BEVERLY HILLS—The Beverly Hills Police Department has identified the weapon used in the murder of Hollywood publicist Ronni Chasen as the same weapon used by Harold Martin Smith, 43. Smith committed suicide on Wednesday, December 1, at his residence inside the Harveyapartments in Hollywood when BHPD officials attempted to serve Smith, who was considered a “person of interest” at the time, with a search warrant.
“It was at this time Mr. Smith drew his weapon and took his own life. Mr. Smith sustained a single self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head and expired at the scene,” stated a BHPD press release received by Canyon News. Reports surfaced that Smith had been boasting about being responsible for Chasen’s murder. Canyon News spoke to Lt. Tony Lee, Public Information Officer for the Beverly Hills Police Department, on Monday, December 6, about the case.When asked if Smith indicated anything to authorities before he shot himself, Lt. Lee responded, “We’re not releasing any information at the moment. Our officials were very surprised by the actions of Mr. Smith. It’s always difficult to see someone kill themselves.”
On December 2, BHPD detectives requested that the weapon Smith used to kill himself be turned over to the LASO lab for analysis. “The ballistics comparison was to be conducted. This morning the crime lab at the LASO Firearms Section notified us that they have a preliminary ballistics result. The weapon used by our person of interest, Harold Martin Smith to commit suicide does preliminarily match the evidence from the Chasen homicide,” stated David Snowden, Chief of Police for the BHPD, during a press conference on Wednesday, December 8.
Authorities indicated that this is a preliminary match at the moment and a completed analysis review and report will be expected within the next two weeks. Earlier media reports stated that the shots fired at Chasen came from another vehicle, but the BHPD dismissed that claim indicating that Smith did act alone in the crime and that a bicycle was used by the suspect.
Lt. Lee informed Canyon News that the BHPD is not aware of any recent reports from the media that other people have been threatened at the same location as Chasen’s murder near Whittier Drive and Sunset. “It may be outside of our jurisdiction, but we are not privy of any incidents,” said Lt. Lee.
The Hollywood publicist was murdered on Tuesday, November 16, after leaving an after party at The W Hotel for the film “Burlesque” in Beverly Hills. She was headed towards her Westwood home when she was shot multiple times in the chest. Her vehicle crashed into a light pole nearWhittier Drive south of Sunset.
She was driving a new black Mercedes Benz E-350. Paramedics arrived on the scene and transported the victim to a local hospital where she was later pronounced deceased. Authorities served search warrants to the victim’s home as well as her business. She had appeared at the premiere for the new movie “Burlesque” starring Christina Aguilera and Cher that Monday night. Many reports indicated that Chasen’s murder may have been a professional hit, but authorities dismissed that claim.
“This was a random act of violence. With Mr. Smith’s background, we believe this was a robbery gone bad,” said Sgt. Mike Publicker at the press conference.
Chasen is originally from New York, but moved to Los Angeles to begin her career as a publicist back in the early 1970s working at Roger and Cowan. She worked as senior vice president of worldwide publicity for MGM in 1993. She developed her own Beverly Hills public relations and marketing firm, Chasen & Co. She worked promoting the 1988 film “Driving Miss Daisy” starring Morgan Freeman, “Lolita,” “The Swan Princess” and most recently campaigned for Michael Douglass for Best Supporting Actor for his role in “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.”
She is known for being involved in promoting many Oscar-winning films including the 2008 hit “Slumdog Millionaire” and “The Hurt Locker.” She has worked with icons such as Natalie Wood, film producer Richard Zanuck, songwriter Diane Warren and composer Hans Zimmer. She was not married and did not have any children. She is survived by her brother, writer/director Larry Cohen, his wife Cynthia Cohen; her two nieces Melissa and Jill; and her grandniece Alexis and grandnephew Gabriel.
According to TMZ, who obtained a 1994 will for Ronni Chasen, she left thousands of dollars to various charities including Make-A-Wish Foundation International, the Gilda Radner Research Program and the Women’s Cancer Research Foundation to name a few. In the will, her niece Melissa Cohen will receive a substantial amount of money, but her other niece, Jill Cohen is only given $10. “I have intentionally and with full knowledge of the consequences omitted to provide for my niece, Jill Cohen, also known as Jill Gatsby, except for the gift of ten dollars ($10),” states Chasen in the will.
Canyon News recently spoke to Edward Lozzi, Beverly Hills PR Executive about Ronni Chasen. “Ronni was the ultimate professional who was trained at Roger and Cowan. She had lots of years of experience over me when I started out in the mail room there back in 1980,” said Lozzi. He added that, “she was a peer of mine and she respected her peers.” When asked by Canyon News his reaction upon learning of Chasen’s murder, he responded, “We were all shocked. We lose people close to us, but this was a random killing, it could have possibly been a road rage incident. Sunset Boulevard is an area many publicists located on Wilshire drive through and that will be a reminder for many of us especially at night since after what happened to Ronni.”
The Beverly Hills Police Department is still investigating the case and anyone with additional information can contact the 24-hour detective hotline at 310-288-2656.310-288-2656.
