineo, Williams was initially believed to have been incarcerated during Krista's murder. However, it was later revealed that he was released shortly after and never questioned about Krista's death. Detectives now consider him a prime suspect due to similarities between the two cases.

DNA Breakthrough

A pivotal moment in the investigation came with the discovery of DNA evidence from Krista's fingernails, preserved for over thirty years. Intriguingly, the DNA belonged to another woman, suggesting the possibility of a female perpetrator. This revelation shifted the focus towards Patty Collins and other women in Krista's life, exploring motives rooted in jealousy and betrayal.

Current Status and Pursuit of Justice

As of the episode's release, Brandenburg and Harris continue to pursue leads, including re-examining old testimonies and seeking new interviews with individuals connected to Krista's life. Despite significant advancements in forensic technology, the case remains unsolved, leaving Krista's family yearning for answers.

Nicole Helm remains steadfast in her quest for truth:

“I believe that this person is out there. And I believe that we're going to find closure one day for my mom and. And we're going to find justice.”
[44:55] – Nicole Helm

Conclusion

"Hollywood Secrets" masterfully intertwines the glamour of Hollywood with the dark underbelly of unchecked ambition and the complexities of unresolved justice. Through compelling interviews, meticulous recounting of events, and the relentless pursuit of truth by both the family and law enforcement, the episode underscores the enduring impact of unsolved crimes and the human desire for closure. As the investigation continues, viewers are left contemplating the intricate connections and hidden motives that may one day reveal the truth behind Krista Helm's tragic fate.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Nicole Helm on Her Mother's Ambition:
  “From the time she was a little girl, she would dance and sing and tell everybody she was going to be a movie star when she grew up.”
  [05:57]

• Krista’s Friend on Her Personality:
  “She was throwing parties for big names... the Shah of Iran she dated, and he sent her jewels.”
  [08:39]

• John Gries on the Night of the Murder:
  “I jumped out of bed and... it sounded like it was happening right here.”
  [12:15]

• Detective on the Nature of the Crime:
  “The way she was attacked really sticks out. It was violent, a lot of passion involved.”
  [25:30]

• Darlene Thorson on Krista's Jealousy:
  “Patty was very, very jealous of anyone being around Krista.”
  [33:58]

• Nicole Helm on Seeking Justice:
  “We're going to find closure one day for my mom and. And we're going to find justice.”
  [44:55]

Final Thoughts

"48 Hours: Hollywood Secrets" serves as a compelling exploration of a cold case that remains enshrouded in mystery. The episode not only highlights the challenges in solving decades-old crimes but also portrays the enduring resilience of a daughter seeking to honor her mother's memory. As the investigation presses on, viewers are reminded of the intricate dance between fame, personal ambition, and the dark secrets that can lurk beneath the surface of Hollywood's glittering facade.

Transcript

[Narrator]

Have you ever spotted McDonald's hot crispy fries right as they're being scooped into the carton? And time just stands still. This ranch is under attack. Our whole wheel is under attack.

[Commercial Announcer]

Streaming Sunday, February 23rd on Paramount. Plus the return of 1923, a Yellowstone origin story.

[Narrator]

My family is in danger and I don't have time.

[Commercial Announcer]

Starring academy award winner Helen Mirren and academy award nominee Harry. I pray Spencer can get here.

[Narrator]

This fight ain't over.

[Commercial Announcer]

Anything worth having is worth fighting for. 1923 Season 2 streaming Sunday, February 23rd exclusively on Paramount. Plus.

[Nicole Helm]

She was my movie star. Mommy. Someone has been walking around for 30 years having committed this heinous crime on my mother. I want to know what happened to her. My mom was killed February 12, 1977. I was nine. We found all kinds of things. Two huge boxes, all kinds of evidence, all kinds of interviews, all kinds of information that nobody had looked at before. They were just tucked away.

[Narrator]

The crime scene where Krista Helm was murdered in 1977. She had left a party in West Hollywood and she was attacked and stabbed numerous times. She was a very good looking girl.

[Nicole Helm]

How's my technique coming?

[Narrator]

Oh, you're doing fine. She was not against posing in seductive type photos.

[Nicole Helm]

She was a young Hollywood starlet party girl. She hung out with Joe Namath, Mick.

[Narrator]

Jagger, Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson, the Shah of Iran. We knew that she kept a diary.

[Nicole Helm]

My mom was a very smart woman. I can definitely see her keeping track of things.

[Narrator]

We don't know if there may have been extortion. A lot of people have told us that there's a diary that's missing.

[Nicole Helm]

They think that the diary was what was taken from her body when she died and that she was going to blackmail people with the diary. We don't know all the names in that book.

[Narrator]

We know that she did have some tapes of famous people sexually.

[Darlene Thorson]

I could send you into a sexual frenzy.

[Nicole Helm]

She had intimate relations and intimate knowledge of a lot of famous people. I think it's gonna be a huge surprise when people find out who committed this crime.

