EXCLUSIVE (updated)
TMZ has posted a video shot in Beverly Hills of what the site says is Ronni Chasen. One problem there: the publicist was in Europe at the time.
Friends confirmed to TheWrap that the blonde woman in a video posted by the gossip site Wednesday morning under the headline "Surveillance Video of Murdered Publicist, could not have been Chasen.
Instead Chasen was in Europe on Oct. 28.
The story seemingly disappeared off TMZ around 11:15AM Weds. Efforts to contact TMZ were not immediately returned, however the site did put up a revised story Weds saying "Ronni's co-workers say she was not in L.A. on October 28."
Earlier:
An unidentified private investigator filmed people entering and leaving Chasen’s luxury high-rise building on Wilshire in a matter seemingly unrelated to her, according to reports.
It shows the woman driving out of Chasen's apartment building driving a Mercedes that is not Chasen's Mercedes-Benz E350.
Friends who knew her and have seen the video say not only was Chasen out of the country, but her hair was lighter and her chin shaped differently.
Beverly Hills Sgt Lincoln Hishino told TheWrap, "We have not yet determined if that is Ronni Chasen in the video or not."
The footage has been handed over the Beverly Hills Police, who have been searching for clues in the baffling case. The apparent lack of motive or clues has been leading to wild theories and a leap to grab at anything that looks like evidence.
In this case, it's not at all clear that this is relevant.
“TMZ provided it to us yesterday, I don’t know where they got it from,” Hishino told TheWrap. “I will say, our detectives have looked at it and are assessing its value to the case."
TMZ reports that the car she is seen driving at 7:55AM on Oct. 28 is a four-door Mercedes with paper plates.
Chasen’s car was a two-door Mercedes. She was shot to death in it at approximately 12:28AM on Nov. 16 with five gunshots to the chest while driving home through Beverly Hills. Chasen’s car, according to pictures taken of its removal from the scene of the crime of Whittier Drive, just south of Sunset Blvd, had a Handicapped sign slung over its rear-view mirror. The car she is seen driving on Oct. 28 does not.
The circumstances surrounding Chasen’s death, as she was traveling home from the premiere after party for "Burlesque" at Drai’s club on the rooftop of the W on Hollywood Blvd, has lead to speculation that the shooting was a professional hit.
The 64-year old Chasen was laid to rest on Nov. 21 in a packed midday funeral service.
