Helffenstein, 45, was fatally wounded October 29th while pursuing burglars who had been seen breaking into a vehicle parked outside his Meadow Ridge Circle home in the Traceside subdivision off Highway 100. When Helffenstein went outside to confront the car burglars, they fled in a black SUV. Helffenstein pursued them in his vehicle. As they traveled on Highway 100, shots were fired from the burglars’ getaway SUV at Helffenstein. He was hit and fatally wounded.
The vehicle Helffenstein was pursuing, a black Nissan Rogue, was stolen in the hours before the murder from a home in Mt. Juliet. The keys were taken during a residential burglary. The Rogue was recovered abandoned on October 31st from a parking area of Highlands at the Lake Apartments on Arbor Lake Boulevard in Hermitage. The vehicle was impounded and processed.