Did She or Didn’t She?: The Case of Alice Crimmins 47 years later

Forty-seven years ago, Alice Crimmins was front page news. Her story was my first exposure to true crime. Between 1965 and 1977, Alice Crimmins was twice tried for the murders of her children, five-year-old Eddie Jr. and four-year-old Missy. On July 14, 1965 the children went missing from their first-floor apartment in the Kew Gardens neighborhood of New York City; Alice accused her estranged husband Eddie of taking them. He denied doing so and called the police to report the children missing. Detective Gerard H. Piering was put in charge of the case, which proved unfortunate for Alice. He was a devout Catholic, father of six children, and disliked Alice on sight. When the police officers arrived at her apartment, they were surprised by the way Alice looked; she was in tight-fitting pants, white high heels, teased red hair, and wearing lots of makeup. The makeup was an effort to cover the scars of adolescent acne, but the police saw it as the actions of a cold-hearted murderess. Piering apparently said to his partner, “You interview the guy. I’ll take the bitch.” Detective Piering did not take notes or photograph the crime scene, failing to follow long established guidelines for suspected homicides. There was not a shred of evidence to support a case against Crimmins, but the police believed her guilty.

On the day the children went missing, word came in that Missy was found strangled in a vacant lot. The detectives took Alice to the scene without alerting her to what she would see; they wanted to study her reaction. She fainted when she saw the strangled Missy but did not cry on the ride back home, at least not until the cameras started snapping pictures and her silent shock turned into hysterics. Several days later Eddie Jr.’s badly decomposed body was found.

Described in the press as a “sexpot” or a “sexy redhead,” 28-year-old Alice Crimmins was out clubbing and hooking up just days after her children were found. The police found these actions suspicious, but one might argue that her grief drove Alice Crimmins out of the home where she had lived with her children. The police followed and harassed Crimmins, and even though she looked for work under the name Alice Burke, her notoriety followed her causing her to lose several jobs. Alice’s phones were tapped, which she soon figured out. She took to picking up the phone and saying “Hi boys, drop dead.” Eighteen months after the murders, an anonymous tipster wrote to the DA saying that at 2 a.m. on July 14, the night of the murder, a small woman and an unidentified male were seen carrying a wrapped bundle and small child into a car.

The police were able to identify the tipster as Sophie Earomirski who identified the woman she saw as Alice Crimmins. On September 11, 1967, Alice Crimmins was arrested for the murder of Missy. She became the “Sexpot on Trial,” and her affairs were mentioned during the trial apparently as evidence to support a murder charge. At the description of Missy’s corpse, Alice Crimmins sobbed uncontrollably. Hearing Earomirski’s testimony, Alice yelled out, “You liar; you liar; you liar.”

In one of the most highly publicized trials of its time Alice Crimmins was convicted of manslaughter. Crimmins fell into a faint and was hospitalized for two weeks. She spent 24 days in jail before her new lawyers had her conviction overturned. However, six years after the death of her two children, she was on trial again in March of 1971. This time she was convicted of first degree murder for her son and manslaughter for her daughter. In 1973 her convictions were overturned due to tainted statements by the prosecutor. The DA appealed the rulings and Alice was sent back to jail for manslaughter. While in jail, she married Anthony Grace, the man once believed to be her accomplice. In November 1977, amidst much controversy, Alice Crimmins was paroled.

Alice Crimmins was never presumed innocent. She had been found guilty by the press and public long before she ever went to trial, and many observers believed that she was on trial for her sexual exploits rather than the murders. There was never any evidence to tie her to the crimes and no other suspect was considered. The detective work was shoddy, the police prejudiced, and the witnesses unreliable.

Did Alice Crimmins get away with murder? I’ve always believed she was innocent. What do you think?

 


Susan Amper, author of How to Write About Edgar Allan Poe, still mourns the loss of her Nancy Drew collection.

Read all posts by Susan Amper on Criminal Element.

Comments

  1. s.amper

    Interesting similarities between how the Alice Crimmins case was handled and the Lindy Chamberlain dingo baby killing case as discussed in today’s NY Times. Sexy women are guilty until or even if proved innocent.
    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/16/opinion/shes-innocent-were-guilty.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

    • Ariana

      Alice Crimmins was not guilty i know what was going on.

      • Chris RAYMOND

        hi there! I believe that she was innocent as well– but I can’t find a way to prove it– do you have any insight or can you shed light on the case!

    • Estel

      The massive change in understanding of child murder cases may be a factor. At the time it was seen simply as a murder case. Now we immediately think of sexual abuse. Were the children abused? Did it even occur to anyone? Such things may even have been too shocking to speak of. Either way, if Alice was innocent, her lifestyle certainly attracted creeps.

    • Ludwig padin

      las mujeres psicopatas narcisistas son culpables.

  2. Clare 2e

    Fascinating, Susan! I don’t have a hunch on Alice, but it’s happened before that oddballs with backgrounds or tastes that put them outside the big bell curve of what investigators usually see can get unfair treatment and even end up in jail. I’m thinking of the West Memphis Three. To solve crimes, investigators play percentages of what most likely happens and pursue those leads first, which often proves to be the best approach. But combine something that looks too unusual–and therefore suspicious–with someone(s) in local authority failing to give the guaranteed presumption of doubt, and it can go very badly for an oddball. People whose community finds them strange are not by definition harmless, but if they’re unsympathetic and innocent, and crimes happen close by, they’d better have a good lawyer’s number. Roust the unusual suspects!

  3. CW Padden

    I believe she was innocent too. She was well and truly ‘set up’ for those murders. I must also admit that her behaviour following the murders was a bit unusual to say the least and she didn’t do herself any favours on that score. However she was a mother who lost 2 children to murder and that must be umimaginable if you haven’t shared that experience. I hope she continued to live a peaceful and contented life once she was paroled.

    • Ludwig padin

      era superculpable y fue utilizada por la policia secreta para aprovecharse de los contactos con mafiosos y politicos ,dos años de escuchas y no sale nada ,LA POLI LA ENCUBRIO ,ELLA ES UNA PSICOPATA MAQUIAVELICA sin empatia ni remordimientos ES EVIDENTE ,MERECIA PENA DE MUERTE .

  4. Maggie Marple

    I was a teenager at the time of this crime and I always believed her husband killed their children to revenge himself on her. They were separated and she was dating another man and her husband would sneak into the basement of the house and listen to them making love upstairs. When she discovered the children missing she called him immediately and snapped “Where are the children?” as if she knew he must have taken them. During the trial he was by her side as if concerned for her. Why she never said he might have been responsible for their murders has always been the big question for me. Perhaps she felt guilt – as women often do – that she drove him to it with her wild sexy ways.

    • Stefanie More

      I don’t agree that Mrs. Crimmins “drove him to it with her wild sexy ways.” People are responsible for their actions. He probably did go stir crazy knowing his wife was having sex with another man, but he still made his choice, if he did kill the children, to make her “pay” for having sex with someone other than him. Jealousy can make make do insane things. But, if it is true that he killed the children, then he was off his rocker to begin with. Who the Hell kills their own children to get back at their spouse?! But no one questioned that, did they? The detectives made up their minds who the real criminal was.

