Convicted Felon Charged in 43-Year-Old Murder Case

A felon serving time for a double murder pleaded not guilty yesterday to the 1972 murder of a 79-year-old woman in her apartment, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced. Harold Holman (DOB 7/19/46) returns on Mar. 2 to the Foltz Criminal Justice Center to set a date for his preliminary hearing in case BA432938. He is being held without bail. Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman with the Major Crimes Division is prosecuting the case. Holman is charged with the Aug. 27, 1972, murder of Helen Meyler. She was bludgeoned to death in her bed with a blunt object. DNA evidence connected Holman to the murder, Silverman said. Holman is currently serving a 45-year prison sentence for a double murder and a string of high-rise residential burglaries in the 1980s. If convicted as charged, he faces up to life in state prison. The case remains under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department.