Hollywood is known for glitz and glamour. However, there are rare occasions when the veneer rubs away. One such occasion occurred in 2010, when Hollywood elite publicist Ronni Chasen was shot through the passenger window of her car.
Ronni was born Veronica Cohen on October 17th, 1946 in Kingston, New York. She entered the film industry in 1973, following in her brother’s footsteps. When she moved from New York to Los Angeles to pursue her career goals, she changed her name from Veronica Cohen, to Ronni Chasen, in homage to the famous Hollywood restaurant that was known to be frequented by celebrities.
She quickly built a steady client base, and solid reputation for herself in the industry. In 1993, she was named Senior Vice President for Publicity at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, all while managing the PR firm she owned, Chasen & Co. Ronni’s work focused mainly on film composers, and took pride in representing top songwriters, musicians, and composers.
Ronni was so successful, and so beloved in the industry, that Patrick Goldstein, a film critic and columnist for the Los Angeles times, described Ronni as “Hollywood’s ultimate old-school publicist”.
On the night of November 16th, 2010, Ronni attended the premiere of the film Burlesque. She left at approximately 12:28 AM, and was driving west down Sunset on her way home. At the intersection of Whittier Drive and Sunset Boulevard, she pulled up to a stop light, making a left turn. Suddenly, shots fired through the front passenger window of Ronni’s car.
Ronni made the turn, drove a short while, and then her car ran into the curb, and then a streetlight. Residents of the area had heard the shots, and called 911. Shortly thereafter, other residents called 911 in relation to Ronni’s stalled car.
When police arrived, they found Ronni slumped over in the driver’s seat, the air bag from her steering wheel still inflated. Blood was running down from her nose and chest. Police reported that Ronni was going in and out of consciousness. Ronni was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, where she was pronounced dead.
The autopsy report indicated that Ronni had been shot four times. Two bullets hit her in the chest, one hit her in her right upper arm, and the fourth bullet hit her right shoulder, tore through, and struck her heart. The fourth shot was the fatal shot.
Despite the four shots fired, no shell casings were found at the scene, nor was there any indication of bullets, or the murder weapon.
Investigators didn’t pull prints off of Ronni’s car. Not because they weren’t there. They didn’t find prints because they didn’t look. They never bothered to dust Ronni’s car for fingerprints. They also didn’t look for any kind of surveillance videos, or tapes, from the area around the time Ronni was shot. Footage that could have shown an individual, a vehicle, or anything that could have led investigators towards Ronni’s killer.
All in all, investigators had nothing. So, they did what Hollywood does best – they went to the media. The case was featured on an episode of America’s Most Wanted, hoping for tips. And one came in.
Laramie Beckay was a resident of the Harvey Apartments, located near the Paramount lot in Hollywood. He waited two weeks after Ronni’s murder to tell the police what he knew, but the reward money from the America’s Most Wanted episode seemed the best incentive.
Beckay reported that a neighbour of his, 43-year-old Harold Martin Smith, had knocked on his door roughly 90 minutes after Ronni’s murder, asking if the police had been by, or if anything had been on TV. He also asked Beckay could keep a duffle bag, and two boxes for him, as he’d been kicked out of the apartments almost a week prior. He left promptly, stating: “We haven’t had this conversation”.
Smith then came back around the next morning, asking to borrow a dollar. He said he needed to go pick up his bike, which he’d left in Beverly Hills.
When news of the murder of Ronni Chasen hit the news, Beckay figured he knew what had happened, and who had done it. When the American’s Most Wanted episode aired, he called in his tip.
Harold Smith was not unknown to police – he had a history of purse snatching and robbery. With a lengthy record, it was difficult for him to find work. When he couldn’t pay rent, he’d been kicked out of the Harvey Apartments. He had a history, and a tipster had reported his suspicious behaviour. The Beverly Hills Police Department figured he made as good a suspect as any.
On December 1st, 2010, Beverly Hills police approached Smith in the lobby of the Harvey apartments at around 5:30 PM. When he was approached, Smith pulled out a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson Model 67 revolver, and shot himself in the head.
As police were closing off the scene, a detective went up to speak to Beckay. As the detective was going through the belongings Smith had left, he found four empty shell casing in one of the boxes.
For all intents and purposes, BHPD believed they’d gotten their man.
On December 8th, 2010, BHPD held a news conference indicating that preliminary results from ballistics tests done on Smith’s revolver matched the bullets that had been shot at Ronni. They stated with 100% certainty that Smith had been in possession of the weapon used to murder Ronni.
However, it wasn’t his weapon. It was later revealed that the revolver had been reported as stolen from a now-retired Santa Clarita police officer. This, along with the lack of forensic evidence, or surveillance evidence, raised red flags for Ronni’s friends, family, and many others. Also, the surveillance footage from the Harvey apartments has never been released. What transpired on that dismal day in December is only by account of the police officers involved in the incident.
In July of 2011, the BHPD announced that after having “completed the exhaustive investigation” into the murder of Ronni Chasen, they were closing the case. As far as they were concerned, the motive had been robbery, and Smith had been Ronni’s murderer. With that, the case was closed.
However, despite what the BHPD stated in their news conference in December, investigation files on the case that were released stated that the ballistics were inconclusive. The report stated that the bullets that had hit Ronni and the bullet casings exhibited “similar general rifling characteristics and some agreement of individual characters”.
In essence, the bullets and the casings were similar, but it could not be determined with any certainty whether or not those bullets came from the gun that had been in Smith’s possession at the time of his death.
As far as the BHPD is concerned, the case is closed. And yet, many of Ronni’s friends and family are still left with questions.
Was Harold Smith really Ronni’s murderer? And if he wasn’t, then, who killed Ronni Chasen?
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Sources:
What Really Happened the Night Hollywood Power Publicist Ronni Chasen Was Killed? – Gary Baum – The Hollywood Reporter
The Murder of Ronni Chasen – Josie Klakström – Medium
My Favorite Murder podcast – Episode 65 – Pre-Milked Cereal
Ronni Chasen Wikipedia page