June 18, 2013

Crime History: Flight attendant's husband arrested in 'Wood chipper Murder'

BY: SCOTT MCCABE JANUARY 10, 2013 | 8:00 PM
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On this day, Jan. 11, in 1987, Connecticut police arrested the husband of a missing flight attendant in the case that became known as the "Wood chipper Murder."

When 39-year-old Helle Crafts disappeared in November 1986, her husband, Richard, told different stories about her whereabouts.

A witness saw a man operating a wood chipper during a snow storm near the Housatonic River.

Divers found a chain saw, with human hair and tissue in its teeth. Detectives thawed the snow and found 2,660 hairs, one fingernail, one toenail, two teeth, one tooth cap and five droplets of blood.

Crafts was convicted of murder and sentenced to 50 years. The case later inspired the Coen brothers to write the film "Fargo."

- Scott McCabe

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