Hi, š this is a free write because I am in the mood to write and just babble. So today I will be discussing not into too deep details, but I will cover the basics. When I first heard about this case, my brain short circuited. Letās get into it, shall we?
A fair warning: ā ļø since this just a free write post, I may incorporate some of my humor into it. So if I write something that is offbeat, itās intentional. In the same breath I will not be making any jokes about victims because I aināt about that life. However I will roast the guilty parties in the case. Consider this a small glimpse of my personality if you will.
Now, letās go back to 1986 where our story takes place. Connecticut is one of my favorite states for some reason. Iāve always wanted to live there.
Anyways, letās hop in the Time Machine to 1986!
Who is the woman in the picture above? That is the lovely Helle Crafts. Helle Lorck Nielsen was born on July 7th, 1947 in Charlottenlund, Denmark š©š°
Helle was a Danish flight attendant for Pan Am. In 1975, she married a man named Richard Crafts; Richard was a pilot who loved his job a little too much.
Helle carried on with her career as a flight attendant all the while also raising three children. Her marriage with Richard ran into some turbulent waters.
In 1986, Helle began to suspect that her husband, Richard was participating in extramarital sexual activity.
So, she essentially wasnāt vibing with this information and confronted Richard (the perpetrator) about her concerns and to inquire information about some suspicious long-distance calls.
Oh boy. Oh boy, Richard decides he is going to get ENRAGED and he was set off like a ticking time bomb. š£
āØintrusive thought š moment: Richard, how the fuck are you gonna get mad knowing damn wellā¦.
Anyway, Helle met with a divorce attorney (yass queen) and hired a private investigator named Keith Mayo. Keith discovered that Helleās concerns were true as he snapped a photo of Richard kissing another flight attendant in freaking New Jersey, yāall.
The Disappearance of Helle- November 18th, 1986:
On November 18th, 1986, Helle Craftās friends dropped her off at her home that she shared with Richard (this unzesty ass man).
So yeah, Helle literally just came home after working a long flight from Frankfurt, West Germany. This was the last time Helle was seen aliveā¦
Oh, the though part of writing this is about the crime. Here we go.
Also! another fair warning ā ļø I am absolutely going to roast Richard. Because this man has been using his cockpit after work hours.
š¶Richard, oh Richardā¦š¶
Back to business. Before my nonsense shenanigans, I mentioned that Helle went missing. Oy vey. On the night of her disappearance a snowstorm had hit the area so naturally Helle was just probably wanting to be home so she could be with her kidsā¦.and freaking Richard I guess. Whatever.
The jump scare that is Richard. How the fuck did anyone want his cockpit? He he he. Get it? Iāll see myself directly to the point inā¦ 5,4,3,2,1ā¦.
The Murder:
Before jumping into the murder, I am not going to get super deep into it, but I will post links š at the end of this post so you can interact and read about Helleās case. Also, another fair warning ā ļø this portion I will mention some pretty disturbing things, so if you donāt vibe with this kinda information please proceed with caution āļø and as always, thank you for reading š
The ACTUAL crime- short version
As I have mentioned above, Helle and Richard had been going through a rough patch. Helle had her suspicions that Richard was cheating, so she was like āexcuse me? But no.ā (Respectfully) so she had already set into motion that she wanted to separate from Richard. Before her death she had already begun with the divorce proceedings.
Unfortunately on that dreaded night, Helle was murdered. According to investigators, they concluded that Richard had attacked Helle in their master bedroom.
Helle had already been asleep and was struck in the head with a blunt object (such as a heavy flashlight) while she slept.
And THENā¦ Mr. Cockpit just decided ā K. So I need to dispose of this body. So what does he do? Iām trying my best to ease yāall into thisā¦ šš heaven help me.
Richard placed Helleās body into a large commercial freezer in their garage. Then he laterā¦ used a chainsaw to dismember her FROZEN remains and rented a wood chipper to feed the pieces into the Housatonic River near Lake Zoar during the snowstorm.
Remember the snowstorm I mentioned? Well this is what Richard used this night for.
The Forensic Evidence, The Witness, and The Wood chipper:
So Richard was the truly feeling himself and said ālet me just I donāt know, feed these remains into a wood chipper.
Umm š¤ dramatic pause because what the FUCK?
Anyway, Richard disposed of Helleās remains and thought that he would get away with murder. And what did this piss ass do next?
After Helleās disappearance and murder, people were beginning to get suspicious. They would ask about Helle and where she might possibly be. Knowing what we know now, it makes this case all the more devastating.
