Ronni Chasen Murder Case Tipster Sues Over Reward
The anonymous person whose call to “America’s Most Wanted” led police to the publicist’s murder says he never got a promised $125,000 in reward money.
Publicist Michael Levine and Palm Springs Film Festival head Harold Matzner are named in a lawsuit filed in L.A. County Superior Court on Monday by a "John Doe" who claims he never got a promised $125,000 reward for information leading to the identification of Ronni Chasen's killer.
Read the full lawsuit here.
TMZ reports the tipster claims he contacted America's Most Wanted with information that led police to the Hollywood apartment of Harold Martin Smith. Smith was eventually confronted by police, shot and killed in the lobby of his apartment building on December 1, 2010. Police eventually concluded that Smith was in fact Chasen's killer in what they determined was a robbery gone wrong.
The tipster's suit says he is the sole person to provide information to America's Most Wanted, and therefore is entitled to the full $125,000 reward. He says Levine offered $25,000 and Matzner offered $100,000.
Levine tells TMZ the claims are "totally false." He also says, "I never arranged for a reward fund. I offered to call some friends, but was told by the family that the Palm Springs Film Festival was handling the reward."
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