Richard Crafts, 'Wood Chipper Killer,' Released From Prison

NEWTOWN, CT — Richard Crafts, who became known as the "woodchipper killer" in the 1986 death of his wife, has been released to a halfway house and is due to be freed later this year, according to state Department of Correction officials.

Crafts, who is now 83, was released Saturday to a halfway house in Bridgeport and has remained in compliance with his release conditions, said Karen Martucci, director of external affairs for DOC. Before that, he was incarcerated at maximum-security prisons and spent most of the past three decades at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Suffield and the Cheshire Correctional Institution.

Police said Crafts killed his wife, Helle Crafts, then shredded her frozen remains using a wood chipper. A witness reported seeing a woodchipper being used in Newtown between 3 and 4 a.m. in November 1986. Police said they searched the area and found pieces of bone, tissue and other small bits of human remains.

Crafts' murder conviction was the first in Connecticut in which an intact body wasn't found.

Crafts is due to be released no later than July 20 from DOC custody, according to records.

"Based on his sentence and without this period of supervision, Craft would not have had any assistance transitioning back to the community," Martucci said. "He is currently at a transitional housing program for veterans."

Crafts has been incarcerated since 1987 and was sentenced under an old law that allowed sentence reduction for "statutory good time," Martucci said. If he were sentenced today, he wouldn't be eligible for any early release credits. The new Risk Reduction Earned Credit system, which only applies to certain offenders, allows for a maximum of five days per month off their sentence.