Hollywood starlet Christa Helm was brutally murdered on a quiet West Hollywood street in the early hours of February 12, 1977.<\/p>\n
The B-list movie actress and famed party girl was stabbed 22 times with a butcher knife and attacked with a blunt object, with the sickening assault continuing even as she lay face down in her own blood.<\/p>\n
Helm – who bore a striking resemblance to Manson murder victim Sharon Tate – bled out under a car outside 9022 Lloyd Place at 27 years old.<\/p>\n
The killer retreated into the shadows that night and has remained there for nearly 50 years.<\/p>\n
Amid salacious revelations about the mother-of-one’s personal life – including that she kept a sex diary chronicling escapades with celebrities and politicians, combined with a laundry list of persons of interest – the case bamboozled police and went cold.<\/p>\n
No one has been charged with the crime<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hollywood starlet Christa Helm was brutally murdered at 27 on a quiet West Hollywood street in the early hours of February 12, 1977. She is pictured in the Wonder Woman TV series in 1976<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The B-list movie actress and famed party girl was stabbed 22 times with a butcher knife and attacked with a blunt object – with the sickening assault continuing even as she lay face down in her own blood. (Helm pictured in 1974)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n True crime<\/a>\u00a0writer and podcast host Jamey DuVall has been investigating the case for a decade and exclusively revealed his discoveries to the Daily Mail.<\/p>\n ‘There’s no way this killer did not know Christa’, he said, ‘it wasn’t a simple mugging, they wanted to defile her, mutilate her, destroy her beauty.’\u00a0<\/p>\n A blood-soaked Helm was found lying on her left side with her hand gripped between her thighs, her legs partially under the car, her keys clutched under her.<\/p>\n True crime writer and podcast host Jamey DuVall has been investigating the case for a decade, and exclusively revealed his discoveries to the Daily Mail<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But her Tommy Boy purse, which was said to contain her infamous diary, was missing and has never been recovered.<\/p>\n The diary supposedly included entries rating alleged conquests including Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson<\/a>, Mick Jagger<\/a>, Joe Namath and Johnny Rivers. She was even once linked to the Shah of\u00a0Iran<\/a>. Helm also made audio tapes of her reported flings. <\/p>\n No eyewitnesses to the murder ever came forward.<\/p>\n White Lotus actor Jon Gries, then 19, was staying nearby when he woke up around 1:30am – he heard screaming.<\/p>\n Grabbing a gun, he stepped out of the house, but stopped short of the road where Helm was attacked.<\/p>\n Helm (seen left in 1973’s Let’s Go For Broke), who bore a striking resemblance to Manson murder victim Sharon Tate (right in 1967), bled out under a car outside 9022 Lloyd Place\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Amid salacious revelations about the mother-of-one’s personal life, including that she kept a sex diary chronicling escapades with celebrities and politicians, combined with a laundry list of persons of interest – the case bamboozled police and went cold. (Helm pictured in 1975)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Limo driver Thurman Brooms found the Starsky & Hutch actress’ mangled body around 1:30am and claimed to have seen her take her final breath. A bloodsoaked Helm was laid on her left side with her hand gripped between her thighs, her legs partially under the car (pictured)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Police at the time said they believed Helm was murdered because she ‘knew too much about some important people’ and ‘there is the possibility that [Christa’s] diary could have been taken for its blackmail potential’<\/p>\n<\/div>\n White Lotus star Jon Gries was among the ‘earwitnesses’ to the murder. (Pictured as Greg Hunt in the HBO series)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Christa had a turbulent early life. Born Sandra Lynn Wohlfeil, her parents divorced when she was a young child. Helm pictured left as a teen and right in 1975 after plastic surgery<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Helm became pregnant at 17 by a 34-year-old karate school teacher and married him. A day after the ceremony, he left and never saw her again or met their daughter Nicole. (Nicole is pictured above with her sons)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n DuVall uncovered that a woman living ‘right across’ from the crime scene heard ‘terrible screaming’, but her view was obscured by shrubs.<\/p>\n Another \u2018earwitness\u2019 said they heard a man and woman arguing on the street.<\/p>\n The night before she died, Helm attended a party in Laurel Canyon with her roommate Stephanie.