The Murder of Helen Bernstein
For this case I watched an episode of Homicide City. It’s season 2 episode 4, titled ‘High Rise Murder.’
A retired nurse is murdered in her apartment.
Background
Helen Bernstein was described as being a gregarious, bossy, but loving and compassionate person. She was especially close to her daughter Tracy, who was the main talking head in this episode.
Helen had just retired, and worked as an operating room nurse for many years. Tracy said her mom had always wanted to move to Florida when she retired, to be close to the beach. Tracy said her mom was a “young 64 year old,” with no health problems. She was just starting the next chapter in her life when she was killed.
The Murder
On January 14, 1995, a Saturday, Tracy tried calling her mom who she had made plans with. Helen was supposed to come over to Tracy’s, an hour away in Boyertown, Pennsylvania, and help her plan her daughter’s birthday party. Tracy said Helen was supposed to come over around 10:30am, but by 2pm she was worried. After calling Helen many times, she called her mom’s apartment office to see if someone could do a welfare check.
An assistant manager of the Hill Tower Apartments, took a key and went up to Helen’s apartment. First, she knocked on the door a few times, but there was no answer. She used the key to enter, and called out for Helen. Again, there was no answer, so she walked through the apartment.
When she reached the bathroom, she made a horrific discovery. Helen was naked, in her bathtub, and she wasn’t breathing. The manager called the Philadelphia police.
The Investigation
When the police arrived, they noticed that Helen was in a strange position. The police thought that it was a natural causes death, until they saw ligature marks around her neck.
The police looked around the apartment for a sign of a struggle, but nothing was out of place. There was also no sign of forced entry. Helen’s wallet with cash and her car keys were also found on a table in another room.
The police walked into the kitchen area, and noticed that Helen had two new messages on her answering machine. The first one was from her daughter Tracy, and the second one was from a man named Joe, who was discovered to be a family friend.
The police wanted to be sure that Helen’s death was a homicide, and her body was sent to the morgue. They also taped off her apartment, which was now a crime scene.
Another Look at the Case
Helen’s autopsy results came back. She had died from manual strangulation, and strangulation by a ligature. The homicide unit was now assigned to the case, and homicides in Chestnut Hill, were very rare.
The police also returned to Helen’s apartment to take another look. In the bathroom, they found an electrical cord, that was determined to be the cause of the ligature marks. They sent it in for testing, and tested the door frame for fingerprints.
Next, the police walked into Helen’s bedroom. They looked through her drawers, and found a mysterious note in her top drawer. The note said “I’m on to you. No cash in this apartment anymore.” The note suggested that Helen had been robbed before.
When the police talked to Tracy about it, she said she didn’t know of any robberies. They also had Tracy look around her mom’s apartment to determine if anything else was stolen. Tracy said there was nothing else missing, and that her mom usually kept her money in her top drawer, where the note was found.
The police asked Tracy who her mom spent time with, or if she was dating anyone. Tracy said she had a close group of friends that also lived in the apartment building. She said she wasn’t aware that her mom was dating anyone, but that Helen was private about certain things because she didn’t want her to worry.
All of Helen’s family and friends were ruled out.
A Possible Lead
The police wanted to talk to employees and residents from the Hill Tower apartments. First, they spoke to an employee who worked the front desk. They asked how a stranger would be able to get into the building. The employee said that the building had a doorman security, and that they wouldn’t be able to get in through the front. However, sometimes the back door was left propped open, so someone could have snuck through the back.
The police went to several apartments, asking if anyone saw or heard anything from the night Helen died. There were two witnesses that knew Helen, and said they saw her with a mysterious man. They described him as being in his late 50-60’s, tall and well dressed. Both witnesses said that each time they saw Helen and this man, they were dressed up and probably going t dinner. This man was never named, but had nothing to do with Helen’s death.
The Robbery Theory
Three days after Helen’s death, the police were finally able to interview the apartment’s general manager. They asked her how she found out about Helen’s death. She said that her assistant manager called her on Saturday, when Helen was found.
The police asked her when she last spoke to Helen. The manager said she spoke to Helen on December 22, they had a meeting in her office and Helen complained that someone had stolen $60 from her. The apartment complex kept a record of every complaint, and there were several other complaints from December and January. The other residents were also elderly women, and each said the same thing: money or jewelry had been stolen from them.
The police asked her who had access to the apartments. She said she did, her assistant manager, the doormen and the maintenance workers. The manager said they should speak to the maintenance manager because Helen had work done in her apartment on December 29.
The Maintenance Worker
The maintenance manager was named Ken Fisher. The police tracked him down at the apartment building, and asked him about the work he did in Helen’s apartment. He said he had been in Helen’s apartment on December 29 to fix a deadbolt.
The police asked Ken who else had access to the apartments, and he said his whole staff did. He said he had to fire one of his employees recently, and that he was also getting evicted. This man’s name was Aaron Johnson.
The police returned to the police department, and ran background checks on all of the maintenance staff. Everyone was ruled out, except for Aaron Johnson. He had a criminal history, and was convicted a few years prior for robbing an older woman. The woman had identified his photo, and he was convicted.
Aaron’s criminal record had been overlooked when he applied at the Hill Tower apartments. The police decided that they would only get a conviction if Aaron confessed to them. They knew he was moving out the following day, and they decided they would talk to him then.
A Confession
The following day they located Aaron, who was having car issues. They thought this was the perfect opportunity to help him. They introduced themselves, and said they were investigation Helen’s death. They asked him to come down to the station, and Aaron agreed.
The police described Aaron as being very calm, and said that he pointed out certain things to them on their drive to the station. When they arrived, they asked Aaron if he knew Helen. He said he only knew her because he had fixed a leak in her apartment, but was fired the next day, on December 27.
The police asked Aaron if he still had the keys to the apartments, and he said no he had to give them back. The police decided to change their tactic, and confronted Aaron. They said they knew he had been in several apartments, and had taken money or jewelry. Aaron’s body language seemed to change after this.
He said he did it, and seemed relieved after he confessed. He said he had just gotten fired and needed money. He also said he was drunk and high. He let himself in that night, walked in, and Helen saw him when she was taking her bath. Aaron said he knew that Helen knew who he was, and had to kill her. He said he was not going to go back to jail. He said Helen started to yell, so he grabbed the electrical cord and killed her. He also told the police:
“I haven’t been able to sleep since it happened. It was not intentional. I didn’t want anything like this to happen. I am truly sorry.”
”
Aaron also took a few pieces of jewelry before leaving, and sold them on the streets for $30.
Conviction
On September 21, 1995, Aaron Johnson was convicted of second degree murder, robbery and burglary. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Tracy believes that Aaron planned to kill her mom, and should have been convicted of first degree murder.
Helen’s death in the Philadelphia Inquirer
FINAL THOUGHTS
In one of the articles I read, it also said that Helen was beaten. However, in this episode, the detectives didn’t say she was beaten, only that she was strangled.
Aaron Johnson is a monster, and I’m truly surprised he didn’t kill anyone else. He thought that it was his right to enter any apartment he wanted and could take anything he wanted. Maybe Helen was the first one to catch him in the act, but he didn’t have to take her life. He shouldn’t have been given access to these apartments, and it’s a shame that he was confronted or caught sooner. I hope he will rot in prison forever, he doesn’t deserve to be let out.
I also couldn’t find any pictures of either Helen or Aaron.
Sources
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16656105/the-philadelphia-inquirer/
https://www.chestnuthilllocal.com/stories/chestnut-hill-10-homicides-in-23-years,1586