[Friend of Krista]

She got in way overhead. She was playing with the big boys. Somebody killed her because of what she kn.

[Narrator]

The last take. Tonight's 48 Hours Mystery.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Detective]

We're gonna need every one of them.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Nicole Helm]

Starfleet is here to make sure no one commits murder.

[Commercial Announcer]

What a cute idea. This is chaos. Let's get messy. Don't miss Star Trek section 30. Now streaming exclusively on Paramount Plus.

[Nicole Helm]

The dream was me standing in a room overlooking a parking lot. The wall is glass. I see my mother walking through. I notice someone coming up behind her. They've got a knife in their hand. And I just am screaming and screaming and screaming for someone to help her.

[Commercial Announcer]

Krista Helm's daughter Nicole doesn't want us to mention her last name or reveal where she lives because her mother's killer has never been caught.

[Nicole Helm]

There was a strength and a drive in me that I always felt from a very young age came from her. And I held onto that as my little piece of my mom, where did you come from? She had a charisma that was just overwhelming. She had a warmth that just made people just be drawn to her on a regular basis. She was powerful and strong and took no bull. She was a very complicated, beautiful human being.

[Commercial Announcer]

And says Nicole, her mother was born to be a star.

[Nicole Helm]

From the time she was a little girl, she would dance and sing and tell everybody she was going to be a movie star when she grew up. And of course, in little Milwaukee, Wisconsin, no one believed her.

[Commercial Announcer]

Krista Helm had the kind of story that Hollywood legends are made from. Smart, sexy, and stunningly beautiful. She was the classic small town girl with a big Hollywood dream. Christa was determined to become a star, and she had the energy and unyielding ambition to make it happen.

[Friend of Krista]

I remember her one time saying, well, Darlene, I'm not going to be a Midwestern housewife.

[Commercial Announcer]

Darlene Thorson was Christa's lifelong friend.

[Friend of Krista]

We had a saying between the two of us. All's fair in love and war. And she lived by those words. Nothing would really stop her from getting.

[Commercial Announcer]

What she wanted, not even a shotgun wedding when Christa was just 17 years old.

[Nicole Helm]

She was a teenager. He owned a karate studio. They were married in Chicago. And the morning after their wedding, she woke up in their honeymoon suite, and my father was gone.

[Commercial Announcer]

That was back in 1967. Nicole came along a few months later. But within a couple of years, Nicole's young and ambitious mother grew restless and took off to follow her dream. The first stop, the bright lights of New York, where she found work as a model. Taking the city by storm would be impossible with a toddler in tow. So Nicole was left behind in the care of a good friend. But Krista promised mother and daughter would one day be together.

[Nicole Helm]

I was supposed to be with her when I turned 10.

[Commercial Announcer]

Until then, Nicole was a visitor in her mother's life.

[Nicole Helm]

When I was with her, she made me feel so important. The moments that I had with her really strengthened the belief that, you know, I wasn't. She didn't just throw me away. She was really waiting until I was 10, till she felt safe.

[Commercial Announcer]

Her model good looks and splashy personality made Christa unnatural for New York's party scene in the early 70s.

[Darlene Thorson]

If she walked in a room, if everyone in the room hadn't stopped to notice her walk in, then she would come back in again and get it right.

[Commercial Announcer]

Krista's sister, Marisa Rahm, was also a sometime actress. She was often at Christa's side.

[Darlene Thorson]

Very driven, very ambitious, really young.

[Commercial Announcer]

One of the first people Christa met in New York was a wealthy patron of the arts named Stuart Duncan. He took an interest in Christa's career, opening doors for her.

[Darlene Thorson]

She was throwing parties for big names the Rolling Stones for. She actually got bachelorette of the month with Cosmopolitan. There were definitely big figures in her life. The Shah of Iran she dated, and he sent her jewels.

[Commercial Announcer]

Krista also picked up a fancy new best friend for life, A flamboyant New York clothing designer named Lenny Barron.

[Darlene Thorson]

She just had him around, sort of feeding her sense of stardom, like the entourage.

[Commercial Announcer]

And then in 1973, Krista got the break she'd been waiting for. Stuart Duncan gave her a starring role in a movie called let's go for broke.

[Nicole Helm]

When they were filming it, hair and makeup and people just fussing over her all around, and she was in control of the whole scenario. And that was my mom.

[Darlene Thorson]

We forgot the customary bow.

[Commercial Announcer]

The movie opened up in Cincinnati in 1974 and promptly closed in just four days. Undeterred, a few months later, Christa headed straight for Hollywood.

[Nicole Helm]

But there's only going to be one winner in this contest, and you're looking at her.

[Commercial Announcer]

She landed bit roles in Wonder Woman. I have personal things I'd like to.

[Nicole Helm]

Go over with you. It Won't take long.

[Commercial Announcer]

And Starsky and Hodge.

