Craig Crimmins

Case record: Craig Crimmins

Background

Craig S. Crimmins was a Met stagehand. He was 21 at the time of the conviction described in 1981 and was 45 when he was discussed as being denied parole in 2004. The account also described him as a former stagehand, later as now 22 years old during the trial proceedings discussed in May 1981.

Helen Hagnes Muntiks was a violinist in an orchestra performing with the Berlin Ballet at the Metropolitan Opera House. She was 30 on July 23, 1980, and was 31 during the trial proceedings described in 1981.

The offence

In July 1980, Helen Hagnes Muntiks did not return to the orchestra pit after an intermission. Her nude body was later found in a ventilation shaft in the Metropolitan Opera House building.

The 1981 jury convicted Craig S. Crimmins of murder, finding that he tried to rape Helen Hagnes Muntiks in a stairwell, forced her to the roof, and kicked her into the shaft.

Investigation

The account described that detectives pressured Mr. Crimmins into falsely admitting he was guilty of the crime as part of the defense argument.

Arrest

Craig S. Crimmins was arrested for Helen Hagnes’ murder after he broke under questioning. The account described him as a Bronx stagehand.

Trial

A jury convicted Craig S. Crimmins in 1981 of murder, finding that he tried to rape Helen Hagnes Muntiks in a stairwell, forced her to the roof, and kicked her into the shaft. The jurors rejected the defense argument that Manhattan detectives had pressured Mr. Crimmins into falsely admitting he was guilty of the crime.

Psychological evidence

In State Supreme Court in Manhattan, two psychologists testified that Mr. Crimmins had a long history of learning disabilities. The psychologists were Dr. Lenore Migdal and Dr. Estelle Tchack.

Dr. Migdal evaluated Mr. Crimmins on several occasions between September 1972 and March 1973 when he was a fourth-grade student. She said he had been referred to the Montefiore Hospital Learning Center because he “wasn’t interested in school.” During cross-examination, prosecutor Roger S. Hayes reminded Dr. Migdal she had indicated in her original report that he was referred because he was “hostile” to his teachers and was a “truant.” Dr. Migdal said Mr. Crimmins would pretend to understand conversations rather than admit that he did not. She said: “The only way we could be sure he understood what was said to him was for him to repeat it,” and about his functioning under stress she observed: “If pushed too much, he would agree.”

Dr. Tchack’s testimony stated that her tests showed that Mr. Crimmins read on a fourth-grade level and spelled on a third-grade level. She said: “there is almost no difference” between these results and findings of Dr. Migdal in 1972.

Both psychologists said they found that Mr. Crimmins was more agile in tasks “that did not require much verbal ability.”

Acting Justice Richard G. Denzer indicated he wanted to avoid details of Mr. Crimmins’s “entire emotional life” while allowing the expert testimony.

The defense attorneys were Lawrence Hochheiser and Kenneth J. Aronson. They described Mr. Crimmins as “highly suggestible” and contended that he was coerced by shrewd and manipulative detectives into admitting he had killed the 31-year-old violinist who was in an orchestra playing at a performance of the Berlin Ballet.

Charges presented in the trial proceedings

Craig S. Crimmins was on trial in State Supreme Court in Manhattan for the murder and attempted rape of Helen Hagnes, who was slain at the Metropolitan Opera House at a performance of the Berlin Ballet. The account reiterated that the conviction involved murdering a young violinist and dumping her body down an air shaft at the Metropolitan Opera in 1980.

Sentencing

Craig S. Crimmins was sentenced to 20 years to life, making him eligible for parole in 2001. The sentence date given in the case status field was September 2, 1981.

Appeals

No appeal information was included.

Outcome

Craig S. Crimmins was twice denied parole. At his last hearing in 2002, he said: “I’m sincerely sorry for what I’ve done, and I wish I could take it back,”

He said nothing about his confession having been coerced, according to the transcript of the hearing.

