The Big Chill
Carol Hellar antifreeze poisoning by Dennis Hellar
Shortly after marrying her new husband Dennis, Carol Hellar began feeling chronically ill. Dozens of hospital visits couldn't find the ethylene glycol in her system.
Original air date: September 10, 2003
Posted: March 3, 2022
By: Robert S.
Season 8, Episode 21
Dennis Hellar had a history of meeting women through personal ads. When he found an ad in the local Christian newspaper placed by a new resident in his hometown of Perry, Oklahoma, Dennis believed he had found a match. Within a year of meeting Dennis, the recent transplant became Mrs. Carol Hellar. Prior to the couple's marriage, Carol's family had an important conversation with Dennis. They revealed Carol's history of struggling with mental instability, and that she suffered from bipolar disorder. Dennis assured them that his Christian values and love for Carol would overcome these obstacles.
Within months of getting married, Carol Hellar began experiencing odd symptoms, including nausea, drowsiness, slurred speech. She'd been recently put on medication to manage the symptoms of her bipolar disorder, and she believed her symptoms were the side effects. Over the next ten months, Carol paid more than 30 visits to various doctors and hospitals. Physicians would stabilize her and send Carol home, but the problems always returned. Finally convinced that her medication was causing the issues, Carol discontinued its use – despite her doctors' recommendations.
Not long after, 911 operators in Perry got a phone call from Dennis Hellar. He told them his wife was unconscious, and she needed medical attention. Paramedics found Carol in a coma when they arrived, and she was flown 60 miles to hospital facilities in Oklahoma City. Sadly, within an hour of arriving, Carol was pronounced dead. It seemed that she had died from congestive heart failure. But back in Perry, Dennis' behavior suggested another potential cause.
Carol's husband did not seem like a grieving widow. He hadn't been helpful when the medics had arrived to render aid to Carol, and he'd even fallen asleep during her funeral services. When investigators dug deeper, they found evidence contrary to Carol's established cause of death. But would they be able to build a case from their suspicions? With almost no physical evidence, could they solicit a confession from Dennis?
The Facts
Case Type: Crime
Crime
- Murder
Date & Location
- June, 1995
- Perry, Oklahoma
Victim
- Carol Hellar (Age: 52)
Perpetrator
- Dennis Hellar (Age: 53)
Weapon
- Poison: Ethylene glycol (Antifreeze)
Watch Forensic Files: Season 8, Episode 21
The Big Chill
The Evidence
Forensic Evidence
- Recorded narrative: Perpetrator
- Report: Pathology
Forensic Tools/Techniques
- Gas chromatography
Usual Suspects
No Evil Geniuses Here ?
- None occurred in this episode
Cringeworthy Crime Jargon ?
- None uttered in this episode
File This Under... ?
- Keep it in the family
The Experts
Forensic Experts
- None featured in this episode
Quotable Quotes
- "She [Carol] was looking for a Christian, male person who could take charge of household finances, and Dennis was the one that answered the ad." - Sandra K. Piearcy: Carol’s Sister
- "She’d get to the hospital, and they’d stabilize her, and they’d just determine that they either had solved the problem or couldn’t figure out what the problem was, and they’d send her home, and a month later it would start again, and it would happen again." - Mark Gibson: Prosecutor
- "When the ambulance crew arrived at his home, Dennis was on the couch on the telephone. When they walked in, he did not acknowledge them nor did he speak to them. They asked him what room she was in, and he did not respond. And so they went looking through their apartment and found Carol unconscious in a coma on the bed." - Russell Busby: Detective
- "That’s a strange way to commit suicide. I don’t know anybody that’s going to poison themselves with ethylene glycol or arsenic or anything, and make themselves repeatedly ill for nine or ten months to kill themselves." - Alphonse Poklis, PhD: Forensic Toxicologist
- "At least on 13 different occasions, Dennis Hellar would talk to people about antifreeze and the effects it would have on you if you drank it. One of the common things he would say, and it seems like this was always out of context, I’m not sure what context discussing antifreeze poisoning would be appropriate, but people would say, ‘We were talking, and Dennis just came up with a statement: Did you know that one teaspoon of antifreeze taken every day for ten days will kill you?’" - Russell Busby: Detective
- "He [Dennis] did say to the investigators that it only takes one person on a jury with reasonable doubt, and slow poisoning is hard to prove." - Mary Ellen Cooper: Author, Slow Death...