[Nicole Helm]

How about an 8 by 10 glossy of my 6 foot 2 boyfriend? It was always a great adventure when I'd go to visit my mom.

[Commercial Announcer]

Nicole remembers visiting her mother at a Beverly Hills home.

[Nicole Helm]

This was a spectacular mansion. It was absolutely enormous. I'd never seen anything like it. It was the first place I'd ever seen that had maids quarter.

[Commercial Announcer]

That mansion belonged to a famous financier, Bernie Kornfeld, who was once profiled by Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes.

[Narrator]

Bernie goes no place without companions. Principally female, notably attractive, and inevitably more.

[Nicole Helm]

Than one sitting on the couch. I was very, very young and there was a big, huge party going on and lots of smoke in the air. And I kept just staring at this fellow's lips. They were the most fascinating thing I had ever seen. I just stared and stared and stared. It was Mick Jagger.

[Darlene Thorson]

We were hanging out in clubs that Warren Beatty was at, Ryan O'Neal, Jack Nicholson. If you were a beautiful enough starlet, you know, you would get to go into the, in, in, in clubs. And so that's where we were usually hanging out.

[Commercial Announcer]

Krista was not only ambitious and adventurous, she also liked to keep score. Her friends say she kept a secret sex diary complete with a rating system.

[Friend of Krista]

What she did was she gave these people a rating, like, you know, 1 to 10, so to speak.

[Commercial Announcer]

While Krista partied in Hollywood, Nicole prepared for that much talked about mother daughter reunion. But it would never happen. Krista Helm was stabbed to death.

[John Gries]

I can still remember it. And it was a. I couldn't tell if it was a screaming baby or a cat being killed. It was a horrendous, horrendous scream. It was terrifying.

[Commercial Announcer]

Actor John Gries was 19 then. He was staying at his mother's house just down the street from where Krista was attacked.

[John Gries]

I remember I jumped out of bed and of course I, you know, my father had recently passed away and I had his pistol and I pulled his pistol out. I was frightened to death. It sounded like it was happening right here.

[Commercial Announcer]

Gries stood in his yard but didn't hear anything more or see anything and went back inside.

[John Gries]

The next day the sheriff came knocking on the door and they asked if any of us had heard anything unusual in the middle of the night. And then they told me that somebody had been murdered. And I remember the police officer saying, had I walked into the street and looked down, I would have seen her, but I only looked down the sidewalk.

[Commercial Announcer]

Turns out Gries had his own connection with Krista.

[John Gries]

There were a lot of Girls like Krista. I met her a couple of times. Beautiful girls who just kind of seemed to work their way through the various corners of of Hollywood.

[Nicole Helm]

The reality hit me that I wasn't going to go have this beautiful life with my mommy that I'd been dreaming about for so long. And I fell to my knees outside of the school and just sobbed and sobbed and sobbed.

[Commercial Announcer]

As the detectives started to investigate, they soon realized the case would be very difficult. With Christa's complicated life, there were plenty of people who might want to kill her.

[Friend of Krista]

I think that she was a little girl that made it big in Hollywood. A little girl that knew too much.

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Nicole Helm]

This place will follow us for the.

[Commercial Announcer]

Rest of our lives.

[Darlene Thorson]

The only way to truly be safe is to be the only one left.

[Commercial Announcer]

This season. The past will come back to hunt you. You really are insane. Yellow Jackets new season streaming February 14th on the Paramount plus with Showtime plan.

[Detective]

Let the Bodies hit them.

[Nicole Helm]

Go Let the bodies hit them.

[Commercial Announcer]

Think about how screwed up we would be if we had survived a plane crash only to end up eating each other.

[Darlene Thorson]

The only way to truly be safe is to be the only one left.

[Commercial Announcer]

You really are insane. Yellow Jackets new season streaming February 14th on the Paramount plus with Showtime Plan.

[Darlene Thorson]

Help me Nikki.

[Commercial Announcer]

I'll come back with help.

[Nicole Helm]

It's the only chance for all of us.

[Commercial Announcer]

At first, detectives thought Krista Helm's murder that night back in 1977 might be connected to another sensational killing. The stabbing of actor Sal Mineo, best known for co starring with James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause. The papers had a field day with the similarities. Christa had been stabbed and bludgeoned to death in front of her agent's house in West Hollywood. Mineo was murdered one year earlier on the very same day, February 12, in the very same neighborhood. There were no known witnesses in either case, but the Sal Mineo lead fizzled. The suspect in his murder was believed to be in jail when Christa was killed.

[Darlene Thorson]

The 21 year old murder suspect had.

[Commercial Announcer]

To say in his jail cell when.

[Detective]

Advised of his charges.

[Commercial Announcer]

So detectives started to look more closely at Christa's celebrity studded love life and her infamous D research, perhaps for a tell all book.

[Friend of Krista]

She was someday going to write a book and she was going to expose all these people and it was going to be A bestseller.

