AFP - Police hunting a top Hollywood PR agent's killer said Wednesday it was probably a "robbery gone bad," as laboratory tests showed the gun used was the same a suspect turned on himself last week.
While insisting they had not definitively solved the murder of Ronni Chasen, which has cast a shadow over Beverly Hills for weeks, police said the suicide suspect likely traveled to and from the crime scene by bicycle.
Harold Martin Smith, 43, shot himself in the head as police arrived at his Santa Monica Boulevard apartment last Wednesday to question him about the November 16 murder, which had become a real-life whodunit.
Beverly Hills police had until now declined to say whether Smith -- who one neighbor said had bragged about having killed Chasen -- was a formal suspect or just a "person of interest" to police.
But preliminary lab results suggested the gun he used to kill himself was the same as that which fired five bullets into Chasen at point blank range.
"This was a random act of violence. With Mr Smith's background, we believe it was most likely a robbery gone bad," said Sergeant Mike Publicker, adding that it seemed he acted alone.
"We do not believe he was a paid hitman," Publicker told reporters, adding that investigations suggested Smith "was at a desperate point in his life."
"We believe Mr. Smith acted alone," added Beverly Hills police chief Dave Snowden.
Chasen was shot five times in the chest shortly after midnight on November 16, hours after attending the glittering premiere of the film "Burlesque" starring Christina Aguilera and Cher.
The 64-year-old, who publicized films like "Driving Miss Daisy" and "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves," was found in her Mercedes crashed into a light pole just off Sunset Boulevard.
Neighbors reported after his death that Smith -- an ex convict who had been jailed twice and feared going back to prison -- was fanatical about his bicycle.
Asked how Smith would have got to the Chasen murder scene from his downbeat apartment in Hollywood to upmarket Beverly Hills, Publicker said: "We believe that his mode of transportation was by bicycle."
The Chasen killing had turned into a real-life murder mystery which could have come straight from the pages of Raymond Chandler, whose famous detective Philip Marlowe stalked the streets of Los Angeles.
In the two weeks following the killing Beverly Hills police appeared to make little progress into finding out whether Chasen was the victim of a random road rage incident, or something more sinister.
A coroner's report confirmed that she had been struck from close range -- and leaked details said that at least one of the bullets was hollow-pointed, fueling speculation of a professional hit.
While Smith does not fit that theory, neighbors had already pointed the finger at him.
The TMZ celebrity website reported Wednesday that Smith had a history or preying on women: in 1998 he attacked two women on the same night, in Beverly Hills and West Hollywood.
The tip which led police to Smith came from someone who called hit TV show about wanted criminals, "America's Most Wanted."
Police chief Snowden said the tipster, who wanted to remain anonymous, could be in line for the 125,000 reward offered for information leading to the arrest of the Hollywood PR's untimely death.
But he said the investigation was still ongoing, despite the laboratory breakthrough.
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