<\/p>\n Helm attempted to contact music agent Sandy Smith – whose house she was found dead outside – to join them, but he declined due to being ‘too tired.’<\/p>\n Police at the time said they believed Helm was murdered because she ‘knew too much about some important people’. A recording of a threesome involving Helm and a ‘well-known Hollywood star\u2019 emerged in 2006.\u00a0<\/p>\n DuVall confirmed Helm was writing a tell-all memoir at the time of her death – the transcripts of which were stolen from her friend\u2019s house the night of the murder.\u00a0<\/p>\n Detectives initially linked the murder to the stabbing of Rebel Without a Cause icon Sal Mineo, which took place in the same neighborhood exactly one year earlier. DuVall believes this focus allowed the real killer to slip away.<\/p>\n Lionel Ray Williams was convicted of Mineo’s murder and was never questioned in Helm’s case.<\/p>\n On the same night Helm died, sex worker Sheila Green, 22, was stabbed and decapitated 5 miles away off Mulholland Drive.<\/p>\n The 1977 detectives initially linked the murder to the stabbing of Rebel Without a Cause icon Sal Mineo (left with James Dean in 1955), which took place in the same neighborhood exactly one year earlier – and DuVall believes this focus allowed the real killer to slip away<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Christa was linked to actor Michael Sarrazin. (Sarrazin pictured in The Sweet Ride in 1968 with Jacqueline Bisset)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n After welcoming her daughter Helm moved to NYC to pursue modeling and acting – she planned to reunite with her daughter full time when she was 10. (Helm pictured in the 1970s with close friend and costume designer Lennie Barrin)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Christa’s love diary reportedly included entries ranking lovers including Mick Jagger (pictured 1970 with Anita Pallenberg)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n She was also linked to quarterback Joe Namath (pictured in 1974)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Helm’s lover Patti Collins (pictured with Helm) vanished in the aftermath of the murder and has never been located. It is unclear if she was ever interviewed<\/p>\n<\/div>\n David Stein, also known as David Marcus, has emerged as the person DuVall has focused on the most. Stein (pictured) – who had previously been arrested for imprisoning and assaulting a Playboy playmate in 1972 – crossed paths with Helm in LA\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n DuVall’s research uncovered that police in 1977 did believe Helm and Green’s cases were committed by the same perpetrator – although there is no evidence the pair knew each other.<\/p>\n In life, Helm had a knack for courting the press, but her murder didn’t garner much attention.\u00a0<\/p>\n After undergoing plastic surgery, including breast implants, the 5-foot-9-inch Milwaukee, Wisconsin, native\u00a0was described as ‘so perfect, every man wanted her and girl was jealous of her’.<\/span><\/p>\n Born Sandra Lynn Wohlfeil, Helm’s parents\u00a0divorced when she was a young child.<\/span><\/p>\n She became pregnant at 17 by a 34-year-old karate school teacher. They got married, but a day after the ceremony, he left and never saw her again. He also never met their daughter, Nicole.<\/p>\n Determined to be a movie star, Helm moved to New York City and then changed her name.<\/p>\n Helm left her daughter in the care of a family friend in Vermont – she planned to reunite with Nicole full-time when she was 10. Helm died just months before this milestone.<\/p>\n The actress starred in 1973 flop Let’s Go For Broke before moving to Los Angeles in 1975. Small roles in\u00a0Starsky & Hutch and Wonder Woman followed in 1976,\u00a0but her career stalled.<\/p>\n Days before her murder, Helm had made plans to return to Wisconsin to be with her daughter.<\/p>\n In 1977, DNA testing was a pipe dream, but 29 years later, it was a reality.\u00a0In 2006, cold case investigators re-opened the case.<\/p>\n Helm’s clipped fingernails had been preserved with tissue underneath them. Shockingly, the DNA was that of an unidentified female.<\/p>\n Helm’s lover Patti Collins vanished in the aftermath of the murder and has never been located.\u00a0<\/p>\n The pair began a sexual relationship when they moved in together in 1975 – however, Helm denied she was a lesbian and was still actively dating men.<\/p>\n Helm had a part in 1972’s The Legacy of Satan<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Helm’s acting career stalled after her lead in 1973’s Let’s Go For Broke<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Helm is pictured in Starsky & Hutch in 1976 – months before her death<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Sopranos star Tony Sirico (left) was also drawn into the investigation amid rumors he had taken ‘furs and tapes’ from Helm’s apartment on the night of her murder. Sirico – who died in 2022 – denied even knowing Helm\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n ‘Patti\u00a0Collins didn’t like that Christa was not that into her and preferred men,’ DuVall surmised. ‘They had arguments and she was jealous. Christa got her sacked.’