[Commercial Announcer]

But Christa's scandalous diary had vanished. It may have been in her purse, which was missing from the crime scene. With that crucial piece of evidence gone, the investigators hit a string of dead ends.

[Nicole Helm]

I think the initial investigation was a complete mess. I think that they didn't pay attention. She was a young Hollywood starlet, party girl.

[Commercial Announcer]

Nicole mourned the loss of her mother and the life they were supposed to have together. She raised her own family in the northeast. But a few years ago, she felt compelled to find out what really happened.

[Nicole Helm]

I think that it's my job to make sure that people know who she was and what happened to her. She went through way too much in her life to have her death be so dismissed.

[Commercial Announcer]

After years of pressure from Nicole, a new generation of detectives took the case. Larry Brandenburg and Tom Harris are LA Sheriff's department hotshots. Homicide detectives with the Cold Case Unit. How do you go about investigating a murder that occurred three decades ago?

[Narrator]

Well, actually, you try and go back in time yourself. I mean, you try and go back and look at it the way it looked that night one more time. Talking about is in the middle to late 70s. You know, back then it was a lot of the free love, a lot of the sex, sex, drugs, sex, drugs and rock and roll.

[Commercial Announcer]

Krista's written diary wasn't the only way she kept track of that long list of lovers. It turns out Krista was tape recording her sexcapades with all those celebrity boyfriends.

[Darlene Thorson]

I promise to cause you nothing but pleasure.

[Narrator]

She did have some tapes of famous people sexually.

[Commercial Announcer]

There's a well known list of people. Can you tell us any of those names?

[Detective]

I don't think it would be fair to those folks at this point to do that.

[Commercial Announcer]

How significant do you consider those tapes?

[Narrator]

They're a very significant part of this case.

[Nicole Helm]

Nothing but pleasure.

[Commercial Announcer]

Because those sex tapes could have supplied a motive for someone to kill Christa.

[Narrator]

We don't know if there may have been extortion or a thought of extortion.

[Friend of Krista]

That scared me a lot.

[Commercial Announcer]

Her friend Darlene warned her against making the tapes.

[Friend of Krista]

I thought it was dangerous. I thought she was playing with fire.

[Commercial Announcer]

But here's a shocker. Just like Krista's diary, most of those tapes have also disappeared. The hunt for the missing tapes has led detectives to another new twist. It's an angle right out of the Sopranos.

[Narrator]

You're a made guy now.

[Commercial Announcer]

It's your turn to make some real money. And I get to relax a little. Tony Sirico is the actor best known as Paulie Walnuts of the Sopranos. But 30 years ago, Sirico was a Brooklyn tough guy trying to make it in Hollywood. Here he is in a 1978 movie. Fingers, what's on you, my pal?

[Narrator]

Back in 1977, Tony Sirico was a upcoming actor, and he knew some of the same people that Krista knew. We know that after Krista was killed, Tony Sirico was sent to her residence to check on the welfare and watch over her roommate for a few days and to make sure that she was okay. According to the roommate, Tony Sirico removed some tapes out of Krista's room, never to be seen again.

[Commercial Announcer]

Christa's roommate, who to this day is too frightened to talk publicly, also told detectives that Tony took some of Christa's furs and clothing. At the time, police never questioned Tony.

[Narrator]

That's Tony Sirico right there with the blood. But that's part of a film they were making. And.

[Commercial Announcer]

But in 2006, when the new detectives took over, they paid him a visit. Have you spoken to him?

[Narrator]

Yes, we have.

[Commercial Announcer]

Has he been cooperative?

[Narrator]

Not exactly.

[Detective]

Mr. Sirico told us at first that he didn't even remember the victim. He didn't really know Krista, and that he didn't even remember that she had been killed. And then his memory got a little bit better that, yeah, I think I had heard about her being killed, but I didn't really know her that well. Just met her in passing.

[Commercial Announcer]

According to detectives, Sirico denied going to Christa's apartment and denied he even knew the roommate.

[Detective]

We started getting to the point of where he was on that day and asked him those type of questions. And the interview was abruptly stopped by his attorney. And we explained to Mrs. Srico also that it. He was not. Was not a suspect in this investigation. He was considered a witness and someone that we were trying to glean information from.

[Commercial Announcer]

Years later, most of Christa's missing things did turn up at the home of Christa's closest friend, Lenny Barron, her designer and confidant.

[Nicole Helm]

All of the furniture, all of the crystals. The Shaw of Iran had given my mom a lot of crystals and jewels and beautiful things. She had fur coats, all of which were found in his home.

[Commercial Announcer]

Police now think it was Lennie who sent Tony Sirico to clean out Christa's apartment to protect her.

[Narrator]

We believe that he didn't want her reputation soiled, didn't want the information out there about her surreptitiously recording people or even her sexual activities.