      This was the 1960’s, when women were often still referred to as “girls” no matter that they were married, they were mothers, etc. A woman’s so-called place was in the home, “bare-foot and pregnant” and taking care of the home. So Mrs. Crimmins was viewed as a “whore,” just like any other woman who was not willing to act and “live” Alice Kramden and instead chose to live how it suit her. So they vilified her for not being a “good girl,” for daring to embrace and practice her sexuality. And she probably did feel some guilt given the narrow-minded culture she was living in.

      The husband sounds like a stalker: he listens in as she is in her apartment, including when she was having sex with a boyfriend. He also admitted to having sat in his car across from her apartment the night the children supposedly disappeared. That was probably not the first time he’d done that.

      And, with regard to her “wild sexy ways,” that was probably at the top of his list of items why he married her. I doubt very much that he married her because he may have admired the way she may have “held her rosary beads” during church service.

      But Ms. Maggie Marple’s comment about Mrs. Crimmins “wild and sexy ways” is not unusual either. Prior to the women’s movement, when a woman was raped, she was asked why she’d being wearing what she was wearing, or why was she in that particular place, and so on.

      Patriarchy has brainwashed women to believe rubbish about what it is to be a woman, and how a woman should behave herself? And women have internalized it, and we’ve learned to turn against each other.

      I am not, and I will not advocate hating men, and being against men. Hatred IS the problem. The solution is always the truth, because it sets people free. The distorted lives people have lived, as a result of patriarchy, is what gives rise to sad stories like that of Mrs. Crimmins and her poor innocent children.

      Why don’t we look at the system that creates these heartbreaking stories, instead of pointing the finger at who are often the victims: women and children?

      • Cathleen Mohr

        Well said. Thank you.

      • Not the Judge

        Maggie Marple
        December 17, 2012 at 9:54 pm
        I was a teenager at the time of this crime and I always believed her husband killed their children to revenge himself on her. They were separated and she was dating another man and her husband would sneak into the basement of the house and listen to them making love upstairs. When she discovered the children missing she called him immediately and snapped “Where are the children?” as if she knew he must have taken them. During the trial he was by her side as if concerned for her. Why she never said he might have been responsible for their murders has always been the big question for me. Perhaps she felt guilt – as women often do – that she drove him to it with her wild sexy ways.

        I read this comment in a completely different tone than you did,! To me, it sounded tongue in cheek, not that Ms. Marple actually thought her “wild and sexy ways” were a problem. I feel like people sometimes look for any little thing that fits their rhetoric, making an opening so they are able to put their holier than thou spiel out there…because, clearly, if you had taken a second, re-read the comment – neutrally, not looking for negativity- you would not have had an excuse for your whole fire and brimstone sermon. I am all for womens rights, but that doesn’t translate into feeling like anybody needs to shove it down everybody’s throats every time they imagine, or create, an opening. I could be wrong, maybe that’s exactly what she meant, but that’s not how it sounded to me and, in the end, who am I to judge anyway? Have a great day and stay positive!

    • Diane

      Ed Crimmons was an jet mechanic at Kennedy Airport. He worked the midnight shift with my father in law at the time if the murders. He wanted those children. She didn’t. They were neglected to say the least. Her husband found a phone book with phone numbers of prominent men in New York. She was told by one of them to give up the kids or they would kill the husband and make it look like she had him killed. She said she would rather see them dead than give up custody. She didn’t kill them but she knows who did.

    • Chris RAYMOND

      there may be evidence or evidence that was covered up. He behaved in illegal and out of ordinary behavior — he tapped her bedroom and had listening devices in the basement of the apartment building and for some unknown reason had a key to the apt and burst in on Alice and a lover at some point prior to the death of the children. A detective on the case found Ed’s behavior very suspicious– especially the night of the murders–and some inconsistencies in his story — Ed also drove to the apt complex that night –some time in the early am hours– A detective also found a witness who saw a man fitting Ed’s height near the window of he children’s bedroom–as far as I can remember–this witness could not 100 percent say for sure it was Ed but that the heght was correct. The other fact that seems incredibly odd and has nothing to do with the case– but that he confessed to exposing himself to young girls in the park. Which seems so incredibly odd to me and because of this strange behavior and taking the kids another time from Alice–which made her think he had them…suppsoedly he also took a book out of the library on how to pass a lie-detector test.

  5. MICHAEL OLSON

    I have the memory of Alice Crimmins deeply set in my memories even though I was only a child. Very few people remember her or her trials. I asked older people(new yorkers) about their memories about this case and they have no memorys, I remember the strong feelings about her sexual life by adults around me. I have to wonder what really did happen? If not the Adult Crimmins then who? Two children strangled and someone, a murderer, roaming the streets. Has this ever turned into a cold Case?
    One wonders what became of the two adult crimmins and the price they paid emotionally.

  6. PinkLady

    I was a child when the death of these two children happened. I remember following the trials and always feeling Alice Crimmins was innocent. I even did a paper on this in college back in the late 70’s. Is there a possibility that she brought a “date” home and when she fell asleep after a night of drinking, this person took advantage of the situation and was a child predator? Back then, the public didn’t here too much about things like this. I have always been curious about this. Is it a cold case?

  7. s.amper

    I don’t know if the case has ever been officially deemed a cold case. However, the police did such a shoddy job of evidence gathering at the crime scene that it would be almost impossible to solve today without a confession. Like you PinkLady, I was a child when this story was in the papers, and I too always believed Crimmins innocent. She later married but did not have more children.

  8. SmallWorld

    She married Anthony Grace and there is no doubt in my mind she needed to get rid of her children so she could marry him. He didn’t want children and he was a very wealthy man who could take very good care of her. He passed away years ago and she didn’t inherit much because he left most to his only living son.

  9. Min

    I was young at the time and living in the Bx. My mom was convinced Alice killed her children. I’d love for someone to open the case file and take another look; finally find out who killed Eddie and Missy if not Alice? And isn ‘t Alice owed an answer about who murdered her children? Do you know if Alice or Eddie Crimmins are still alive?

    • Robert

      On what EVIDENCE was your mother CONVINCED she had killed the children? Sounds like typical stupid witch-hunting !!

      • RobertIsATool

        Calm down. Her mother wasn’t on the jury, it was her opinion.

  10. JDR

    I always wondered about this case. I had only heard of it because in the John Waters film Female Trouble. One of the characters says “Remember what happened to Alice Crimmins”.. and now I know..

  11. Rick Hendricks

    This happened just before I entered the Air Force. I knew Alice andher husband from a place called Tropical Gradens. Also, I knew Mike Clifford, the first officer onnthe scene. In conversations I had with him, he sworenshe did it. Idisagred because I thought it was one of the disreputable men she dated.

    • Denise Noe

      Mr. Hendricks, my name is Denise Noe and I would love to learn more fr/someone who knew Alice and Edmund Crimmins. Will you talk about them more w/me?

