The Murder of Helen Hagnes
For this case, I watched an episode of Motives and Murders: Cracking the Case. It’s season 3 episode 1, titled ‘Murder at the Met.’
A young violinist is killed during intermission at the Metropolitan Opera House.
Background
Helen Hagnes was a 30-year-old violinist. She was born and raised in Canada. She met her future husband Janis Mintiks, while they were both teaching in Canada. They got married, and then moved to New York City.
Helen was described as an amazing and hard-working violinist. She had graduated from Juilliard. She was also described as a kind person, with a great sense of humor.
Helen Hagnes Mintiks
The Search for Helen
On July 23, 1980, Helen got up from her seat, left her violin, and walked away for a quick break during intermission.
Around 11pm, dancers, musicians, stagehands, etc, were all cleaning up for the night. Helen’s husband Janis came to pick her up, as he usually did. Helen never walked outside. Janis tried calling their home, thinking Helen may have forgotten to tell him that she had plans. The line was busy, so Janis drove home.
When he arrived, Helen was not there. He knew something was wrong, when a colleague of Helen’s arrived a few hours later, to return her violin. Helen never went anywhere without it.
Janis contacted the NYPD around 3am.
The Horrific Discovery
The NYPD went to search the Metropolitan. It was described as a maze, and as a labyrinth. There were so many hidden rooms, but the police did find evidence along the way.
Helen’s street clothes were found in her locker. A blue flower from Helen’s hair had been found outside an electricians office. A tampon was found, and was immediately sent in for testing.
After a 5 hour search, a maintenance worker found a shoe on the roof of the building. Helen’s body was also discovered. She had been dropped down a ventilation shaft, about three stories from the roof.
Helen was nude, her hands and feet were tied, both of her legs were broken, and she had severe head trauma.
Hundreds of Suspects
The police were able to find a full palm print on a railing on the rooftop. It was a fresh print, and it was sent in for testing.
The police knew that Helen had played until about 8:50pm (some reports say until 9:30pm). She then had an extended break, and got up to stretch, and walk around. She told one of her colleagues that she was going to speak to a Russian dancer named Valery Panov. She was hoping Panov wanted to commission a sculpture from her husband.
Another dancer, a ballerina, named Laura Cutler, told the police that she had seen a man in the elevator with her and Helen. Laura wasn’t sure where she was supposed to be going, but the man spoke up, leading her to believe he worked there.
Laura said the man stood very close to Helen. They didn’t know each other well, and she didn't know if Helen and the man were together.
A list of employees were collected. There had been about 200 people working on the night of the murder.
The Composite Sketch
An electrician was questioned. He told the police that he had been alone in his office during the time of the murder. The police were suspicious of him because the blue flower was found just feet from his office. He was eventually ruled out.
Valery Panov was also questioned. At the time of the murder, he had been in the audience watching his wife Galina perform.
The police turned back to Laura Cutler. She agreed to be hypnotized. She gave a little more detail about the man seen in the elevator. He was white, young, not very tall, and had long, flyaway hair. A composite sketch was created.
By August 4, 1980, the police still didn't have any leads. However, they did get the results back from the tampon. It was a match to Helen.
The Stagehand
The police were also able to narrow down their list of suspects. They had inspected the bindings on Helen’s hands and feet. The knots used were called a clove hitch, which are used by stagehands to bind the curtains.
A clove hitch knot
The police photographed and fingerprinted the stagehands that had worked that night. Three men refused, and only one of them looked like the composite sketch.
His name was Craig Crimmins, and he was 21-years-old at the time. The police learned from his colleagues that Craig had missed a cue during the show on July 23, and had gone missing.
On August 16, 1980, Craig was questioned. He changed his story many times. First, he said he fell asleep in the electricians office. However, the electrician said he had been the only one in there. Craig later said he had been on the roof, but was not on the part of the roof where Helen had been.
Craig reluctantly agreed to be fingerprinted. His palm print was a match to the one found on the roof. The evidence was circumstantial, and the DA refused to charge Craig.
The Conviction
On August 29, 1980, a New York tabloid was about the run a story about the NYPD zeroing in on Craig. The NYPD begged the tabloid not to run it. They feared that Craig would flee, or obtain a lawyer.
Luckily, the police were able to get to Craig’s apartment before the story ran. He agreed to come in for another round of questioning.
He was questioned for 5 hours. The police confronted him on his inconsistent stories. Craig told the police he would tell them what happened, but only if he could speak to Detective Jerry Giorgio.
Craig admitted that he had made a pass at Helen in the elevator, and killed her when he was rejected. He took her to the roof, tried to rape her, but she kept fighting. He pushed her off the roof, and she fell three stories.
On April 27, 1981, Craig’s trial began. Craig’s confession was submitted into evidence.
After a month long trial, Craig Crimmins was found guilty. He was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.
He has been denied parole 7 times.
Craig Crimmins
FINAL THOUGHTS
Craig is obviously a monster. He killed Helen because she rejected him. Helen was killed and violated in the most horrific way. Craig deserves to die in prison, and hopefully he thinks about what he did everyday.
The way Helen’s husband, friends, colleagues, etc., spoke about her was beautiful. She deserved so much better, and the world was robbed of her talent.
Sources
https://www.classicfm.com/artists/new-york-met/violinist-helen-mintiks-murder-opera-house/
https://www.insideedition.com/how-real-life-phantom-opera-murdered-young-violinist-met-1980-53647
https://www.thestrad.com/playing-and-teaching/remembering-helen-hagnes-after-40-years/10938.article
https://archives.law.virginia.edu/dengrove/writeup/murder-met-craig-crimmins-trial-murder-violinist
https://murderpedia.org/male.C/c/crimmins-craig.htm