Richard decided to start lying about Helleās whereabouts. One minute he was saying that Helle was in Denmark tending to her mother because she was sick. This wasnāt definitely not true as Helleās mother was totally not sick.
Little did Richard realize is that his crime would find him again. On the night he disposed of Helleās remains in a wood chipper, there was very crucial witness that resulted in the arrest of Richard Crafts.
A snowplow driver came forward reporting that he had seen a man operating a truck with a wood chipper near Lake Zoar during the storm.
After the snowplow driver went to law enforcement to report this disturbing sighting, police conducted a search of the Craftsā household.
Inside the home, police were able to piece together this very messed up case; Investigators concluded that Richard had struck Helle the head with a blunt object twice, which resulted the carpet being stained with blood, then kept Helleās body in the freezer for hours until she was frozen solid.
I must pause here a moment. Becauseā¦ what? Excuse me, sir. š¤¦š¾āāļø
Anyway, to make matters worse, Richard proceeded to cut Helleās remains with a chainsaw. Gosh I freaking hate this kind of thing. Like itās one thing to murder a spouse..and another to freeze them and dismember them. Also the fact that they had three children together, I am assuming the children were present in the home while their mother was being killed.
My heart aches for them. Truly it does. My guess his motive for killing Helle was due to the fact that she he was in fact not keeping his cock in his pit, and was in the process of getting a divorce from Richardās ass.
In order to be prosecuted, a homicide requires an official determination of death of the alleged victim. This is typically done by identifying a body. Since we now know the manner of Helleās death, the court had to proceed without a body.
Thankfully with the help of a forensic dentist, the tooth crown found on the waterās edge was positively matched to Helleās dental records.
Along with the tooth at the scene, there was also; small pieces of metal, 3 ounces (85g) of human tissue, a fingernail covered in pink nail polish, bone chips, 2,600 bleached blonde human hairs, and type O blood which was the same type of Helleās blood.
Police also found the chainsaw that Richard used submerged into the lake and found that it contained traces of blonde human hair.
With the serial number being successfully restored, they were able to trace it back to the retailer in which Richard had purchased it from.
BINGO!
Remember when Richard was pulling lies outta his ass. Lmao š¤£ KARMA in the highest order.
Based on the evidence presented in the court of ze law, the medical examinerās office issued a death certificate on January 13th, 1987.
Bitch ass (Richard) was arrested immediately. In preparation for the trial, state examiner H. Wayne Carver obtained a pig carcass fed through a wood chipper. Through this experiment, he was able to prove that Richard had in fact used a wood chipper to dispose of Helleās body.
Murder Trial- May 1988: The trial of Richard Crafts was in New London, it was moved due to extensive local publicity.
The case went to the jury after 54 days.
July 15th,1988- After seventeen days of jury deliberations, a single juror- the only juror in favor of acquittal refused to continue, and the judge declared a mistrial.
A second trial in Norwalk ended in a guilty verdict on November 21, 1989. Richard was sentenced to serve 50 years in prison. Damnā¦ I wouldāve thought that due to the brutality of this case, Richard would never see the light of day.
On January 30th, 2020, Richard was released and sent to live in a halfway house in Bridgeport. Piss ass, I mean, dipshit or whatever, was released early because of āstatutory good timeā which allows sentences to be shortened for good behavior and jailhouse jobs.
And that my friends is the bizarre case of the disappearance and death of Helle Crafts. She was a woman who was devoted to her family, her children, and her husband. She deserved way better than what she was handed in life. It is also frustrating that once again, the justice system proves that it is extremely flawed.
Final Thoughts: This is by far one of the most strangest cases that I have ever heard of. What really got me was the great lengths that Richard went through to murder his wife. All because of his infidelity and his cockpit; which he probably hasnāt seen since like the 1980s. I donāt know fam, I donāt know.
A quick shoutout to Joseph Hine! The snow plowed who witnessed Richard as he fed his wife to a wood chipper. We applaud him because he didnāt stay silent he came through with that information. So I have to give Joseph his tens.
Because without it, Richard Shit probably wouldāve walked away without any kind of sentence or punishment. Even though he should have been handed a lengthy prison sentence in my opinion. But itās a pretty good piece of justice for Helle.
And finally, to Helle, you will always be missed and remembered ā¤ļø I wish that life had better plans than what happened to her. She was absolutely right to have been in the process of divorcing her husband, she should still be alive and here with her children.
Helle, May You Rest In Peace šš L.W.
Interested in going deeper into this case? Please follow the links š below š
True Crime 
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