Helle Crafts née Nielsen was the very definition of a woman of the world.
Though she was born and raised in Denmark, Helle settled down in Newton, Connecticut after marrying pilot Richard Crafts in 1975. The pair had three beautiful children together, but that didn't stop Helle from traveling the globe as a flight attendant.
As Helle and Richard traveled far and wide for work, it wasn't uncommon for one or both of them to be gone for long periods of time. But in November of 1986, the lack of Helle's presence was deeply felt.
She was last seen on November 18th, on the eve of a snowstorm. On December 1st, she was reported missing.
Due to the circumstances surrounding her disappearance, Helle Craft was the first murder victim in Connecticut to lead to a conviction without a body. In fact, the details of her murder inspired the hit dark comedy thriller Fargo, according to a special edition of the DVD.
The Disappearance of Helle Crafts
Leading up to Helle's disappearance, there was increasing trouble in her and Richard's marriage. Helle discovered a series of long-distance phone calls made by Richard, and began to suspect him of having an affair.
When Helle confronted her husband about these odd phone calls, he got angry. Undeterred, Helle made contact with a divorce attorney and hired a private investigator, Keith Mayo, to find evidence of infidelity.
Unsurprisingly, Mayo was easily able to catch Richard in the act. He delivered photographs of Richard kissing another flight attendant outside of her New Jersey home.
On November 18th, 1986, Helle had just finished up a long flight from Germany. Some friends dropped her off at her home in Newton, just before a snowstorm swept over the area.
That was the last time she was ever seen. But Richard spun some different tales.
On November 19th, Richard claimed he was bringing Helle and their three kids over to his sister's house in Westport. Of course, when he arrived, Helle was conspicuously absent.
For the next couple of weeks, Helle's friends grew increasingly worried when they couldn't contact her. Richard's excuses ranged from Helle paying a visit to her mother in Denmark to jetting off to the Canary Islands with a friend.
Eventually, he stopped bothering to fabricate excuses and simply began telling people he himself was unaware of her whereabouts.
No amount of lies could quell the suspicions of Helle's loved ones. They were aware of Richard's vicious temper, and, in fact, had been told by Helle that if something bad were to ever happen to her, they shouldn't assume it was an accident.
The private investigator hired by Helle also noticed her absence. On December 1st, Mayo reported Helle missing to the Newton Police.
Unfortunately, Richard was well-known by the local authorities. He frequently worked as a volunteer police officer, and in 1986 he was even working as a part-time officer nearby in Southbury.
Because of these close connections, the Newton Police waved off Mayo's concerns.
What Really Happened to Helle Crafts?
Mayo was unhappy with the response he got from the local authorities. But that wasn't going to stop him from pursuing his suspicions further.
Certain that Richard Crafts had something to do with Helle's disappearance, Mayo brought his concerns and findings to the county prosecutor. The case was soon referred to the Connecticut State Police.
While Richard was on vacation in Florida with his children, troopers searched his home on December 26th. Their investigation found that parts of the master bedroom carpet had been removed.
When questioned, the nanny working for the Crafts recalled that she had seen a dark stain about the size of a grapefruit on a portion of the carpet that later found to be missing. A smear of blood across the side of the mattress was also documented.
Around the time that Helle had gone missing, some peculiar charges were also made on Richard's credit cards. Among these purchases were new bedsheets and a comforter, a freezer that was not found in the house, and the rental of a woodchipper.
Investigators discovered another damning piece of evidence thanks to a worker for the town of Southbury, Joseph Hine.
He'd been plowing the roads on November 18th after the snowstorm—hours after Helle was last seen by her friends—when he spotted a rental truck with a woodchipper attached parked near the shore of Lake Zoar.
Hine brought detectives to the location he'd described, and here along the water's edge, they found a significant amount of small metal pieces and about three ounces of human tissue.
Among the recovered tissue was the crown of a took, a fingernail painted with pink polish, some bone chips, 2,660 bleach blonde hairs, and type O blood.
Helle's blood type matched that found along the lake. Additionally, a forensic dentist was able to positively match the recovered crown to Helle's dental records.
Underwater at the lake, the authorities recovered a chainsaw that had more traces of blonde hair. The serial number on the chainsaw had been scrubbed off, but investigators were able to restore it in their lab.
This serial number was traced back to a retailer who had records confirming that it was Richard Crafts who purchased the tool.
A clear picture began to take shape between the purchase receipts at the forensic evidence found.
Investigators theorized that, at their home, Richard struck Helle in the head with a blunt instrument at least twice, leaving the carpet stained with blood. He then stored her body in the newly purchased freeze for several hours until she was frozen solid.
Richard would have then used his chainsaw to cut her body up into more manageable pieces. These pieces were then fed through the woodchipper.
The Sentencing of Richard Crafts
In most cases, a homicide conviction requires a body. At the very least, a prosecution requires an official determination of death of the alleged victim.
As there was no body to be identified in this case, the death was determined by the presence of Halle's tooth crown. With this evidence, the Connecticut State Medical Examiner's Office issued a death certificate on January 13th of 1987.
With the issue of this death certificate, Richard Crafts was immediately brought into custody.
For the sake of the trial, state medical examiner H. Wayne Carver ran a pig carcass through a woodchipper. The shape of the pig bone fragments and the marks left on them matched the fragments of Helle's remains, strengthening the theory that Richard disposed of his wife this way.
The murder trial of Richard Craft began in May of 1988. Due to a large amount of local publicity, the trial was held in New London.
After 54 days, the case went to the jury. After 17 days of deliberations, one single juror—the only one who was pushing for an acquittal—refused to further participate.
The judge was forced to declare a mistrial.
After a second trial took place in Norwalk, a guilty verdict came through on November 21st, 1989. Richard was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
Richard was released early on January 30th, 2020 for good behavior. He was sent to live at a halfway house in Bridgeport.
