The Woodchipper Murder: The Forensic Evidence Trail in the Homicide of Helle Crafts

Helle Crafts was a stewardess for Eastern Airlines. On November 19, 1986, her friend Rita was trying to get in touch with her after Helle's trip to Frankfurt. Rita's most terrible fears couldn't even come close to what had happened to her friend Helle Crafts. It was December first when the local police department, Newton PD., started an investigation into her disappearance. The investigation grew and took many a twist. Finally, on January 13, 1987, Richard Crafts was arrested for the murder of his wife. Due to a long forensic trail, based heavily on odontology, Helle's death certificate was finally signed - officially she died on January 13, 1987. Fifty-four days before, her husband had beaten her to death, froze her body, cut it up with a chainsaw, and fed it through a woodchipper along the Housatonic River.