Summary
In 1977, Christa Helm was a model turned actress whose Hollywood story came to a bloody end. She left behind a trove of scandalous secrets, a long list of high-profile suspects, and a daughter who’s been searching for the truth ever since. "48 Hours" correspondent Maureen Maher reports.
This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 10/4/2008. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays and stream on demand on Paramount+.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | She was my movie star mommy. |
| 0:15.0 | Someone has been walking around for 30 years, having committed this heinous crime on my mother. |
| 0:23.6 | I want to know what happened to her. |
| 0:26.6 | My mom was killed February 12, 1977. |
| 0:30.6 | I was nine. |
| 0:36.6 | We found all kinds of things. |
| 0:40.3 | Two huge boxes. |
| 0:42.3 | All kinds of evidence, all kinds of interviews, all kinds of information that nobody had looked at before they were just tucked away. |
| 0:49.3 | The crime scene where Krista Helm was murdered in 1977, |
| 0:55.0 | she had left a party in West Hollywood and she was attacked |
| 1:00.0 | and stabbed numerous times. |
| 1:07.0 | She was a very good-looking girl. She was a very good-looking girl. |
| 1:11.6 | Oh, how's my technique coming? |
| 1:15.6 | Oh, how's my technique coming? |
| 1:19.6 | Oh, you're doing fine. |
| 1:22.6 | She was not against posing in seductive type photos. |
| 1:28.3 | She was a young Hollywood starlet, party girl. |
| 1:33.3 | She hung out with Joe Namath, Mick Jagger, Warren Beatty. |
| 1:42.3 | Jack Nicholson, the Shaw of Iran. |
| 1:45.0 | We knew that she kept a diary. |
| 1:49.0 | My mom was a very smart woman. |
| 1:51.0 | I can definitely see her keeping track of things. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from CBS News, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of CBS News and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.