    • Chris RAYMOND

      hi Mr. Hendriks, are you available to chat or discuss the case. One of the issues- I have is that no pictures were taken at the house- The officer who claimed he saw dust on the dresser and that he saw a carton for frozen dinner that disputed what Alice claimed she fed them- this item was neither photographed or taken into evidence.. What are your thoughts?

  12. Clare 2e

    I’d love to know the truth. Sometimes as people get older, they start telling their secrets, so maybe someday, there’ll be new information to consider.

  13. BML84

    Interestingly, you appear to have left out the most objective, and important, piece of evidence against Crimmins.
    The autopsy on the little girl showed the food digested, and it’s stage in the digestive process, showed a timeframe completely at odds with the account Alice gave, something she refused to back down from as it completely punctured her alibi.
    Personally, I’d say its a better than average chance she did kill them, but doubt I could convict her on evidence gathered.
    More worrying toe is the recent revisionism of this and the Sylvia Likens case in which the main women are seen as ‘victims’ of social mores (some group always is in any stage of history), whilst playing down the fact that both were cold, self-absorbed and manipulative people.
    Oddly, although this would be seen as virtual proof of guilt in male offenders, somehow we downplay or disregard these character aspects when it comes to female offenders.

  14. david hartzog

    I remember the case at the time, and later read a nonfiction book about it, as well as Dorothy Uhnak’s novel, The Investigation, which became a Kojak movie. I tend to think she was innocent, but just don’t know, who else was there? It reminds me of the Sam Shepard case.

  15. s.amper

    I don’t know that “we” find “cold, self-absorbed and manipulative” men as virtually guilty of a crime, but the police and several juries certainly viewed Alice Crimmins in that light. Despite being imprisoned three times, Crimmins was set free. Clearly the courts believed she had not been fairly convicted.

  16. Caligula

    I’m a guy, and the LAST thing that would be on my mind, after my 2 children were brutally murdered and I’d just seen their dead bodies, would be to go out and get drunk and laid. It sounds like her children were interfering with her partying and whoring around and she just decided to get rid of them.

    • Pamela

      Your choice of a screen name, sir, is rather telling, given your comments. I always believed Mrs. Crimmins was innocent. The police were biased against her because of moral issues. Just because a woman is a lady about town (and I’m using the word “lady” loosely) does not mean she is a killer. Their evidence was woefully insufficient, and Mrs. Crimmins’ lawyer should have requested a change of venue, since there was no way she would get a fair trial in NYC. Furthermore, we all grieve in different ways. Perhaps going out with friends for a few drinks, and maybe even a horizontal lambada, was her way of blocking out her pain.

    • Mara

      I didn’t realize there was a right and wrong way to behave after going through such unimaginable tragedy. I never thought I had the right to tell someone how they’re supposed to grieve during one of the most difficult things anyone could go through. One more thing it doesn’t seem her kids were getting in the way she seemed to do just fine with them there

  17. Dee64

    A person had told they were raped when alone at work. No one they knew would come to pick them up. What did they do? Went to a bar to drink away the memory? How is that a strange response to an event too painful to handle?

  18. Dee64

    Amazing how the victim committed the crime. Police sure do have to work hard don’t they. Bums

  19. Jen

    I don’t believe Alice murdered her children, her actions after their deaths was somethingto be ddesired but that was probably her way of coping and dealing with losing her kids. Everyone grieves differently, right or wrong. I think her husband did it.

  20. Kat Atak

    I believe she was innocent but wonder how the case would be handled and/or tried if it occured today. I think she’d never be arrested, much less tried and found guilty. I have no clue who did it, possibly the husband. Alice was found guilty for her lifestyle and actions as much as any possible “proof of guilt”.

  21. Knee

    I think there should have been way more investigation of the husband.
    Seriously, what kind of deviant tells someone he exposed his genitals to little kids!?
    Joking or not.
    Add to the fact his wiretapping her sexual encounters with other men among his other perverted acts against her.
    The cops thought her wearing make-up and slacks made her guilty compared to the actions of her husband!?
    The way the cops handled this case is almost as disgusting as the crime.

    • Catherine Galietti

      Cthetruth

  22. Kat Atak

    She wore “a lot of make-up” regularly, even just to hang out in the yard, to hide acne scars. It was just what she did. Not sure why that would make her guilty, but this was 1965 (I remember those days well!) and folks were even more judgemental then than now, if possible. Her lawyer didn’t do too good a job, IMO.

  23. Stacia

    The most interesting thing about this case, to me, is that the witness who was sure she’d seen Crimmins, her boyfriend, the kids and a dog leave the area about 2AM. This witness would testify with deliberately sensationalized stories. She loved the attention and reportedly would pump her hands in the air after testifying, cheering herself off. But then a family came forward and admitted they were the couple, kids and dog this witness had seen — and the wife of this couple looked similar to Crimmins! How all this didn’t put any reasonable doubt in the jury’s mind is beyond me.

  24. merope

    Alice Crimmins would have been burned at the stake centuries ago. She was seen as the evil temptress by this nutty cop and she never had a chance. She was convicted by 12 married men. One of them admitted that her behavior got her convicted. In other words, there was no evidence against her except dangerous male views of what a woman should be. It has always been thus.

  25. merope

    Alice Crimmins would have been burned at the stake centuries ago. She was seen as the evil temptress by this nutty cop and she never had a chance. She was convicted by 12 married men. One of them admitted that her behavior got her convicted. In other words, there was no evidence against her except dangerous male views of what a woman should be. It has always been thus.

  26. caligirl

    I think that she is innocent. That cop persicuted her by her personal , the heavy make up, tight cloths, ect, my oppinion , I think that that cop took one look at her and fell in love, and just couldn’t stand that he couldn’t be in her life. Those damn cops should’ve investigated the father of the children, that man was a sicko, he just couldn’t let her go, so if he couldn’t have her nobody should. In those day’s women were suppose to be barefoot and pregnant and in the kitchen not in bars, SHE WAS FOUND GUILTY BECOUSE OF HER LIFE STYLE.

  27. s.amper

    I agree that Crimmins was found guilty based on her lifestlye. It would be nice to know more about the prurient interest of Det. Gerard H. Piering. His outlook appears to have more to do with voyeurism than detective work.

  28. John F Early

    Watched ID’s account of the story last night. Previous to watching it, I reviewed the story on Crime Library or some such web site. I’d forgotten the year it happened, but remembered the crime well. If I remember correctly, my mom and dad and/or I — I forget exactly now — thought it was the mob-connected boy friend (good-looking swarthy guy in construction– something like that) who wanted Alice herself, but didn’t want her children. After that, we didn’t know exactly “who done it”.

  29. s.amper

    John,

    I [u]remember[/u] that theory about the mob connected boyfriend, but it seems to be unfounded since it’s not mentioned in anything recent about Alice Crimmins.