[Commercial Announcer]

If he had so many of her things, her personal effects. Is it possible that he may have been the one who had the audio tapes and the written diary?

[Detective]

It's possible.

[Narrator]

It's possible.

[Commercial Announcer]

Possible. But Lenny can't tell us. He died about 10 years ago. And Tony Sirico's manager says Tony didn't want to talk to us. But there's another new clue. This time from Krista's friend Darlene, who never spoke with police until now. Right before Christa died, she sent Darlene a postcard with a cryptic message.

[Friend of Krista]

She said, dar, I am in way over my head here. I'm into something that I can't get out of.

[Narrator]

Because Rocky's the one that said that Christ was sitting on $300,000 worth of dope, 11 pounds of coke.

[Detective]

If we could find her, it might be helpful. This is another gentleman we haven't been able to locate. Can't talk to him because he's dead.

[Commercial Announcer]

Without Krista Helm sex diary to guide them, detectives Tom Harris and Larry Brandenburg have had to dig deeper to find people who were involved with her.

[Narrator]

We've got to find Rocky.

[Commercial Announcer]

They've discovered that Krista may well have been in over her head.

[Detective]

She had a lifestyle that was provocative. She had a lot of upscale friends that were famous, some of them. And then she also had a lot of friends that were on the scene. Seedy side of life, if you will. Street people.

[Commercial Announcer]

So job one has been tracking down all those people Krista socialized with in her two years in Hollywood.

[Narrator]

If someone is violently murdered, you're never going to forget that.

[Commercial Announcer]

So far though, few of them remember much or are saying much.

[Narrator]

It's very interesting to go back and talk to these people because people can't remember what their lives were. They can remember what the truth is.

[Detective]

The neighborhood that we responded to in 1977 was a pretty upscale neighborhood. I was the lead detective on the case. I think we came in from this direction. We drove in this way.

[Commercial Announcer]

Brandenburg and Harris returned to the crime scene with the one witness who is happy to cooperate.

[Detective]

She was probably about like this, okay.

[Commercial Announcer]

83 year old retired Los Angeles detective Larry Gansey.

[Detective]

Earrings. She had earrings on.

[Commercial Announcer]

I know that they're hoping to jog the memory of the original investigator.

[Detective]

She had no identification. We don't know who is it about.

[Commercial Announcer]

The night Krista died, we found out.

[Detective]

That she was a party girl. She had come from a party with a girlfriend. She was headed over to see her agent, Sandy Smith.

[Narrator]

The house looks the same now as it did then.

[Detective]

Exactly.

This is me right here.

[Commercial Announcer]

They also opened the box of evidence. Gansey started 31 years ago.

[Detective]

Bringing back some memories?

Well, yeah, yeah. She was bleeding quite profusely there. You could see that she had numerous stab wounds in the chest. Our thoughts then we had a rage killing that somebody was really upset with this girl.

[Commercial Announcer]

What. What strikes you as odd or unusual or interesting about this case?

[Detective]

Well, the way she was attacked really sticks out. It was violent, a lot of passion involved. She was stabbed 22 times.

[Commercial Announcer]

22 times.

[Narrator]

Bludgeoned and bludgeoned also.

[Commercial Announcer]

This doesn't strike you as a random act of violence?

[Narrator]

No. It would be more of somebody was very mad at her.

[Commercial Announcer]

There was a side to Christa that seemed to provoke people.

[Nicole Helm]

You sound almost charming.

[Commercial Announcer]

Because while many thought she was a barely passable actress on camera, off camera, she was an infamous drama queen.

[Darlene Thorson]

Christa was the role of her lifetime. She loved the daily drama.

[Commercial Announcer]

One of her recurring dramas starred her beautiful and younger sister. Sister Marisa, who learned the hard way the lengths Christa would go to.

[Darlene Thorson]

We'd party together, and we'd go to this party and that party. I was excited. I was meeting this actor and dating that actor, and they were calling me, and she knew that and was really upset that it was me. When she started to see that I was attracting more attention than her, that started to wear on her.

[Commercial Announcer]

In an apparent jealous rage, Krista cut her sister off and threw her out of the apartment.

[Darlene Thorson]

She basically said, okay, now you're out on your own. She didn't care if I didn't have any money or a place to live.

[Commercial Announcer]

It sounds like there was a very cold side to her.

[Darlene Thorson]

Oh, just a definite cold. Cut it off and get back in her own world and push you aside.

[Commercial Announcer]

Would she step over bodies to get what she wanted? Would she use people?

[Darlene Thorson]

Yes, I would say so.

[Commercial Announcer]

Is that possible that that has played into what happened to her?

[Darlene Thorson]

I have always presumed that that was a part of what happened to her.

[Commercial Announcer]

Harrison Brandenburg think so, too. Wonder if Krista might finally have crossed the wrong man. As they dig deeper into the case, they find a startling confession of sorts.

[Detective]

This guy bragged about doing the case.

