Alice Crimmins closed case files
Collection REC0065 - RG 084. Queens County District Attorney
Abstract
On July 14, 1965, Eddie Jr. and Alice Marie Crimmins disappeared from their home, later to be found murdered. Their mother, Alice Crimmins, became the number one suspect in their death. This collection contains the Queens County District Attorney’s investigative files into the crime, which were used to indict, and eventually convict, Alice Crimmins for the crime.
Extent
10 cubic feet (15 boxes)
Dates
1964-1971
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Advance notice is required for using original material. Please contact us to arrange access.
Additional Description
Physical Location
Materials are stored onsite at 31 Chambers St.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was transferred from the Queens County District Attorney's Office to the Municipal Archives in 1978 (Accession # 1978-017).
Alternate Forms Available
This collection has not been digitized or microfilmed.
Processing Information
In the fall of 2011, the collection was processed by Lauren Paroulek and a basic finding aid was written. Updates and standardization of the legacy finding aid was completed in April 2019 by staff archivist Alexandra Hilton with assistance from staff archivist Nathalie Belkin.
Scope and Content Note
The Queens County District Attorney’s Alice Crimmins case file, closed case file #1619-67, is arranged into five series. The first two series are based on the chronological lifespan of the two trials. Series I primarily contains documentation from the beginning of the investigation to the end of the first trial. Series II encompasses the appeals process and second trial and includes materials used or copied from the first trial. In Series III, the items are organized by the format of the documents. It contains photographs and maps from the investigation and trials; many are oversized. Series IV contains the original newspapers and news clippings, which discuss the murders during both the first and second trial. Series V is a collection of 72 reel-to-reel audiotapes and four CDs of recorded conversations mostly from phone taps.
Biographical/Historical Information
On the morning of July 14, 1965, Eddie Crimmins, Jr., aged five and Alice Marie "Missy" Crimmins, aged four, disappeared from their Kew Gardens Hills home. The children’s father, Edmund (“Eddie”) Crimmins called the police at approximately 11 AM to report the disappearance of the children after frantic calls from his estranged wife, Alice Crimmins.
It became known very quickly that Alice and her husband Eddie were in the middle of an acrimonious divorce. Alice was painted as an attractive woman who spent a great deal of time out of the house with various suitors and her alleged main boyfriend, Anthony Grace, drinking and dancing. These assumptions would play heavily against her with the police, the media and the general public.
In September 1967, following an investigation into the disappearance of the two young children, with little to no concrete evidence found, an indictment was filed against Alice Crimmins by the Queens County District Attorney’s Office for the murder of her daughter, Alice Marie. She was convicted on the charges in 1968, but upon appeal, the conviction was overturned and a new trial was ordered. Her 1971 trial convicted her for the murder of her son and manslaughter of her daughter. The murder charge of her son was then reversed by the Appellate Division, who confirmed the manslaughter conviction in May 1975. Alice Crimmins was released on parole in November 1977.
Once out of prison, Alice married Anthony who had visited her regularly in prison. The couple moved to Key Largo, Florida. Since then, there have been various books, articles and documentaries about the case, with no definitive answer to who committed the murders of Eddie and Alice Marie Crimmins.
It became known very quickly that Alice and her husband Eddie were in the middle of an acrimonious divorce. Alice was painted as an attractive woman who spent a great deal of time out of the house with various suitors and her alleged main boyfriend, Anthony Grace, drinking and dancing. These assumptions would play heavily against her with the police, the media and the general public.
In September 1967, following an investigation into the disappearance of the two young children, with little to no concrete evidence found, an indictment was filed against Alice Crimmins by the Queens County District Attorney’s Office for the murder of her daughter, Alice Marie. She was convicted on the charges in 1968, but upon appeal, the conviction was overturned and a new trial was ordered. Her 1971 trial convicted her for the murder of her son and manslaughter of her daughter. The murder charge of her son was then reversed by the Appellate Division, who confirmed the manslaughter conviction in May 1975. Alice Crimmins was released on parole in November 1977.
Once out of prison, Alice married Anthony who had visited her regularly in prison. The couple moved to Key Largo, Florida. Since then, there have been various books, articles and documentaries about the case, with no definitive answer to who committed the murders of Eddie and Alice Marie Crimmins.
Arrangement
Although the first two series are organized alphabetically, they are based on the chronological lifespan of the two trials. The records are divided into five series.
Series Outline
- District Attorney case files, 1964-1969
- Appeals case files, 1965-1971
- Maps and photographs, 1966-1971
- Newspapers, 1966-1971
- Audiotapes, 1965-1971
Finding Aid & Administrative Information
- Title
- Guide to the Alice Crimmins closed case files, 1964-1971
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Alexandra Hilton
- Date
- April 2019
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
-
Revision Statements
- April 2019: Addition of biographical/historical note written by staff archivist Nathalie Belkin.
Subjects