  30. John Jay

    Oh please, spare me the liberal feminist woe is me victim mentality crap. She was a whore who was more concerned with getting loaded and laid than tending to her motherly duties. She would lock her kids in their room so she could have sex with her MANY boyfriends which shows a patern of abuse. What kind of mother goes slutting around town after her kids are murdered? No doubt in any rational person’s mind that this tramp killed her children but of course rationality is something feminists and liberals lack greatly. She should have got the chair.

    • Megan

      Just because she was a “whore” doesn’t convict her of her children’s murder. It’s this mentality which made this case not end up being resolved. Sad there are still minds like this around today.

  31. Sam Farnell

    I was living and working in New York during that time and actively followed the case through the media. New York Post, Daily News and Mirror, Journal American Newspapers and local TV. I felt she was guilty. Mostly based on the manner in which she carried herself before and during the trail. She presented the image from day one that life was always about her and nothing else matter. Most important in her life was socializing at the the local pub with guys, guys, guys……

  32. walkalot

    My father was a cop (not in New York) during the 1960’s and always said committed the murders the reason being one of her boyfriends had mob connections and there might have been some mob-related talk that the kids overheard and could be repeated so that was why they were murdered. I was a pre-teen at the time so I did not think to ask him who he heard this from.

  33. david hartzog

    Leaving sarcasm and personal attacks aside, we will probably never know the truth, since the cops did such a lousy job, prejudging and basing the case on personal opinions. I don’t think any of us can say for certain if she was guilty or innocent.

  34. rdella

    Im not sure who killed these children but the fact that Alice’s exhusband was asking police alot of questions, regarding the bruises and marks left on their bodies when found, would have me seriously investigating why? Most parents would have been too distraught to want to know these horrible details. How could the cops get away with bringing the mother to the site of her dead daughter and not tell the mother where they were going? If the father was out in his car watching Alice”s appartment, why did he not see anything? Such as someone moving the bodies. Too many unaswered questions to have convicted this woman. Where is the proof? It is all circumstantial.

  35. TruthBeHeard

    Those who keep saying her “whoring around town” shows her f guilt, apparently know nothing about psychological grieving. Many individuals attempt to suppress reality of a traumatic event, by pretending it never occurred. In my opinion that’s what Alice was doing. If she had been responsible for these crimes, do you honestly believe she wouldve been so idiotic to flaunt her guilt by acting unconcerned, but calculated enough to hide a slip up for 2 years? No, it doesnt equate. Her actions don’t show a cold calculated loose murder, yet instead a young feminist innocent mother, unknowing on how to grieve. Additionally, if the kids were “getting in the way” , why not just allow Eddie to keep them? She was in a CUSTODY BA TTLE TO KEEP THEM! WHY WOULD A MOTHER WHO DIDN’T WANT HER KIDS FIGHT TO KEEP THEM? Come on! She obviously is innocent

  36. Kat Atak

    Anybody remember Susan Smith, Casey Anthony, Darlie Routier (sp?)? My first introduction to the Crimmins case was the fictionalized movie. I thought then Alice was not guilty. Later I read the book-can’t recall the name OR author-and still thought most likely not guilty. After watching the ID episode I firmly think she did not kill those kids. Alice not acting as most think would be appropriate really didn’t and doesn’t mean much. Unless you’ve been in a similar suituation you can’t possibly say how you’d act. When my now 40 yr. old daughter, then 3, went missing I had all the police and a couple of my neighbors stunned when, as I was feeding my 10 month old son I said “Well, John, You’ll be an only child now; won’t that be wonderful!” I still have no idea where that came from but the police separated me from everyone and started grilling me hard. They were getting so certain I’d done something to/with Kristine. Thank goodness she was found safe and sound. I still have nightmares about her being brutilized and worse. Don’t judge anyone’s actions/reactions unless you’ve been there yourself.

    • Stevi

      It is a little bit funny tho.

  37. maryann

    I believe that she was guilty; had her boyfriend Tony Grace help her after she murdered the girl in what may have been a fit of anger. Then did away with the son with help of a connected person who was sent to cover up her crime. She had alot of involvements with unsavory people, however the forensics also showed that she was guilty without going into her personal escapades with men and drinking, and a pattern of abuse by leaving the children without food or money with a maid while she was partying on a boat with her boyfriend for two days. She was capable of anything, but the forensics showed the opposite of her claims as to when children were last seen, as per the autoposy and stomach contents. Also, dust on the furniture near the window showed that an intruder could not enter without disturbing the pattern of dust. The kids did not leave by the window, but thru the front door. There was alot of circumstantial evidence, but I want to know why she was let out of prison after being convicted of the little boy’s murder and was supposed to be serving life.

    • Robert

      Maryann – I would suggest that as you are so stupid you would do better to stop commenting and so embarrassing yourself.

      • GooberPeas

        Robert, I suggest you get off the pedestal of sh*t you’ve created for yourself.

  38. maryann

    I believe that she was guilty; had her boyfriend Tony Grace help her after she murdered the girl in what may have been a fit of anger. Then did away with the son with help of a connected person who was sent to cover up her crime. She had alot of involvements with unsavory people, however the forensics also showed that she was guilty without going into her personal escapades with men and drinking, and a pattern of abuse by leaving the children without food or money with a maid while she was partying on a boat with her boyfriend for two days. She was capable of anything, but the forensics showed the opposite of her claims as to when children were last seen, as per the autoposy and stomach contents. Also, dust on the furniture near the window showed that an intruder could not enter without disturbing the pattern of dust. The kids did not leave by the window, but thru the front door. There was alot of circumstantial evidence, but I want to know why she was let out of prison after being convicted of the little boy’s murder and was supposed to be serving life.

  39. michael olson

    What happened to Eddie after the trial?. Did any one ask how he grieved, did the press follow him around? where was he when his wife was in prison? why isn’t the case called “The Eddie crimmins case? Couldn’t they just as well,using the scant evidence, convicted him?

  40. Brian Eberle

    Well I was young, but what I remember is that Alice Crimmins was dating anthony grace and the time of the accident there’s a cop Harry shields supposedly was the first cop on the case..it was funny because right after the case was over.. Harry became a very wealthy man, bought his sons businesses Tropicana route , Boars Head route , bars all in whitestone queens ..this was the neighborhood: dope the neighborhood dope was usually correct…

  41. sue.g

    I think its pretty clear it was mob related, and everyone was ‘paid’ to keep quiet. Why else would she get paroled so soon…and all the other ridiculous facts of the whole story/trial.

  42. Dick Tracy

    So much turmoil and drama with Alice and Ed, so sad they were able to reproduce. There was an ugly custody hearing that coming week where Ed was asking for full custody of the kids.

    So why would Ed want his children dead a couple days before he was suing for custody? He wouldn’t imo. Sounded like he wanted to get his kids out of what he thought was an unhealthy situation. If anything if Ed was a psychopath it would have been much more likely for Alice to have turned up dead, not his own innocent children, his own flesh and blood.

    I would lean towards either the “strange pervert theory” or perhaps Alice kind of melting down , traumatized by the thought of losing her kids in a custody battle.