[Commercial Announcer]

His name, Rudy Mazzella, and he was known for his anything goes parties, where Krista was a frequent guest.

[Narrator]

He was very flamboyant, very strange. He would do certain things like wearing nothing but a cowboy hat and a gun belt with a six gun on it, and that's the way he walked around the house.

[Commercial Announcer]

But Mazzella was also a known drug dealer. He was a thug with a bad reputation.

[Detective]

He's a violent kind of Guy, he's known to carry guns and knives. We spoke to his ex wife, deathly afraid of him. Said that he would threaten her.

[Commercial Announcer]

What was Krista doing with him?

[Detective]

He was in that other circle of friends, what we call the dark side of her life. The street people, the drug dealers that would come to these parties.

[Friend of Krista]

Rudy is a pretty big guy, pretty powerful and scary guy.

[Commercial Announcer]

In this interview In July of 1977, a woman who frequented Mazzella's house told police what she had heard about him. My boyfriend told me Rudy had told.

[Nicole Helm]

Him that he had murdered Krista.

[Commercial Announcer]

He didn't give a reason, but he said that he had murdered Krista. And was that followed up on back then?

[Detective]

They did question Rudy. Yes, they questioned him. He denied any involvement. Rudy was the kind of guy that would brag about things that maybe he didn't do just to get some notoriety and to boost his standing with people.

[Commercial Announcer]

With no other evidence tying Mazzello to the crime, the original investigators left it at that.

[Detective]

Was he serious? We don't know because the person he bragged to is deceased and so is Rudy. So we can't talk to either one of them anymore.

[Commercial Announcer]

And now, three decades later, the cold case squad can only wonder, is there any other lead?

[Narrator]

I don't know that we can actually eliminate anybody at this point.

[Commercial Announcer]

It does seem like something or someone had Krista spooked.

[Nicole Helm]

My last visit with her, she had actually said that she was leaving Hollywood.

[Commercial Announcer]

Nicole now believes her mother realized she was in some kind of danger.

[Nicole Helm]

I think that the fight just got to be a little too difficult for her. It got ugly. There were a lot of dark people and dark lifestyles that she didn't really want to be part of.

[Commercial Announcer]

Prepare to be entertained. Gladiator 2 is now streaming on Paramount. You hear that crowd? It's ferociously entertaining. I'm just here for the games. And an absolute triumph.

[Darlene Thorson]

Take your father's strength.

[Narrator]

His name is Max.

[Commercial Announcer]

Paul Mescal Pedro Pascal. With Connie Nielsen and Denzel Washington. Strengthen honor. Strengthen Gladiator 2 directed by Ridley Scott. Now streaming on Paramount plus rated R. Streaming on Paramount plus everyone who comes.

[Narrator]

Into this clinic is a mystery.

[Friend of Krista]

We don't know what we're looking for.

[Narrator]

Their bodies are the scene of the crime. Their symptoms and history are clues.

[Nicole Helm]

You saved her life.

[Narrator]

We're doctors and we're detectives.

[Commercial Announcer]

I kind of love it, if I'm being honest. Solve the puzzle, save the patient. Morris Chestnut is Watson. Now streaming on Paramount plus and new episodes return Sunday, February 16th on CBS. 31 years into the Krista Helm case. Detectives Larry Brandenburg and Tom Harris have uncovered a long string of boyfriends and girlfriends that Krista left in her wake. They now suspect jealousy may have been a motive in her murder.

[Narrator]

We've identified people that she was involved with who had other girlfriends, and those girlfriends found out about Krista. There were a couple other females that we believe that she was involved with sexually that were upset because she would be with men.

[Commercial Announcer]

So she had relationships with both men and women?

[Narrator]

Yes.

[Commercial Announcer]

And felt no compunction or loyalty to be with any one person?

[Detective]

No.

[Commercial Announcer]

And no one person was off limits to her?

[Detective]

Yeah, I mean, that was her lifestyle.

[Commercial Announcer]

The detectives are now focusing on Krista's final stab at fame, a recording session she set up in the winter of 1977.

[Debbie Danilo]

Go on and dance, dance, dance child.

[Commercial Announcer]

They've gotten a firsthand account of the session from backup singer Debbie Danilo. She and Krista became good friends.

[Debbie Danilo]

Dance in the face of fear. Once in a while you meet someone and it's like you've known them forever. Soulmates maybe. And when I met Christa, it was like she was an instant soul sister.

[Commercial Announcer]

The detectives now believe that the session exploded in a storm of jealousy and betrayal. It began when Christa apparently got involved with the records producer, the top 10, the top 25, well known DJ Frankie.

[Nicole Helm]

Crocker with Fast Frankie in the City.

[Darlene Thorson]

And I think that she was probably a boyfriend or sleeping with him. And so he had a beautiful Beverly Hills mansion and part of the music scene, part of the party crowd.

[Commercial Announcer]

And what was he like?

