Charles W. Helem

Charles Wesley Helem (b. June 26, 1969) is a former truck driver and murderer, convicted on October 9, 2003 of strangling Patricia A. Bentley, his former girlfriend, in her townhouse at 13828 Beaujolais Court in the Brookfield neighborhoood of Chantilly on April 6, 2002.

Helem had lived with Bentley from November 2001 to January 2002, but had broken up with her and moved to Sterling.[1][2]

Helem was contacted the same day as the discovery of Bentley's body by Fairfax County Police Homicide Detective John Wallace at the Manassas apartment Helem shared with his new girlfriend, June Stokely. Wallace then asked Helem to meet him at the police station for further questioning, which Helem stupidly agreed to. Upon arriving at the police station, Helem realized that the key he had used to enter his ex-girlfriend's apartment was still on his key ring, and hurriedly placed his keys in his new girlfriend's car, which was observed by Detective Wallace. During Wallace's questioning of Helem, Helem lied multiple times, saying he had not had sex with Bentley for 5 weeks, had not seen her for 3 weeks, and said he no longer had a key to his victim's apartment, and that he did not have his keys with him. Detective Wallace asked another detective, David W. Allen, to ask Helem's girlfriend for permission to search her car. Detective Allen was able to retrieve the Helem's keys and determined that one of the keys on the ring did in fact match that of the front door of Bentley's townhouse.[3][4][5]

Helem was indicted by the grand jury on September 18, and arrested that same day.[3][5]

Helem's first trial for murder began June 16, 2003, with Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Kimberly Pace prosecuting and Helem being defended by William Reichhardt.[1] Riechhardt pointed out that the sliding glass door to Bentley's townhouse had been found unlocked, and that a receipt from a Food Lion dated April 5 had been found in the trash at the scene, which may have been sufficient to cast enough doubt on Helem's guilt, despite Helem lying multiple times on the witness stand and Helem's DNA being found on Bentley's corpse.[1] The trial ended in a mistrial when the jury was unable to reach a verdict.[4]

Helem's second trial began on September 2, 2003, but also ended in a mistrial when a prosecution witness accidentally mentioned his previous criminal record.[6]

Pace was more successful in her third attempt at prosecuting Helem, and he was convicted on October 9, 2003.[6]

Following the jury's recommendation, Helem was sentenced to life in prison by Judge Stanley Klein on December 5, 2003.[2]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Jury Still Deadlocked." Connection Newspapers. Connection Newspapers, 25 June 2003. Web. 04 Oct. 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hobbs, Bonnie. "Charles Helem Receives Life in Prison." Connection Newspapers. Connection Newspapers, 11 Dec. 2003. Web. 04 Oct. 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "DNA Obtained from Murder Suspect." Connection Newspapers. Connection Newspapers, 2 Oct. 2002. Web. 04 Oct. 2012.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Mistrial Is Declared; Helem To Be Retried." Connection Newspapers. Connection Newspapers, 30 June 2003. Web. 04 Oct. 2012.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Charles W. Helem v. Commonwealth of Virginia. Court of Appeals of Virginia. 27 May 2008. Virginia's Judicial System. Commonwealth of Virginia, 27 May 2008. Web. 4 Oct. 2012. Unpublished memorandum opinion by Judge Robert P. Frank.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Helem Guilty of Murder; Jurors Recommend Life." Connection Newspapers. Connection Newspapers, 15 Oct. 2003. Web. 18 Sept. 2014.