Helle Crafts

Helle Crafts was a Danish-American woman whose husband was convicted of her murder. A fraction of Crafts' remains were located and her case is considered a bodyless murder conviction. Her case was the first to be profiled by the show.

Case
Helle Crafts was last seen alive by her friend who dropped her at her house. It was not until she was reported to disappear that investigators searched her house and found evidence that could prove her death.

The evidence included blood stains discovered in the bedroom using luminol, a testimony by a passer-by that someone were using an industry-grade wood-chipper by the river around the time of her disappearance, suspicious purchase receipts by her husband Richard and fragments of her remains.

Historical meaning
This is the first case that forensic evidence was used to convict a murderer despite the absence of a body. Prosecutors were able to prove that a murder actually happened by measuring the amount of blood loss given the stain on the bedroom carpet and identifying the identity of the remains through a recovered tooth.