[Darlene Thorson]

Oh, very full of himself. Rich. I'm somebody in Hollywood. You're not.

[Commercial Announcer]

Debbie says Krista flaunted the relationship.

[Debbie Danilo]

I remember that day telling Krista, I said, I don't think that it's going to work out with Frankie because I don't think he likes. That's the way I'm handling the songs. And she said, don't worry about Frankie. I've got him by the balls.

[Commercial Announcer]

Debbie also claims Christa was having an affair with the other backup singer. Her name was Patti Collins. And Patty didn't like to share.

[Debbie Danilo]

Patty was very, very jealous of anyone being around Krista. Very jealous, very, you know, just watch your step kind of thing.

[Commercial Announcer]

As if things weren't complicated enough, the Sessions keyboard player Blair Aronson has told detectives that he was casually involved with Debbie.

[Narrator]

We were told originally that they were boyfriend, girlfriend. Some come back and say maybe casual dating. Some come back and say, well, that, you know, they were a pretty heavy item. I believe that Debbie had A more serious commitment to Blair than Blair did to Debbie.

[Commercial Announcer]

Then Blair dropped a bombshell. He told detectives that he slept with Krista the night before she died and that Debbie caught him.

[Narrator]

We interviewed Blair Aronson, and he explained to us that he and Krista had spent the night together, were in bed, and they got up, were sitting on the edge of the bed, and happened to look over and saw Debbie looking through the window, waving at him.

[Detective]

Blair and Krista were startled, obviously, by seeing her outside the window, but they laughed about it, and she ran away.

[Commercial Announcer]

Debbie adamantly denies any involvement with Blair or that she saw him in bed with Krista. And Blair declined to speak to 48 Hours, but detectives find the entire recording session suspicious, especially since Debbie and Patty were both abruptly pushed out. It seems Patty took the news especially.

[Narrator]

Hard, and apparently she was very upset about it at that time. We don't know if she was removed by Frankie Crocker or by Christa herself.

[Commercial Announcer]

When Debbie talked to the original investigators about Christa, she pointed the finger squarely at Patty.

[Debbie Danilo]

I told him that she had a female lover that seemed she was extremely jealous. That was my first thought, that maybe her female lover killed her, because every time that I was around her, she seemed so threatened and so dark.

[Commercial Announcer]

Just days after Christa's murder, Debbie packed up her entire LA life, disguised herself in a wig, and then made a mad dash out of town.

[Debbie Danilo]

I didn't want anybody to know who I. I was afraid that somebody had killed her because she knew something she wasn't supposed to know. I thought, well, what if they think she told me, you know, I had never been around anybody that had been murdered, and I just wanted to be away from it.

[Commercial Announcer]

Frankie Crocker is now dead. Still, the col case squad is left to wonder, could Christa's killer have been a woman? It just seems like a pretty violent, really vicious attack for a woman.

[Narrator]

I don't think I would characterize it as that. I think when somebody is in a violent rage, I think their gender doesn't matter.

[Commercial Announcer]

Then investigators get a break. One of Krista's fingernails, preserved for three decades, yields DNA.

[Narrator]

It's obvious to us that she put up quite a fight. And a lot of times in that situation, you're going to find skin cells or blood or something from the other person under the fingernails.

[Commercial Announcer]

Even more intriguing, that DNA is from another woman. Did you try to match the DNA to a specific person?

[Narrator]

Well, we are requesting from people that we interview. At times, we're requesting oral swabs.

[Commercial Announcer]

One of those people Is Debbie Danilo? Do you consider Debbie Danilo a suspect?

[Detective]

Everyone's still a suspect.

[Debbie Danilo]

I've been searching my heart to remember Songs I've left behind for nine long months I questioned why my God would.

[Commercial Announcer]

Forsake me Debbie Danilo put Hollywood and Krista Helm behind her many years ago, but she never really got over the murder that struck so close to home.

[Debbie Danilo]

Changed me. It changed the way I looked at everybody in the group. You know, you start looking around going, who did it? Who did this? Who could have done this? You know, and it's scary.

[Commercial Announcer]

And then recently, out of the blue, she got a letter from Krista's daughter Nicole.

[Debbie Danilo]

And it said, hi, my name is Nicole. I think you knew my mother as Krista Helm, and I am trying to find out information about her because I didn't know her.

[Commercial Announcer]

Shortly afterwards, Debbie heard from the cold case squad.

[Debbie Danilo]

Of course, they had gotten my name from Nicole. And they said, can we talk to you? I said, sure.

[Commercial Announcer]

But detectives Harrison Brandenburg didn't just want Debbie's memories. They wanted her DNA. And what they really wanted to know was if it matched the scrapings they had found under Krista's fingernails.

[Narrator]

We did collect DNA from Debbie Dennis, and it was not her DNA that was under the fingernails.

[Debbie Danilo]

So now I'm letting go.

