Slain Tinseltown publicist Ronni Chasen was gunned down in her Mercedes in an apparent botched robbery by a bike-riding ex-con who later blew his brains out with the same gun, cops revealed yesterday in the case's latest plot twist.
Ballistics tests show that the gun Harold Smith used to commit suicide last week matched the weapon from the Nov. 16 Chasen murder, Beverly Hills Police Chief David Snowden said.
"We believe that Mr. Smith acted alone" in killing Chasen, 64, said Snowden, while repeatedly pointing out the case remained open. "We don't believe it was a professional hit."
Splash News; Getty Images (below)CRUEL FATE: The gun that Harold Smith (above) used to kill himself matches the one used last month on Hollywood publicist Ronni Chasen, who was shot before crashing her Mercedes, police said. Sgt. Michael Publicker added, "This was a random act of violence."
"With Mr. Smith's background, we most likely believe it was a robbery gone bad . . . Through the interviews and the information received, we believe he was at a desperate moment in his life, and was reaching out and doing desperate measures."
"It does not appear at this time that there's any connection between the two," Publicker said. "We believe that he was intending to rob her . . . We believe that his mode of transportation was by bicycle."
One scenario that cops are eyeing is that the lowlife Smith, 43, shot the well-coiffed Chasen several times through her car's passenger window, but had no chance to rob her because she hit the gas and sped off, Publicker said. She crashed a short distance away.
The stunning disclosure demolished a slew of often wild theories floated since Chasen was shot at around 12:30 a.m. as she drove home from the premiere of the movie "Burlesque."
Those include suggestions that the native New Yorker was the victim of a professional hit man or a drive-by gang shooting.
On Dec. 1, Beverly Hills cops visited a low-rent Hollywood apartment building after receiving a tip from "America's Most Wanted" that Smith, who had recently been evicted, bragged to neighbors about killing Chasen.
Smith, who served a decade in prison for robbery, whipped out a gun and shot himself after seeing cops.
Some news reports suggested Smith, whom cops had referred to only as "a person of interest," was lying, and killed himself because he feared going back to prison for a string of unrelated robberies. It was believed unlikely he would have been cycling through Beverly Hills in the middle of the night.
There were also reports several days ago that claimed ballistics tests on his gun -- whose make and caliber have still not been disclosed -- showed no connection to the Chasen murder.
But cops yesterday dismissed those accounts as being based on "erroneous information," and cited interviews and other undisclosed evidence to go along with the ballistics test to back up the latest theory of the Hollywood mystery.
Investigators are "probably 60 to 70 percent done with the probe," Publicker noted. "We want to eliminate every possibility that any other people were involved."
"There is a lot of information that still needs to be obtained," he said.
The unidentified tipster who called "America's Most Wanted" to report that Smith was claiming to be involved in Chasen's slaying may still get reward money in excess of $100,000, police said.
dan.mangan@nypost.com
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