The Wood-Chipper Murder

Cierra G. Rowe

July 9, 2018

I'm sure you've heard the cherry picked tale countless times before of ''man meets woman''. This tale is a bit different than the routine. Man not only met woman, but man eventually put that woman in a wood chipper.

 The story of Helle Crafts is one of sadness and tragedy.

I won't spoil the read for you because this is sure to be a salty snack for all of you True Crime fanatics.

I will say, though, at times while flipping through the pages whilst munching on Pizza Hut's delicious pie, I felt as if I was there. As I sat on the couch feeling the pizza crumbs on my chin I thought to myself ''Has Pizza Hut changed their sauce?'' and then ''My goodness, that poor woman, her children, such pain.'' It felt so real, because it is real. As the suspense bloomed in my hands, page through page I witnessed the crime unfold. I felt the panic, I felt the night, I heard the machine eating the frozen woman, piercing my ears like that awful music my husband listens to 

(no offense honey). 

...

For all intents and purposes Helle Crafts seemed like a lovely, devoted wife. She seemed like the kind of mother any child would adore, the kind of friend you see in Hallmark movies, and the kind of daughter any mother would be proud to call her own but above all else, she seemed tired. There was trouble in paradise; Bruises appeared on Helle's face. Richard, her cold and calculated husband, was having an affair. Things were bad and became worse.

For those of you who wish to read the book and discover what I discovered, for yourselves

DO NOT STROLL PAST THE DOTTED LINE.

.................................................................................................

THE MURDER AND DISPOSAL OF HELLE CRAFTS -

Richard Crafts almost got away with it. It is frightening how close he actually was to getting away with it. Helle Crafts was murdered by her husband, Richard because she found out about his affair with Nancy Dodd and threatened him with a divorce. Helle had everything that she needed to bring Richard down in court. A good lawyer, proof of his infidelity etc.

 This would end very badly for Richard, in more ways than one, if he didn't do something about it. . . and so he did.

 (p.195)

''How did he do it? The bloodstains on the mattress told a tale. Helle was not shot, because a bullet would have produced spots of maximum velocity impact. Nor did he shove her head under a pillow to muffle the sound as he shot her, because the blood fell directly on the mattress cover. A knifing would also have produced spots of maximum velocity impact. That he droplets of blood were not intercepted by bedding might mean that the bedclothes were pulled off during a struggle; perhaps he lunged and she tried to escape, thrusting obstacles in his way, no matter how flimsy. But another explanation seems logical. Helle was making the bed.''

...

RICHARD MURDERS HELLE -

(p.195 continued)

''Crafts was not a bedmaker. Helle performed that chore. A very tidy person, having been away from home for three nights, she may have intended to change the bottom sheet or remake the bed. That would have seemed to Crafts an opportune moment, because she was preoccupied. Creeping up from behind, he struck her; and a likely suspect for a murder weapon could have been found nearby. In the bathroom, in a recharging holder, was an SL-35 ''Streamlight'' flashlight, one and a half inches in diameter, something less than twenty inches long and heavier than a standard hammer.''

...

(p.195 continued)

''For Crafts, the special beauty of the flashlight would have been that if Helle saw the familiar object in his hand, not raised, she wouldn't scream as she might if he held a baseball bat, say, which would have made his violent intentions obvious. So whether she tried to struggle or not, he hit her on the head with the flashlight or another weapon. He struck her twice, the second blow driving out the blood.''

RICHARD PUTS HIS WIFE'S CORPSE IN A FREEZER -

 He then stored Helle Crafts' corpse in a large freezer because

 (p.197) ''To use a chain saw on a soft body would have caused an indescribable and, for Crafts, dangerous mess.''

RICHARD DISMEMBERS HIS WIFE'S FROZEN CORPSE -

(p.201)

 ''Only then did he chain saw the body, underneath which he put plastic drop cloths. To slice and package his wife in dark plastic bags in addition to the clear plastic drop cloths and some of the sheeting in which she had previously been wrapped and tie the bags with rope probably took an hour. He used the tip of the gas-powered Stihl's bar to minimize the tissue spew. Other chain saws rang in the air; neighbors were continuing to clean up after the storm. The police suspected that Crafts had severed only Helle's head and extremities, since they found bits from those areas of the body only. They thought he must have deposited the torso elsewhere, perhaps in the old freezer or in a dump with an immediate compactor. But that the torso has not been discovered is good reason to believe that he dismembered and chain-sawed the whole body; another reason is that remnants of the papers Helle would seem to have had in her nightshirt pockets were found among the River Road chips. Helle was hurriedly bagged in seven or eight parcels. Crafts went to Silver Bridge, and with wood he'd brought in the U-Haul, he chipped his wife's remains into the river, bag by bag.

So... Does your husband own a heavy flashlight?

Read this book.

Fine.

Cierra G. Rowe is a fine artist who enjoys writing.