  43. DoReDa

    I think Alice was convicted because of the way she conducted herself. If anything she was guilty of neglect. Her husband on the other hand…

  44. suzyQ

    I was too young to remember this story when it happened. It’s unfortunate the police didn’t try to gather proper evidence in this case. It’s such a flimsy case, it can never be solved now. However (and I’m not saying he’s guilty), I find it very interesting that the male dominated investigators/jury found Alice’s behavior so strange when as a woman, I find her husband’s behavior equally strange- putting a microphone in the bedroom, listening from the basement? Seriously? They both obviously had issues which to me could be deemed equally peculiar. Strange people can still have their children abducted and murdered by someone else. Imagine all the modern cases that if had happened back then- all the ‘strangely behaving’ parents that would have been tried by public opinion and filmsy police work AND wrongly convicted on it……

  45. mOLSON

    Remember that the children were found with veal in their stomachs which Alice denies feeding them. Also Eddie’s strange behavior and reporting being out side the window that night. Also the children were reported sometimes wandered outside.Did Eddy take them out for a meal? Did some stranger? Did Alice have the strength to strangle 2 children and carry them? Eddie might have be so angry about having to face a judge to report his wife’s behavior and his wire tapping an hiing in the basement. Also the time period was one where serial killer were coming out of the closet.

  46. cincyphotobug

    Of course only those involved know for sure, but I find it doubtful that either parent was responsible for the death of these children. Ed was fighting for custody because he felt Alice was an unfit mother. He cared for his children’s wellbeing as is evidenced by the night he took them to his mother-in-law’s house when Alice had left them with the babysitter to go party with friends. He “rescued“ them from what he deemed a potentially harmful situation. That’s not what you would expect from a man that would callously murder them a week later just to get back at his estranged wife. That just doesn’t seem logical.
    Similarly, if little Eddie and Missy were getting in the way of Alice’s social life, why would she bother to fight for custody? She would have just given them to their father, since he obviously wanted them…and that would have been that. She would have been free to live whatever lifestyle she chose to. Again, that doesn’t seem like a logical argument.
    As far as their erratic behavior in dealing with the abductions and eventual murders, that’s speculative. We are all products of our own unique personal experiences and therefore handle situations differently. The manor with which humans process grief is neither predictive nor absolute. And, we have just in the last decade made significant strides in the study of PTS…understanding the effect of traumatic events on the human psyche.
    It is however evident that Alice was a victim of sensationalized media attention, subpar police performance, and public vilification. Within hours it seemed she had been found guilty until proven innocent. Unfortunately for her, no one was trying to prove her innocence because public opinion of her lifestyle caused her to be viewed as anything but innocent. Narrow theological thinking of the time lumped all “moral” transgressions together. Sin was sin, when in reality promiscuity is worlds apart from murder.
    Unfortunately… because of police prejudice, the most viable lead was not followed up on. There had been a recent report of a strange man trying to lure a young boy from his apartment in that very complex. You would think that such a report under the circumstance would at least garner a little attention but instead it was dismissed as unfounded. Now, in retrospect, it seems pretty founded to me. I know they say hindsight is twenty twenty…but shouldn’t foresight be at least better then blind?

  47. Taylor Banaszak

    It’s interesting to see the comments of people, still today, who have decided she is guilty simply for being what was considered a loose woman. Quite honestly, I can’t imagine how I would handle losing one child, let alone two, to such a violent act. She had, and enjoyed, an active sex life (good for her…god knows if it were the husband, everyone would have dismissed that)…I don’t think that’s the same as being a child killer. Such hostile judgement. But yet, I don’t hear any judgements about the dad…who from what I understand was obsessed with hearing from the police, the brutal details of the states of decay of his children and such other awful details. I think that shows far more likelihood that he was guilt, as killers tend to revel in hearing the details of their crimes. Besides, its rare for a woman to kill her children…certainly rarer then men killing thier children…and considering that if she wanted to be with her lover, her mother-in-law would have gladly taken the kids…killing them seems like, well, overkill.

  48. s.amper

    Responses to:
    John 11/17: Well reasoned. If she’s a slut, she must be a murderer.
    Sam Farnell 11/18: People grieve differently. And what, pray tell, is wrong with socialing with guys in pubs?
    TruthBeHeard 11/23: A voice of reason. Thank you.
    TaylorBanaszak 12/30: Good point about the husband. Double standards then and even now as some of the above comments make plain.

  49. molson

    Has anyone seen the “unsolved mysteries”about Alice Crimmons. It did have the basic facts though it was a bit dramatic. It did mention one thing I did not previously know, that a mentally ill patient stated that he killed the children. He later committed suicide. Has this ever been followed up. Even today history of this individual might shine some light on the case. the program also showed the treatment of Alice by the police One police man at the scene saying “you take the husband , I’ll take the bitch”. Also a reporter stated that Alice told her that the reason she did not cry in front of the cameras was that it was “her grief”. Was her private grief public property?
    Some very good posted comments on the case have been made here, though I think we are going around in circles. Will this case ever become a “Cold case”? Evidence may still be available?

  50. Flipspiceland

    Sexual addiction – don’t touch certain body parts – never get fully naked – lying to callers about not being alone with another man – dozens maybe hundreds of one night stands, no such thing as too much sex.

    If her obsession with that single focus on her vaginal area were even somewhat in control, it might be possible to excuse this as just an innocent pleasure seeking propensity. But anyone who has addictions that they are incapable of satisfying, is likely twisted mentally.

    In that vein, the detectives that used this as their primary reason for thinking she did it, we’re not that far from a motive. I believe her sexual addiction at her relatively hottest years, and the prospect of having to frustrate those out of control desires for the next 10-15 yrs propelled her to do the unthinkable coupled with her own words, “I’d rather see them Dead” than with their father.

    Plainly, this is not proof that rational people would consider, so the jury likely punished her for a lifestyle that they themselves could never countenance in a mother two small children. They were wrong to do so.

    The Supreme Court was right to vacate that verdict in 1975 and finally free her.

    The he truth will never be known unless a confessor with absolute proof comes forward. Considering how violently the children were dealt with I don’ t think that will ever happen.

    I do however believe her. She would rather see them dead.

  51. cheryl ann

    I don’t believe she killed her children..I believe she was found guilty because of her life style…Very sad…that law enforcement did a sloppy job because they did not like her….

  52. Bans Johnson

    It is clear that like Casey Anthony she wanted the kids out of the way so she could build a new life. What kind of make up she wore was only relevant in that people in agony over the deaths of loved ones don’t tend to think of appearances or getting dates. She killed them so let’s put the feminist clap trap and hand wringing to bed.

  53. Richard Lutz

    I object to the ninnies who think a woman can’t kill. And they mask it by yelling sexism! The fact that she clearly killed her children because the rich new boyfriend didn’t want them is obvious. Except to the people here who would need it proved to them the Adolf Hitler was a murderer. The reason so many guilty walk after terrible crimes. Think about what it was like to be those kids instead of crying for the killer.