<\/p>\n The DNA has never been matched to any known female.<\/p>\n Drug dealer Rudy Mazella became a person of interest after his friend claimed he had\u00a0confessed to murdering Helm. Cold case investigators said Mazella was ‘violent’ and known to ‘carry guns and knives’.<\/p>\n Mazella denied any involvement when he was brought in for questioning and he died before the case was reopened.\u00a0<\/p>\n David Stein has emerged as DuVall’s main focus.<\/p>\n Stein, once dubbed ‘the second greatest pimp in NYC’, is believed to have crossed paths with Helm when she moved in with financier Bernie Cornfeld.<\/p>\n Stein – who had previously been arrested for imprisoning and assaulting a Playboy playmate in 1972 – allegedly procured women for Cornfeld.<\/p>\n DuVall\u00a0believes Helm was escorting, and said of Stein:\u00a0<\/span>‘He was known as a male madam. He was using women to dig up information on wealthy clients. Christa could have known too much.’\u00a0<\/p>\n In late 1976, Helm sent a friend an alarming postcard\u00a0that read: ‘I\u2019m in over my head, and I might need to disappear for a while. If anything happens to me, please take care of Nicole.’<\/p>\n Known drug dealer Rudy Mazella (pictured) allegedly confessed to murdering Christa – but later denied ever making the revelation<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Investigators never located Stein, and he died in 2021.<\/p>\n Sopranos star Tony Sirico was also drawn into the investigation amid rumors he\u00a0had taken ‘furs and tapes’ from Helm’s apartment on the night of her murder.\u00a0Sirico – who died in 2022 – denied even knowing her.<\/p>\n Keen to dispel claims Helm ‘played with fire’, DuVall, who is penning a book on the case, said, ‘She had limited prospects, she had that fake it ’til you make it attitude, she became that role.<\/p>\n ‘She was a beautiful, generous soul with a dream. But she was swept up in a cyclone of famous people and danger.’<\/p>\n DuVall is compelling police for access to both the original police reports and 2006 cold case files which he believes hold a wealth of untapped evidence – including the whereabouts of the blue jumpsuit Helm was murdered in. (Helm pictured in Wonder Woman in 1976)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n DuVall is compelling police for access to the case files which could reveal the whereabouts of the blue jumpsuit Helm was murdered in.<\/p>\n ‘There is a strong chance that some form of justice can be reached in Christa’s case. Whether they will pay the price and are still alive is a different matter…’ DuVall said.<\/p>\n ‘Her daughter has a right to know who did this to her mother.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘It irritates the s**t out of me that someone got away with this, the idea the answer is right there, one conversation away, one lead away…<\/p>\n ‘Someone out there knows what happened.’<\/p>\n If you have information on this case, please contact the homicide cold case unit at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department at 323-890-5500.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If you have a tip in the case visit <\/span>www.whokilledchristahelm.com\/submitatip<\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.celebrity.land.co.uk \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hollywood starlet Christa Helm was brutally murdered on a quiet West Hollywood street in the early hours of February 12, 1977. The B-list movie actress and famed party girl was stabbed 22 times with a butcher knife and attacked with a blunt object, with the sickening assault continuing even as she lay face down in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1950593,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[25884,27184],"class_list":["post-1950592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-dailymail","tag-tvshowbiz"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/New-twist-in-brutal-slaying-of-Hollywood-actress-who-kept.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1950592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1950592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1950592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1950593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1950592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1950592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1950592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Hollywood](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2025\/07\/28\/16\/100571525-14904425-Hollywood_starlet_Christa_Helm_was_brutally_murdered_aged_27_on_-a-3_1753716327141.jpg\")
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