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Talented violinist Helen Mintiks went missing during an interval of her performance at the Metropolitan Opera House (Met) in New York City as a member of an orchestra in July 1980. During a search, Mintiks' naked, s*xually assaulted, and bleeding body was the following day. She was found gagged, bound, and blindfolded. The violinist had died after being thrown off the roof at least 30 to 45 feet to her death.
After hundreds of interviews, a witness reported seeing Mintiks and a man in the elevator moments before her death. The witness was able to describe the man in question for a sketch. This led investigators to a stagehand named Craig Crimmins, who eventually confessed to the killing. Crimmins was convicted of felony murder in 1981 and given 20 years to life in prison.
Murder in the Big Apple is slated to premiere on ID with violinist Helen Mintiks' decades-old case in an episode titled Murder at the Met. The synopsis states:
"A talented violinist vanishes mid-performance at the famed Metropolitan Opera house, and panic ensues when her body turns up in an air shaft the next day; wild theories spread as detectives try to unravel reality from rumors to find a killer."
The upcoming episode airs on the channel on Thursday, May 11, at 10 pm ET.
Helen Mintiks was thrown off the Met roof after which she fell 30 to 45 feet to her death
The Berlin Ballet's performance on July 23, 1980, at the iconic Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, became the scene of a tragic murder. Award-winning violinist Helen Mintiks went missing during the show's interval and was found murdered the following day.
The night before, the Juilliard graduate, left the stage after the orchestra's performance for a break during a 45-minute-long ballet. However, when the performers were summoned back at 9:30 pm, Mintiks failed to reappear on stage, triggering an extensive search for her.
Mintiks, who made her professional solo debut with the Seattle Symphony when she was only a teenager, was still missing when the show ended at 11:30 pm. Her violin, which she had left on her chair earlier that evening, alarmed her friends because they believed she never would have left the building without it.
Authorities were soon notified, and they started a search inside the building, starting from her locker where they found her street clothes. This suggested that she was still nearby.
After an unsuccessful search that night, they continued looking for her the following morning. This led to a horrific discovery of Helen Mintiks' bleeding, naked dead body. The 30-year-old was reportedly thrown from the Met’s sixth-story roof into a ventilation shaft and had fallen 30 to 45 feet to death the previous night sometime between 9 and 11:30 pm. She was found bound, gagged, and blindfolded.
During an autopsy, the medical examiner found that Mintiks was s*xually assaulted and thrown off the roof while still alive. Tests revealed that she died as a result of the fatal fall. When they noticed the knots on the binds, authorities traced the technique to the Met's stagehands thanks to the way they knotted their knots.
A stagehand named Craig Crimmins was linked to Helen Mintiks' murder and was eventually convicted
According to reports, nearly 800 Met employees were questioned by a team of 25 detectives within 24 hours of the discovery. Eventually, a witness claimed to have seen Helen Mintiks and stagehand Craig Crimmins, who was 21 at the time, in an elevator together on the night of the incident. This information backed by authorities' stagehand theory proved to be a crucial lead.
The witness claimed that Crimmins allegedly told Mintiks that a dancer she was looking for was on the fourth floor. However, all dancers were on ground level at that time. Crimmins was also missing his cue during the same time the victim failed to return to her seat and even asked one of his co-workers to lie for him. After a few interrogations, the suspect eventually confessed to the murder.
According to Oxygen, Crimmins told police that he made a move at Mintiks in the elevator and became upset when she rejected him. That was when he "menaced her with a hammer." He pursued her, made futile attempts at having s*x with her, took her to the roof, and threw her off. Crimmins was found guilty of felony murder in September 1981 and given 20 years to life in prison.
Learn more about Helen Mintiks' murder case on the premiered episode of ID's Murder in the Big Apple on Thursday, May 11, 2023, at 10 pm ET.