  54. Susan Amper

    Women kill all the time, but it’s up to the courts to prove it. The courts failed to do so in the case of Alice Crimmins.

  55. Jack E. Jett

    Forgive me if this has been answered already and I just failed to find it.

    What is the reasoning behind the children needing for forage for food late at night? I have yet to find a place that might explain. They portray her as a great loving Mom yet I have never heard of children so hungry they may slip out at night to find food from strangers.

    That said, it is clear that the hyper morality of the time (and current time) would have made it impossible to ever get to the truth. I see very little difference between Crimmins and Anthony. It would be one thing if the holier than thou that DEMAND justice usually turn out to be far from holy themselves.

  56. Sal

    My understanding, as i recall it anyway, from a direct source is that the cops viewed the most likely scenario as Grace or Crimmins smothering the girl accidentally after a night-time wake-up. The boy saw it, and was killed as a result.

  57. antcon

    ….in the course of justice, none should see salvation……

  58. Susan Amper

    I don’t really see Alice Crimmins as Portia or Shylock for that matter.

  59. Breezy

    I followed this case and read all the books written. I think Grace had to marry her because she knew too much.

  60. Molson

    In the 60’s, murdered children and serial killers did not seem to make the papers. One never heard about missing or murdered children. they must have existed . It was after Charles Manson that people became more aware. If It happened today, the first thought would be that the murderer was a child molester.
    Eddy Crimmings was a little wackly, hiding in the basement wiring and taping his wife. If he really cared about the children he could have easily won them in court. And if Alice wanted to give them up she could have let Eddy have them. Its more likely, and not out of the world of possibles, that an outsider took the children, feed them, and murdered them.
    Look at the killer found in Calf. He murdered and molested 2 children in illinois when he was 17 and now at 70 was caught. They found the children in the woods. He also committed other crimes. He moved to another state after the murders and became a policeman.
    Perhaps looking into other missing childern at that time would shed some light on the Crimmins case. On the show “Unsolved Crimes”, they mentioned a mental patient confessing to the the crimmins murders shortly before he commited suicide. Has any one seen this episode ? No one else commented it.

  61. Bell

    The way someone grieves or doesn’t grieve is not an indication of guilt. I remember one case where a man’s girlfriend was brutally murdered. He didn’t greive publicly and was very calm and stoic so people assumed he did it. It turned out that the real murderer was a delusional woman, jealous of their relationship and wanting to be with the man. Partying after the murder of one’s children is disconcerting and disturbing but not a sign of guilt. This woman should never have been tried. There wasn’t any evidence. Who knows who did it! The police did such a terrible job, we may never know. Sad!

  62. Sin D

    I have one question… “The children had snuck out their window on previous occasions to look for ‘food’?” why would they sneak out at such an early age to find food? Also she had a hook lock on the out side of their bedroom door… All signs of child neglect… CPS would have had these children taken now a days had she lived in the present… Just had to mention this since I hadn’t read more about it.

  63. Lesley1000

    This is before my time, but I remember the name Alice Crimmins and I didnt really know why. I dont know that much about the case, but it looks like there was very little evidence and I agree that the press and the police had already made their minds up. This is sad because we will probably never know what happened and if the police had not been so blinkered, they may have been able to prove, either way, whether she was guilty or not. On another page it says she was ‘low class’. This is recent blog, so it shows that people are still making instant assumptions about her years after.

  64. trouble1091

    Look she did it!!!
    Her boy toy anthony Grace paid the cop harry Shields to hide the proof, then Shields got rich over night, bought his kids Boars Head and Tropicana routs, harry jr got the bar village volt….
    You just can’t make this crap up…everone from whitestone and beachhurst new the deal..

  65. Bronxgirl

    Trouble1091. You’re an idiot. Hopefully when the laws on intenet libel catch up with you, you’ll find yourself in a courtroom dock.

  66. Molson

    Bronxgirl You are right. It make no sense why alice would do it. Would she be so stupid. Why? She wanted the kids out of the way, Let Her husband have them. She didnt trust him, then keep the kids but than kill them? Duh. The children were children, they explore their world, many children craw out of and in things, they want to know about the world around them. If Alice may be guilty it may be for being irresponsibile, but not being a murderer. an outsider? yes@! today this would be the first thought. today, DNA evidence would have found the truth If alice did it there must be some form of mental illness, What? She killed her children for the attention? duh, who wants that attention. She wanted to marry another man? so killing her children would solve this ? duh. There were easier ways out. No one wants in this blog to discuss an outsider coming in and doing the deed, today this would be the first thought, and today they would have found the real killer. think about it, there is someone, quite older, roaming the streets who really did the crime. mentally ill

  67. trouble1091

    Bronxgirl… ok, so you’re related to a Shield….
    Now that’s your problem….Idiot … that’s it.. that’s your best….it makes sense for you to be here..
    I guess if I thought I was going to get locked up soon .
    I’d be on here also.. spreading lies …
    Good Luck with that Bronx B -tch…hahahaha…

  68. pamela4074

    Its investigations like this that will remain unsolved not because the police were in adequate at just their jobs, but because people would rather believe the worse. If I recall no more then a yr later a man came in thru a window and rape and murdered a little girl, while her family slept, the very idea that this can happened should made the police look elsewhere for suspects, but no, they wanted her to pay for having a social life. Now the world will never know who stole the lives of these children or if this has happened before.

  69. Taylor B

    First, the undigested food in Missy’s stomach…if you read the book by Ken Gross, he makes a big deal about the fact that the coroner, Dr. Helprin, stated very clearly for two years that he could not determine when Missy died, and left a vague time of death, “sometime after midnight.” Only after two years of police pressure did he suddenly change his estimate to around 8pm.

    Secondly, its very easy for any of us to assume guilt because of her behavior…since she didn’t act like a grieving mother. But how do you know how she should act unless you have experienced her exact circumstances? I sympathize with the woman. I could see myself feeling so awful and guilty (her job was to protect her children…and she “didn’t”) that I’d drown myself in alcohol and stuff that would numb me.

    Third…”if not Alice, than who?”….Eddie for one…then there were the parade of men who Alice saw over the years…any of them could have been a pedophile. It certainly was plausible. Eddie Jr was very protective of his sister…if someone tried to take Missy, he would have put up a fight.

    Lastly, this was 1965…attitudes were very different then. She enjoyed sex…sex with many different men…and that was not accepted in that time, it isn’t really accepted even now. She was solely convicted on her unorthodox behavior.

    If she was innocent, the police certainly dragged her through hell. If she was guilty, she was a bad actor.

    I recommend everyone read Ken Gross’ book…he was the only one to ever interview Alice…and he really did his research. He doesn’t necessarily side one way or the other. Basically, everyone looks bad.

  70. karen neville

    Maybe when Eddie realized that Alice was really in love with Anthony he did away with the kids. Eddie seemed like a really strange guy (obsessed with Alice) and he may have really only wanted the kids to get back with Alice. If he had been awarded custody of the kids, this would be a way to keep Alice in his life and possibly keep the marriage going. Just a thought.

