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'Suicide Gun' Matches Weapon In Ronni Chasen Murder

Dec. 8 2010, Published 8:32 a.m. ET

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At a press conference held in Beverly Hills Wednesday afternoon, Beverly Hills Police Chief Dave Snowden revealed that preliminary ballistics tests done on the weapon that was used by Harold Martin Smith to take his own life shows it was the same weapon used in the murder of Ronni Chasen.

Chief Snowden told reporters outside the Beverly Hills Police station that on Wednesday, December 1 evidence was transported to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office, the same day that they received the tip from America’s Most Wanted that Harold Smith may have been connected to the shooting.

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Snowden goes on to say that on December 2, Beverly Hills detectives requested the release of those records and ballistics notified them that the preliminary results show the gun is a match.

Final results of those ballistics tests are expected within the next two weeks.

Last Photo Of Slain Hollywood Publicist -- At Burlesque Premiere

Sargeant Mike Publicker of the Beverly Hills Police department also addressed reporters, telling them that the shooting could have been done by someone on a bicycle. A bicycle was taken into evidence at the scene of Smith’s suicide.

The sargeant goes on to say it was a “random act” and believes Chasen was “the victim of an intended robbery.”

According to Sargeant Publicker, “the investigation is 60 to 70 percent done” and police do not believe he was a “paid hit man.”

Before his suicide, Harold Smith was a "person of interest" in the murder of Hollywood publicist Ronni Chasen.  He had bragged to neighbors that he’d killed Chasen and was awaiting a $10,000 payment. 

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As RadarOnline.com previously reported, the Beverly Hills PD now has video of Chasen’s car as it hit a light post seconds after she was shot to death on a quiet residential street.  The tape came from a homeowner’s security camera.

Chasen was a well-liked and highly respected in her business. She was on her way home from the Burlesque premiere when she was shot through the window of her Mercedes.  In her will she left the bulk of her estate to her niece Melissa Cohen, and left only $10 to her other niece Jill Cohen Gatsby.

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