Helle Crafts - The Case

The Case

By December 25, police had obtained a warrant to search the Crafts' premises. They uncovered a few clues: several pieces of carpet from Richard and Helle's bedroom were removed from the floor. The family's nanny also came forward and told police of a dark, grapefruit-sized stain she had seen on the carpet of the bedroom, but that patch of carpet had apparently been removed. A blood smear was also uncovered on the side of the Crafts' bed. Police found among Richard's credit card records evidence that he had made several purchases before and after his wife's disappearance, including a new freezer that was not found in the home, new bed sheets, a comforter, and US$900 for the rental of a woodchipper. Later, a private investigator who had been hired by Helen Crafts found in papers provided to him by Helle a receipt for a chainsaw. The chainsaw was later found in Lake Zoar and forensics experts would determine that it was covered in hair and blood that matched those of Helle.

A snowplow driver who knew Richard Crafts eventually came forward and said he had seen Crafts using a woodchipper at night near the shore of Lake Zoar in Newtown, Connecticut, during a severe snow-storm. This was late on the night of November 19, the night Helle Crafts was last seen. With this new information, police focused their search around that area for many days, and even scanned the icy cold lake for clues. They found many pieces of metal, less than 3 ounces (85 g) of human remains, including a tooth with unique dental work, a toe-nail covered in pink nail polish, bone chips, 2,660 bleached, blonde human hairs, fingernails and O type blood, the same type as Helle Crafts'. Analysis led the police to conclude the remains had gone through a woodchipper. The forensic investigation was led by renowned forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee.

Police theorized that in their bedroom, Crafts first struck Helle unconscious with something blunt, which would explain the blood stains found, then carried her body to the freezer where he left it for some time. Police further postulated that Crafts had taken Helle's body out of the freezer on the night he was seen at the river by the witness, chopped it into several large portions with the chainsaw, and then put them through the woodchipper. The police believed the dismembered pieces of Helle Crafts' body were then scattered into the river and the area around it.

But Crafts could not be tried for causing his wife's death until state agencies officially recorded her as dead, and the absence of an identifiable body posed obstacles to that conclusion. After a forensic dentist confirmed that the found tooth was a match to Helle's dental records, the Connecticut State Medical Examiner's Office accepted this evidence, and issued a death certificate for her, opening the way to trial. After a long trial in which forensic evidence was key, a mistrial was declared after one of the twelve jurors refused to vote to convict. Crafts was retried, and was found guilty on November 21, 1989, just over three years and a day since Helle was last seen alive. In January 1990, Richard Crafts was sentenced to serve 50 years in state prison.