  71. molson

    Wonderful Blogs. Pamela states another child killing; it would be interesting to research the papers for similar cases before and after the murders, and any police investigations. It is difficult to make any claim against Alice if one looks closely at the facts of the cas: the treatment of Alice’s’ sexual life, the police’s psychological problems, the60’s, a time of resentment against the youth movement and free love i.e. generation gap, not to mention the sleazy TV/newspapersensationalism. there is so much to research, not to mention Alice’s guilt or innocence, but an understanding of the times. Perhaps this is why Alice’s case is so interesting to me and I think others

  72. Sarita

    I just watched her story on the ID Channel. I’m not sure that she killed her kids.

    I think she was as narcissistic, amoral, manipulative, self-absorbed, sex-obsessed, uncaring as the males she was having cheating on her husband with.

    I also think that when her kids went missing, life got better for her (in her view). However, did she kill them? I don’t think being a worthless, amoral human being automatically makes one a murderer. It just makes them a worthless, amoral human, that’s all.

    Are there more worthless, amoral humans among murderers? Yup.

    I’ll tell you what really, really freaks me out – the fact that her husband kept being there for her despite all the cheating. Some men are just awed by and adore self-absorbed women. As long as they fix their hair, put on make up, have their nails done, and have lots of sex and nudity going, they’re like puppy dogs. 🙂 Dumb, in my opinion!

  73. Mike Primavera

    In the eyes of the police. I believe she was guilty from the first time she showed no emotion for the children being taken. I dont think she killed the children. I think the childrens father did it to punish her for the bad devorse. Just my opinion

  74. momsabeach

    I cant believe the police never looked at the fact that the World’s Fair was a few blocks away! a drifter, out of towner or serial killer could have lured them out of the window. They just didn’t like the “Sexpot” mom and never looked elsewhere.

  75. michael olson

    I just puchased Ordeal By Trial by George Carpoi, jr.
    I encourage anyone interested in the a crimmins case go right to the library and take it out and read it. For a long time I attempted to purchase the book but at over 70dollars, I would’nt pay. I did get a copy and it is very well written going over the case and the characters. I have changed my thought about the case and the possiblilities for the killings and who did the killings. If any on has read this book please write in and discuss the case.
    My feeling now are that the case was botched by the DA, media, news.
    It appears that the girl was killed, alice made a call and someone was called into to clean up the situation. Still it leaves a lot of questions open, I am re-reading the book again. it is much better than the gross book.

  76. Alison Harbour

    What a great blog on this criminal case. I just watched this on ID Investigation: “Go Ask Alice,” and was interested regarding any evidence from this crime that may still be in existence…this would be a great cold case to reopen. After all this month it will be 50 years since these babies were murdered. I have one question that I did not see on this blog? Was there any evidence that the little girl was molested? My heart breaks for all involved, especially the innocent kids, so sad. I hate to think that we will never know the truth. I am gonna read the books recommended in the blog. Thanks to all that commented.

  77. Susan Amper

    Alison,

    No evidence has ever been offered to suggest that Missy was molested. However, there is little evidence of any kind. The murder scene was poorly handled from day one.

  78. heather mondragon

    I really believe the real killer was her Alice’s estranged husband. He admitted to sitting outside of the apartment the time and day of the murder in his car getting drunk. His story changed many times and he was a super stalker psycho! He totally did it to get even with her.

  79. Kathy petersen

    Alice Crimmins would have never been convicted today! This was curcumstantial evidence at best! This cop had it in for her the second he laid eyes on her! She was absolutely convicted by the court of public opinion, plain & simple! Was her lifestyle questionable? Yes! Was she a loose? Definitely! Did that make her a murderer? No! The way they constantly harassed her, getting her fired from all her jobs, tapping her phone, etc., never would have gotten away with it today…all while letting the husband get a free pass and not investigating him at all. This woman never had a chance!

  80. Lori Miller

    Wow this case is so sad. Has anyone considered that perhaps Alice had been sexually abused as a child and that’s why she was acting-out with men? Maybe that led to her worry about her appearence, her ability to hide her real feelings and some neglect of the kids? Maybe she locked them in so they wouldn’t see her having sex? In the show she said she fed them but not pasta which was found in the little girls’ stomach. Molesters watch and see what a child is missing out on and couldve offered food at the window. I see alot of red flags where the father is concerned. Maybe trying to hurt the mom, revenge for his pain? I think it was someone who knew her, knew she drank and how she was preoccupied with her own needs. Very easy prey unfortunately. If your still alive Alice I’m so sorry your babies were killed regardless of who did it.

  81. nyjoni

    I was 15 at the time and remember this case very well. Coming from Long Island like Alice Crimmins was, there was no doubt among those discussing the case that she was guilty The police botched their investigation. Today, she is remarkably similar in personality to Cacee Anthony and we all know how “innocent” she was.

  82. bobbym

    I to was a 14 yr old living in Brooklyn at the time and just watched the case one hour ago on cable TV 06/07/16. Man did that bring back a flood of memories they actually got the facts as I remember them correct.
    In alice’s defense my feelings NOW in 2016 are.
    1. The eye hook was placed on the outside of childrens door so they could not spy Alice and her male partners in bed.
    2. The male son in my opinion used this as a oppertunity ( knowing door was latched and momma would be busy for hours) to leave the apartment through his bedroom window and take little sister with him and basiclly roam the streets.
    3. Next morning Alice finds their bedroom window open and outside was found a wooden stroller right under their window the male son easily could have made that drop to the stroller then help sister out then both drop two feet to ground.
    4. I really feel the two children had done this very thing many times before, because they had to pre arrange the stroller the day before.
    5. This was a career case for the lead detective and D.A. at the time and everyone involved in it. There were so many mistakes and really no evidence indicating Alice did it. So IMHO she was railroaded.

  83. mitzi

    i was in the home the night of the abduction of the crimmins children.
    my sister and i were to have been babysitters that night. alice didn’t go out
    after a very long wait and we were sent home. a great deal happened between the time we arrived and thwe time we were sent home. my mother, alice’s friend, never really asked us what had happened that night. and ne3ither did i discuss it with my older sister, who was there.
    but i remember everything: [url=mailto:mitzi7d@juno.com]mitzi7d@juno.com[/url]

  84. Mitch

    After reading the transcripts of this case. I’m quite certain that Alice killed her children. The motive seems obvious: She wanted her husband out of her life, with her children dead, that would end all contact with him. She would also be able to entertain the numerous men she wanted to hang with. There is no other reasonable explination as to why anyone, but Alice would have killed her children. Nobody abducts 2 children and carry them blocks away in public to a park and kills them, they would have killed them in their rooms and left the bodies there. If a “stranger” had abducted them, they would have either blackmailed them or kept/sold them. It seems clear the children were killed in their home and transported to the park where she dumped them. Once you rule out all the unlikely scenarios, you are left with occam’s razor. Alice Crimmins killed her children.

