Crafts Vs. Helle: The Case Of Dr. Lee

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On November 19, 1986, Helle Crafts went missing. For a few weeks, the police were looking for her. They gathered evidence, wrote search warrants, and looked for her body. During a search of the Craft’s home, police found compelling evidence, which in turn lead the investigators to possible murder weapons.
A private investigator uncovered important clues, while an eye witness gave substance to the evidence, helping put the puzzle pieces together. Finally, Richard Crafts was arrested for the murder of his wife, Helle. Dr. Henry Lee is a forensic scientist known around the world. But before he got his worldly fame, he was a simple scientist from Connecticut. The Wood Chipper Murder was the keystone case that Dr. Lee worked on and solved that …show more content…

Her husband, Robert, was the last person to have seen her. For weeks, investigators looked for Helle’s body, collected bits of evidence, and had very little luck piecing together the story. Eventually, with the help of Dr. Lee, the evidence gathered, and the story became more and more clear.
• T. (2014). o Richard Crafts was a philanderer, a gun enthusiast, and an airline pilot. o Helle was a flight attendant when they met. o During their marriage, Richard had numerous affairs. This was taking a toll on Helle. o In 1986, Helle told her friends if anything happened to her, “don’t assume it was an accident.” o On November 19, 1986, Helle Crafts was last seen with her husband, Richard.
• Gado (n.d) o Investigators went through the Craft’s trash. They found the missing rug from the bedroom, with blood stains. o It was taken to Dr. Henry Lee for analysis. o As time went on, media caught wind of the missing person case. The investigators were being pressured to find tangible evidence, and they were being criticized. o Crafts’ credit card bills and phone records were …show more content…

Lowell Levine, the famous forensic dentist, positively identified a tooth fragment from the scene as having belonged to Helle Crafts’ lower-left bicuspid, but the contest ended with a hung jury.” o “Then a second trial, held in Stamford in March 1989, ultimately resulted in Crafts’ murder conviction. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison-and Dr Lee’s reputation as a criminalist was carved out, not just in the media, but also in police and legal circles.”
The investigators used a few different techniques to solve this crime. The main technique they used was the use of search warrants. Based on the initial investigation of Helle Crafts, there were only a few pieces of evidence. Then, based off of eyewitness testimony, investigators got a search warrant for phone records and credit card bills. The information that was discovered helped further the investigation, and the investigators obtained a search warrant for the Crafts home. Thanks to the evidence found due to eye witness testimony and search warrant searches, the investigators were able to piece together the story of how Helle Crafts was killed and how her body was disposed

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