Murder of Alan Helmick by wife Miriam Helmick examined on A Time To Kill

A Time To Kill is investigating the murder of Alan Helmick, who was shot dead by his second wife Miriam Helmick at his home in Whitewater, Colorado, in 2008.

On June 10, 2008, Miriam dialed 911 to say her husband, 62-year-old Alan, had been shot by an intruder. The dispatcher gave Miriam assistance over the phone on how to perform CPR, but tragically, Alan died from his injuries.

However, investigators would later conclude that Miriam hadn’t administered CPR to Alan and that it had been her who had shot him in the back of the head in their kitchen.

As the cops delved deeper and deeper into the investigation, they found Helmick was guilty of numerous crimes and had been planning to kill her husband for a long time. They learned that the killer had attempted to murder Alan 40 days previously by trying to blow up his car.

The couple had traveled to Delta, CO by car, and Alan had waited in the car while Miriam went inside a business. The gas tank caught fire as Alan waited; he only narrowly escaped severe injury, or worse. A wick was later found to have been placed into the tank.

Miriam Helmick had already tried to kill Alan Helmick

The police also suspect Miriam had tried to poison Alan. She had performed internet searches on how to poison or cause an overdose in somebody by using sleeping pills and Viagra. This may explain why Alan’s health had deteriorated in the months before he died. He had only begun to show signs of improvement shortly before he was shot. However, a coroner found no traces of poison in his remains.

During the period Alan was ill, Miriam kept a tight rein on his affairs. She kept his cellphone in her purse and responded to any messages that were directed at him. She also emptied his bank accounts.

Miriam forged Alan’s signature to cash checks, and after his death, she even sold his house, thereby denying his children any proceeds. She had also tried but failed to take out a significant life insurance policy on Alan shortly before he died.

In December 2008, Miriam was finally arrested in Jacksonville, Florida. The arresting officers found she was using identification that belonged to Sharon Helmick, who was Alan’s first wife and had passed away in 2003. The cops added identity theft to Miriam’s growing list of charges.

Miriam Helmick had a murky past. She had been twice arrested in 2004 in Florida for larceny and embezzlement. Her first husband, Jack Giles, had died under suspicious circumstances; he had shot himself while lying in bed with Miriam. The case was ruled a suicide, and it has not been reopened.

In December 2009, Helmick was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. She was also given an additional 108-year sentence.

More from A Time To Kill

Follow the links to read about more murders profiled on A Time To Kill.

Rafael Hernandez-Torres was a popular taxi diver from Tulsa, Oklahoma, when killer Ramon Medrano lured him to a remote area to rob and kill him. Medrano shot him nine times and took his wallet before shoving him in the trunk of his cab, which he then pushed into the Caney River.

Mark Porter was struggling with gambling debts. His solution to the problem was to murder his so-called friends Gary and Jan Tyrrell at their home in Springfield, MO. The high school superintendent was caught when he sold the couple’s collection of rare silver coins.

A Time To Kill airs at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery.