Police Track Down Leads In Murder Of Hollywood Publicist

Investigators seized computers from the business of a prominent Hollywood publicist who was shot to death in her car in Beverly Hills early Tuesday morning.

Police hauled the equipment from Ronni Chasen’s business, Chasen and Co., about 12 hours after she was gunned down early Tuesday morning. There are no suspects or motive for the crime yet.

Chasen had strong ties to the Palm Springs International Film Festival, where she helped orchestrate several of the event’s galas and helped lure celebrities to the festivities.

Chasen, 64, was pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, a coroner’s spokesman said. She had suffered five gunshot wounds.

Chasen was found about 12:30 a.m. in her late-model E-350 sedan, which crashed into a pole on Whittier Drive just south of Sunset Boulevard. She had attended the Hollywood premiere of the film “Burlesque” and an after-party and was on her way home to Westwood when she came under fire.

News of Chasen’s death hit the staff of the Palm Springs Film Festival hard.

“Ronni Chasen has been my partner in selecting all honorees and presenters for the Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala for the past 10 years,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “(She was) a very good lady, a good friend and a genius at her craft.

“Her death is very, very sad and mystifying,” Matzner said. “Ronni has played the most important part in the Awards Gala’s success. She will be very missed by all in the Festival family, and by me especially!”

In past years, Chasen was credited with helping the festival snag Randy Newman, John Williams and Andy Garcia for its galas.

Chasen mostly was a unit publicist, working on films such as “Driving Miss Daisy,” “On Golden Pond” and “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.”

She was formerly the senior vice president of worldwide publicity at MGM.