  85. s.amper

    I don’t think it’s Occam’s razor. Too many things were mishandled by the police from day one, and as a result, proving Crimmins guilt is impossible. I also think there are too many other possibilities–and her killing the children does not fit any scenario that implicates Crimmins as the killer. The courts too must have thought so since they freed her.

    • Denise Noe

      I read everything I could on this case for the chapter on it that is in my ebook “Suffer Little Children” that is at BuzzwordBooks.com
      My conclusion is the three is a 50-50 chance as to guilt or innocence. I delve deeply into the timeline question and how it can be read. The case will always be a mystery to those who approach it with an open mind, in my opinion.

  86. gigi

    She did it. We knew her!!! She was a slut and the kids got in her way. very reason she locked the door so they could not get in her way. Missy must have been giving her a hard time and she killed her by accident. The boy saw so he had to go too. Please stop with the she did not do. This was the big boys she was dealing with (Tony Grace) They were know for making people dissappear….They had to get rid of the boy or he could rat them out …….

    • Chris RAYMOND

      so she would have needed help she couldn’t have done it alone. as the children were too heavy for her to carry by herself –so where was the other murderer what happened to that person?

  87. gigi

    She did it. We knew her!!! She was a slut and the kids got in her way. very reason she locked the door so they could not get in her way. Missy must have been giving her a hard time and she killed her by accident. The boy saw so he had to go too. Please stop with the she did not do. This was the big boys she was dealing with (Tony Grace) They were know for making people dissappear….They had to get rid of the boy or he could rat them out …….

    • Denise Noe

      If you knew Alice, please write to me at Janatrude@aol.com

    • Denise Noe

      How WELL did you know her?

  88. Gaspar Marino

    I too was a child in Brooklyn when this occurred. I am currently reading the novel “Little Deaths” which is based on the incident. I always felt that Alice Crimmins was innocent, but she did know who committed the crimes. I believe she never named the suspect, as she was punishing herself for her lifestyle and she bore the suffering out of guilt, rather than turn the person in to the police. Strange psychological make up of a woman who clearly was troubled. She obviously had psychological problems which drove her to alcoholism and nymphomania.

  89. Claudio Boniwell

    There isn’t any single solution but tons of options like I said
    at the beginning, there’s no hard and speedy manual that states to the idea
    methods into all of your issues. Today if you present a particular problem into some panel of experts, you are certain to receive many diverse comments
    and answers at return. This can turnout to be vexing.

  90. s. amper

    Claudio,
    There IS a single solution. However, it has yet to be discovered.

    • Tammy morris

      Reopen the case someone has gotten away with murder for 53 years and that’s not right the murder of two young children

  91. haitham

    ‘While in jail, she married Anthony Grace, the man once believed to be her accomplice’ , that that right there is the proof she did it or knew who did , why would you get married while your locked up ,the only reason is that husband and wife cannot testify against each other .

    • s.amper

      Alice Crimmins was convicted of manslaughter and married Anthony Grace AFTER he testified at her trial.

  92. A. Lucier

    The real issues, as I see them, is that she was convicted–twice–for a crime for which there was only circumstantial evidence at best. Even the “circumstantial” evidence was weak. No person should be convicted for a crime for which there is no evidence. Secondly, how is she tried twice for the same crime? Was the law not in place yet which prohibits it, or was this protection, meant as a check and balance for the rights of the accused, circumvented by charging her with murder the 1st time and manslaughter the next time, for example? That is just an example, but by changing the technical charge, can this protection be circumvented? I’ve always wondered but never looked it up.

  93. Vonnie webb

    I find her innocent…certainly a bad start with a detective who took an immediate dislike to her..No sympathy there then..what has make up got to do with the murder..she had acne for god sake..to a woman its an affliction to hide..I couldnt get my head around why the detective took her out the house straight to the body of her daughter..what reaction did he expect..she collapsed and probably in shock until she arrived back home to be surrounded by a pack of baying journalists thats enough to bring tears to anyones eyes..just the scale of it…I found her husband a lowlife who ilfritrated into her private life and the police were no better..the husband hearing her making love to another man would have sent him into a jealous rage and he probably decided to get revenge…who knows who done it but it wasnt Alice Crimmins..

  94. Susan Amper

    What I find interesting is that (to my knowledge) this case has never been reopened. S. Amper

    • Denise Noe

      Ms. Amper, I have an article on the case in this ebook: http://buzzwordbooks.com/suffer-little-children.htm
      If you would read the piece, I would be very interested to know how well — or poorly — you believed I handled it

  95. Judy T.

    This reminds me of a “local” case here in NH, where a young woman, an assistant librarian in a highschool was ultimately charged and convicted of the planned murder of her young husband. It was a travesty of misstatement, society prejudices, and while she is spending her days in prison the two young men who actually did the killing got out after 8 years. They cried in the witness box. She did not.
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2019/01/15/feature/the-enduring-appeal-of-pamela-smart-the-misunderstood-murderess/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.d427bd5b16da

    The irony is, a year later in Massachusetts a man was tried and found guilty of hiring someone to murder his pregnant wife so he could be with his mistress. He got a year in jail.

    There is a tendency to equate sex at some level as being a punishable offense. That goes way way back to the days when women were stoned for adultery, or hung, while the man who raped her, or seduced her lived to seduce another day…

    • Joyce Chee

      I agree, what a travesty of justice that she was given life without parole while the actual killers have been released from jail.

  96. AvikaterinaTrastamara

    I think she was guilty! They found undigested food in the little girls stomach food takes 4-5 hours to digest from the stomach. If she fed them at 5:30 or even 6 like she said then saw them again when her son got up at 12am to use the bathroom there would have been no food in her children’s stomach! That means the children died a few hours at most after she fed them no way she could have seen them at 12am and they were killed after and still have undigested food in their stomachs. She was a sick slut WHO LOCKS THEIR CHILDREN IN THEIR BEDROOM because they get up and eat food at night!! If their hungry let them eat!! And what if they have to use the bathroom they have to bang on the door till she gets up and let them out? She is a sick puppy thats not normal even then and I think the real reason she locked them in their room was so they wouldn’t interfere with her active social life with men! And even if she didn’t kill them she was responsible because she was locking them in their room where they were going out the widow searching for food that’s neglect and abuse which put them in danger of being out and about in the middle of the night cause she didn’t want to be bothered. But still the food in the girls stomach speaks to her guilt. Otherwise you would have to believe they climbed out the window met some random killer who feed them and waited a few hours (because some of the food was partially digested) and then killed them…. Not likely.

    • Jo Price

      I think she did it.

      She was always out partying, hungover the next day, unable to care properly for her children. They were neglected. She’s a narcissist, sociopath constantly craving attention, her children got in the way.

  97. Kimberly

    She did not murder her children
    The police assumed
    They did not secure the crime scenes @the children’s bedroom”.. were they were taken from.

  98. Oonai

    Wow, so many disgusting faux-feminist on here. You may think there wasn’t enough evidence to convict her, but it’s so very obvious this woman killed her children.

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