The Woodchipper Murder

Even though the Newtown, Connecticut, police listed Helle Crafts' disappearance as a routine missing person case, Keith Mayo, a private investigator, knew the Danish-born mother of three hadn't skipped town nine days before Thanksgiving.. Rita Buonanno remembers the words exactly: "If anything happens to me don't think it was an accident." Helle Crafts was last seen on November 18, 1986. In the style of a brilliant detective novel, Arthur Herzog skillfully re-creates the hour-by-hour circumstantial details that inform this grisly true-crime narrative. We observe dispassionate Richard Crafts as he buys a truck with a pintle hook for towing heavy equipment, promised for delivery before November 18. A day later he reserves a Badger Brush Bandit woodchipper.

Helle Crafts worked as a flight attendant while married to pilot Richard Crafts...The two were happily married for six years, raising three children, until Helle learned of her husband's affairs. She hired a defense attorney as well as a private investigator who photographed Richard making out with another stewardess. On November 18th, 1986, a group of friends dropped Helle off at her home....She was never seen or heard from again. Aided by a massive snowstorm, her husband Richard was able to evade questions on his wife's whereabouts from family and friends for several weeks. But those close to her became almost immediately concerned. Helle had warned them "if something happens to me, don't think it was an accident."What happened to Helle Crafts on that fateful night in November?

Helle Crafts worked as a flight attendant while married to pilot Richard Crafts...The two were happily married for six years, raising three children, until Helle learned of her husband's affairs. She hired a defense attorney as well as a private investigator who photographed Richard making out with another stewardess. On November 18th, 1986, a group of friends dropped Helle off at her home....She was never seen or heard from again....Aided by a massive snowstorm, her husband Richard was able to evade questions on his wife's whereabouts from family and friends for several weeks. But those close to her became almost immediately concerned. Helle had warned them "if something happens to me, don't think it was an accident." What happened to Helle Crafts on that fateful night in November?

Perhaps no other television show captures our innate fascination with crime and criminals better than the original Forensic Files. Including murders, insurance fraud, hit-and-runs, and kidnappings, all cases featured on the show are solved in large part with the help of forensic science like DNA evidence. In Forensic Files Now: Inside 40 Unforgettable Cases, author Rebecca Reisner shares her own gripping retellings — adapted from her popular blog, ForensicFilesNow.com — of 40 favorite cases profiled on the show along with fascinating updates and personal interviews with those directly involved. Featuring classic cases like the Tennessee brothers who terrorized locals for years until the feds rode into town, the Texas lovebirds who robbed a grave in an insurance fraud plot that made international headlines, the Ivy League-educated physician who attempted a fresh start by burying his wife in the basement, and some cases so captivating that they have sparked spinoff miniseries or documentaries of their own, this book will enthrall readers with its vivid recaps and detailed updates. Also featuring an in-depth interview with Forensic Files creator Paul Dowling and a profile on the show’s beloved narrator, Peter Thomas, Forensic Files Now is a must-read for diehard Forensic Files fans and a welcome find for true crime readers looking for more riveting and well-told stories.

Looks at the investigative process of five murder cases, including the O.J. Simpson case and the Woodchipper case, detailing how the forensic evidence was used at trial, and how it was used to exonerate or convict the killers.

ON A COLD, SNOWY NIGHT IN 1985, TWO MEN BEGGED FOR THEIR LIVES. In 1985, two 27-year-old friends left their suburban Detroit homes for a hunting trip in rural Michigan. When they did not return, their families and police suspected foul play. For 18 years, no one could prove a thing. Then, a relentless investigator got a witness to talk, and a horrifying story emerged. FOR NEARLY TWO DECADES, THEIR KILLERS WENT FREE. In 2003, this bizarre case hit the glare of the criminal justice system, as prosecutors charged two brothers, Raymond and Donald Duvall, with murder. With no bodies ever found, the case hinged on the testimony of one terrified witness who saw a bloody scene unfold-and who was still nearly too frightened to talk. THEN A WITNESS TOLD HER CHILLING STORY Now, the truth behind an 18-year-old mystery is revealed against the backdrop of an unusual, electrifyingly dramatic trial. Raymond and Donald Duvall bragged to friends that they killed their victims, chopped up their bodies and fed them to pigs. A Michigan jury soon had evidence of this brutally methodical execution-evidence that would lead a shocked courtroom through the heart of evil and beyond a shadow of a doubt.

From award-winning novelist Arthur Herzog comes a true-crime story of rich and poor, murder and retribution in a town rooted in self-denial. In Salisbury, Connecticut, the lavish weekend homes of wealthy New Yorkers stand only a short distance from the dilapidated houses of the local working class, known as the "raggies". But this seemingly calm and pastoral community has a sordid, evil underbelly. Feeling oppressed by their economic and social status, the three Duntz brothers seek revenge on the wealthy upper class, and historical Salisbury becomes their target. The brothers set fire to the Salisbury town hall, a 235-year-old symbol of the town's proud heritage. But when Earl Morey confesses to seeing one of the brothers commit the crime, he is found shot to death one early October morning. Driven to bring the murderer to justice, Lieutenant James Hiltz launches the largest, most complex investigation in the history of the Connecticut State Police. But the rich are apathetic and the poor fear retribution from the Duntzes, who hamper law enforcement's efforts to capture Morey's killer and further entrench the division between rich and poor. A gripping true crime tale, A Murder in Our Town reveals the curious juxtaposition of the privileged and poor in small-town America.

Based on five years of investigative reporting and research into forensic psychology and criminology, Erased presents an original profile of a widespread and previously unrecognized type of murder: not a “hot-blooded,” spur-of-the-moment crime of passion, as domestic homicide is commonly viewed, but a cold-blooded, carefully planned and methodically executed form of “erasure.” These crimes are often committed by men with no criminal record or history of violence whatsoever, men leading functional and often successful lives until the moment they kill the women, and sometimes children, they claimed to love. A surprising number go on to kill a second or even third wife or girlfriend, often in exactly the same way. In more than fifty chilling case studies, Marilee Strong examines the strange and complex psychology that drives these killers—from the murder a century ago that inspired the novel An American Tragedy to Scott Peterson, Mark Hacking, Jeffrey MacDonald, Ira Einhorn, Charles Stuart, Robert Durst, Michael White, Barton Corbin, and many others. Erased also looks at how these men manipulate the legal system and exploit loopholes in missing persons procedures and death investigation, exposing how easy it can be to get away with murder.