She Was Found Blindfolded, Bound, And Thrown From The Roof Of New York's Metropolitan Opera House After Vanishing In The Middle Of A Performance

On July 23, 1980, the Berlin Ballet performed at New York's Metropolitan Opera House. Helen Hagnes Mintiks, a 30-year-old Juilliard graduate and violinist, was in the orchestra that night. As a teenager, she made her professional solo debut with the Seattle Symphony.

After the Berlin Ballet performed its first act, she told a fellow musician that she would be back and left the stage. But when the orchestra was called back to the stage at 9:30 p.m. to play Don Quixote, Helen had not yet returned. When the show ended at 11:30 p.m., Helen was still missing.

Authorities were notified, and they searched the venue. Some stagehands warned investigators not to go anywhere by themselves because each floor was like a massive labyrinth. One wrong turn could get you lost for weeks.

Helen's belongings were still in her locker, so they assumed that she was somewhere in the building. The next morning, at 8:30, Helen's body was found.

She had been thrown from the Met's sixth-story roof into a ventilation shaft.

Her body had fallen down 30 to 45 feet. She had died sometime between 9:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. She was survived by her husband, the late sculptor Janis Mintiks. After his wife's death, he sued the Met.

Over the next 24 hours, a team of 25 detectives interviewed every employee at the Met. There were more than 800 employees. The police believed that the murderer was familiar with the Met's backstage area.

The New York chief medical examiner determined that Helen's death was the result of a fall. She had been alive when she was thrown from the roof.

She was also found bound and blindfolded. The knot technique that was used to tie her up added to the police's theory that the killer was someone who worked at the Met.

4kclips - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only - pictured above is New York's Metropolitan Opera House

On the night of the murder, a 21-year-old stagehand named Craig Crimmins was seen telling Helen that a famous Russian dancer she was looking for was on the fourth floor. Helen had wanted to connect her husband with the dancer for potential job opportunities.

A witness told authorities that all dancers had been on the ground floor at the time. It was suggested that Craig came up with the ruse to get Helen alone with him in an elevator.

He had also been missing for his cue during the performance that night. He was brought in for questioning multiple times and willingly gave his fingerprints. His prints matched a palm print found on a pipe on the roof.

Eventually, he confessed to killing Helen. He had made an advance toward her, causing her to slap him in the face. So, he retaliated by taking her up to the roof and throwing her to her death.

His defense attorney tried to argue that the confession was coerced because of the way that the detectives asked him questions. The jury rejected the argument, and in the end, Craig Crimmins was found guilty.

On September 2, 1981, he was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for the murder of Helen Hagnes Mintiks. Since 2000, he has attempted to apply for parole every two years but was always denied due to the severity of his crime.

Finally, he was released on parole in August 2021.

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