[Commercial Announcer]

Once again, there is no other evidence tying Debbie to the murder either, and she has told police she had nothing to do with it.

[Detective]

Tom and I are in agreement. Debbie Danlo is much farther down on the scale as a person of interest in this case. Now.

[Commercial Announcer]

With the help. With the help of an anonymous tip, the Colque squad finally tracked down the woman they believe was Christa's girlfriend, Patty Collins.

[Detective]

Patty and Krista had a relationship, according to more than one person. They had a close sexual relationship and a professional relationship. At some point, they had a falling out with one another, it looks like, according to these people. And was it serious enough for murder? We don't know that, but we'd like to talk to Patty about that.

[Narrator]

Hopefully she's home. Hopefully we can get an interview and maybe collect a sample of her DNA.

[Commercial Announcer]

Patty was happy to talk to the detectives and willingly gave them a DNA sample. But they were stunned by what she had to say.

[Narrator]

I do not know Kristi Helms.

[Detective]

I have no idea who she is.

[Commercial Announcer]

They showed me a photograph they thought.

[Narrator]

Was me, and it's not me. We're trying to bring clothes.

[Commercial Announcer]

Not only that, Patty claimed she was never in Southern California.

[Narrator]

She was in Southern California. We know that. But for some reason, she's denying ever being there in her life.

[Detective]

I got a feeling we'll be back to talk to her again. I really do.

[Commercial Announcer]

But not until they get the DNA results and confirm her identity. Meanwhile, they'll go after other leads.

[Narrator]

It's an ongoing process. We still have a lot of work to do.

[Detective]

She was probably about like this.

[Commercial Announcer]

The Colcay Squad's best lead might turn out to be the oldest lead of all. And it comes from the man who first worked the Krista Helm case. 83 year old Larry Gansey.

[Detective]

Sal Mineo's killer is the same killer that killed Krista Helm. In my own mind, I'm so sure of that, I'd bet that deed to my house that he is a one number one suspect.

[Commercial Announcer]

Remember, Sal Mineo was murdered a year before Christa. On the same day and in the same way. A stabbing and in the same neighborhood method of operation.

[Detective]

The area of operation was so similar to Sal Mineo's killing, it's almost identical.

[Commercial Announcer]

The man ultimately convicted of mineo's killing was 21 year old Lionel Williams. And he was thought to be in jail at the time of Christa's murder. But the cold case squad recently learned that Williams wasn't arrested until after Christa's death. Even more surprising, he was never questioned about Christa's death.

[Detective]

I don't even know what he looked like. They never saw him, never got the chance to talk to him.

[Commercial Announcer]

Shortly afterwards, Gansey and his partner were reassigned. And then Gansey left the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department for good. That's when the Krista Helm case went cold.

[Detective]

I think this case has affected me personally more than any. I worked and you're not supposed to get involved. You're supposed to put everything behind and you're neutral, you're just doing a job. But with me anyway, I couldn't put this one to bed.

[Commercial Announcer]

Meanwhile, Lionel Williams served 12 years for the murder of Sal Mineo. In 1990, he was released from prison.

[Narrator]

He has been in and out of jail since this occurred. He's been arrested for other crimes. We believe we have an idea where he is living and we believe that he's not that far away. And you know, we're going to go talk to him.

[Commercial Announcer]

So after sifting through all the drama of Krista Helm's life, the myriad lovers, the diary and the sex tapes, the tales of jealousy and betrayal, could it really be that detectives will discover that Krista was simply the victim of a random late night street robbery at the hands of a career criminal?

[Nicole Helm]

She was so young. She had so much time left.

[Commercial Announcer]

Krista's daughter Nicole, now 40, hopes that discovering the truth about the murder will finally bring solace.

[Nicole Helm]

She was 13 years younger than I am right now when she died.

[Commercial Announcer]

All Nicole has to remember her mother by are a scrapbook, a couple of B movies, and the stuff nightmares are made of.

[Nicole Helm]

In the end of one of her films, the Legacy of Satan, she's stabbed to death at the end of the film. And that was a little eerie as well. All I know is that she had told several people that she was terrified of Nies and she believed that was the way she was going to die.

[Commercial Announcer]

That's kind of freaky.

[Nicole Helm]

Yeah.

[Commercial Announcer]

But Nicole still has a child's hope that justice will somehow be served. Even after all this time, I believe.

[Nicole Helm]

That the person is still out there. And I believe that we're going to find closure one day for my mom and. And we're going to find justice. And I believe that this person is. They know that they did it. And we're ready.

[Debbie Danilo]

Paramount plus celebrates Black voices From climbing.

[Commercial Announcer]

To success in Bob Marley One love.

[Detective]

Music can lead the way to stories.

[Commercial Announcer]

Of love and community in the shy.

[Narrator]

It's a place for our community.

[Commercial Announcer]

Explore the Black Voices collection on Paramount plus Stream now.