He also said: “I was drank,” “She slapped me in the face and kneed me is the groin, and I don’t know, something snapped in my brain.” “I was drank” “I tried to leave her” on the roof, but “she kept jumping up and down” until he gave her “one kick” and she “just slipped, rolled right in” in the shaft. “If you feel that I ain’t been in prison long enough and hit me, aube is,” “They call my sentence 20 years to life. They should call it 20 years to the board. It really doesn’t matter if you are good or bad Santa doesn’t care.”

The parole commissioners said that releasing him to the community would make a mockery of the criminal justice system, and noted that he used heroin in 2001. His next parole hearing was scheduled for November.

Aftermath

The case created tabloid stir. The account described it as being known as “The Phantom of the Opera” murder and stated that the international publicity about a “phantom” turned out to be Craig S. Crimmins.

A later account described that Craig Crimmins corresponded while he was at Comstock prison and that he was transferred to Ossining afterward. The account described that his mother’s phone was disconnected with no further information when someone attempted to call her. It also stated that in his correspondence Craig Crimmins did not discuss Helen Hagnes or the murder at the Met, and instead offered a detailed look into prison life.

The account also reproduced multiple statements Craig Crimmins made in correspondence about prison conditions and sexual assault in prison, including: “Right now I’m in the worst prison in the state. Everyday inmates are cutting each other with razor blades, inmates beating up officers, officers beating up inmates. Every single day wild things are happening here. I really don’t blame the cons because it’s the way they are treated. You treat someone like an animal they will act like one. Could you picture killing someone over a pack of cigarettes? It happens.” “Prisoners and prisons are very racist. More so with the black population. I’ve got into a few beefs over the words cracker and white boy myself. Whenever you hear a black person speaking of white people its always cracker this, cracker that… Everything here is run by the black population. For example take something like the TVs. Only black shows are watched…The prison system bends to their every wish. Believe me its no fun if you are white in here.” “Rape is very rare. In my years I never saw it happen. That happened more in the old days because there was no trailer visits. It does happen but it is rare. Its not like people on the outside would think. When I first went away I was 21 and looked 14. My biggest fear was that, but like I said I never saw it. I saw many inmates having sex with each other willing. There are more than enough fags to go around.” “I wouldn’t give the food here to a dog. If you have to count on prison food you’re in trouble. We have commissary twice a month. You can spend $55 on food and $16 on stamps each time. I live off of tuna fish. Plus you can get a 35 lb. Food package from home once a month. If you don’t have someone sending you money like most don’t you wont be eating good.” “The worst thing about prison is not having a life period. Locked in a cell thinking about what’s going on in the outside world. Missing your family and friends. Wondering what ex-girlfriends and friends are doing while you are locked in a cell. Wondering if they miss you like you miss them.” “Prison has changed since 1981 because then you didn’t have all this razor tag they play now. Back then if you had a razor cut on your face it was because you were marked a rat. Now 80% of the inmates have razor tags on them… It’s gonna get a lot worse before it gets better, and a lot of people are gonna die in here and out there before things turn around.” “I believe the crime rate is so low in the city because they are keeping inmates longer. At some point a bad batch is gonna get out and the crime rate will blow sky high. It use to be you did the time the judge gave you and you went home. Now you do the time your judge gave you plus what the parole board gives you. I’ll be 41 when I see the parole board and probably 50 when I get out.”

The account stated that Craig Crimmins had his first parole visit and was not paroled, and his next shot at freedom was November of 2002, and reiterated that his next parole hearing was scheduled for November.

Other details

The account described the ballet being performed as The Idiot, and described a last scene in that ballet as of “a woman being stabbed to death.”

The account stated that after the first act, Helen Hagnes left her seat and went into the back corridors of Lincoln Center, and that she never told anyone where she was going.

The account stated that when the second act began, other musicians noted her empty chair and assumed she had gotten sick.

The account described that Helen Hagnes was “thrown” down an air shaft nude, bound and gagged from the rooftop of the Metropolitan Opera House in 1980, and described that she had been choked and beaten before being thrown down the airshaft by an unknown assailant.

The account stated that Craig Crimmins went “for the altar boy look during his trial” and that “on July 23 Crimmins got lit up at work,” with “Booze and pot” leaving him in “a staggering state,” after which he wandered around the back corridors of Lincoln Center.