Man who put wife in wood chipper released from prison National Guard soldiers from Niantic deploy to Middle East

Hartford (AP) — A Connecticut man convicted of killing his wife and feeding her body parts through a wood chipper has been released from prison nearly 20 years early.

Richard Crafts was sentenced to 50 years in prison in 1990 by a judge who commented on his lack of remorse. Crafts was recently released and is living in a halfway house, a state Department of Correction spokeswoman told The Hartford Courant Friday.

The 82-year-old is at a transitional housing program for veterans in Bridgeport, Karen Martucci said. He is due to finish his sentence in June, she added.

Crafts has been in prison since his 1987 arrest. A law in place at the time of his sentencing allowed for sentences to be reduced by years as a reward for good behavior and prison work. The law has since been changed.

A Norwalk Superior Court jury ruled that Crafts killed his wife, Helle, at their Newtown home in November 1986. Prosecutors said he cut the body with a chain saw and fed parts through a wood chipper on a bridge between Newtown and Southbury.

Police found tiny body parts, including a fingernail and human bone fragments, on the banks of the Housatonic River. Crafts’ first trial ended in a mistrial in July 1988 because one juror refused to continue deliberating. Crafts maintained his innocence during the trial.

Hartford (AP) — Members of a Connecticut Army National Guard unit left Saturday for a nearly year-long deployment in the Middle East.

About 10 soldiers from the 242nd Engineer Detachment in Niantic are traveling overseas in support of Operation Spartan Shield. They are part of a construction management team.

The deployment comes amid tensions in the Middle East following the U.S. killing of a top Iranian general last month.

The soldiers’ expected responsibilities include construction management and support throughout the unit’s assigned area of operations, according to a release from the Guard.

Democratic Gov. Ned

Lamont thanked the soldiers, as well as their families, for their dedication. He said he looks forward to the day when he can welcome them all safely back home.

It’s the unit’s second deployment since 2001. Soldiers from the detachment served in Afghanistan from 2014 to 2015.