Last Words
I often need to locate additional information about a case to round out the specifics each data-driven episode posting requires. I like to find articles from around the time of the crime, so this AP News article from 1997 by Kelly Kurt seemed appropriate. But interestingly, several of the key elements differed between this episode and the article:
- The number of times Carol Hellar visited the hospital was 28 in the article, but the episode cited 31.
- The month Dennis Hellar was in jail and his wife Carol didn't go to the hospital was given as April 1995, but the episode specified March.
- The article explained that Dennis put the antifreeze in Carol's drinks, but the episode indicated his confession was that he'd put it in her food.
While I don't believe these details overshadow the callousness of Dennis Hellar's crime, one wonders where the facts truly lie. A reaction to a bad situation often can result in a crime – anything from assault to murder. The heat of the moment can blind an enraged person to the future consequences of their action. But to slowly poison your partner, to watch them suffer, and to choose day after day, month after month to continue dosing her with a deadly chemical? That's truly evil.
We've come a long way from knowing Carol's mental health state as "manic depression". Her sister said that Carol seemed to manage her depressive states well, but experienced difficulty with mania. With an updated understanding, I wonder if she'd have been classified with bipolar I or cyclothymia disorder. Lithium has long been prescribed for management of the symptoms of bipolar disorder. It can take a few weeks feel the benefits, and lithium can have some side effects. Unfortunately in Carol's case, its side effects mirrored some of the same symptoms of slow poisoning by ethylene glycol. Knowing of Carol's long term struggles with mental health, I'm curious if doctors had prescribed lithium or other medications before her marriage to Dennis.
Based on the timing of Carol's hospital visits, it was only months after the couple's marriage that Dennis began poisoning his wife. I'm not entirely convinced of his motive though. In terms of assets, Carol had more than Dennis, but not much. But perhaps someone as cruel as Dennis didn't need much motivation. Regard that when paramedics responded to his 911 call, he didn't even acknowledge them. When the medics asked where Carol was, Dennis ignored them – they had to locate her on their own. And then as the husband of the deceased, Dennis sat several rows behind Carol's family during her funeral and was reported to have been dozing off. One would think Dennis would try to cover up his perceivable role in his wife's murder.
But like most of our criminals, Dennis wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. Further failing to cover his tracks, Dennis was witnessed by the manager of the couple's apartment complex doing some strange things the day before the murder. He exercised no secrecy when he burned a load of paper, presumably Carol Hellar's, in an outdoor grill. He was also seen carrying boxes of items to a nearby dumpster – evidence easily identified as Carol's personal effects. Perhaps not suspicious, but the apartment manager witnessed these events the day before Carol's death.
With Carol's history of mental instability, Dennis' defense attorney could make the assertion that his wife poisoned herself with antifreeze. Torturing herself for ten months by ingesting small amounts of ethylene glycol and repeatedly visiting doctors for relief of her symptoms would be a very atypical method of suicide. Dennis himself suggested this to investigators and Carol's sisters when a half-empty container of antifreeze was located in the couple's kitchen pantry. Dr. Danny Cassidy indicated the right type of test that could (and did) reveal the answer Carol had been seeking for nine months. This test result was likely seen by the doctors in Ponca City at least a week or two before Carol's death. Communication in 1995 sadly didn't allow for rapid transmission of these results, otherwise it's reasonable to think Carol's personal physician in Perry might've learned of them in time to intervene.
According to investigators, Dennis often mentioned, "one teaspoon of antifreeze taken every day for ten days will kill you." This is a strange non sequitur in almost every conversation. But if this is the case, why did it take Dennis nearly a year to execute his plan? Was he simply inconsistent, or was he vile enough to get pleasure from seeing his wife suffer? Based on how oblivious he was of the steps to cover his tracks, I don't think Dennis was establishing a narrative of a long-suffered illness leading to a natural death – though this was initially cited as Carol's cause.
Dennis' girlfriend Karen aided the investigation by wearing a recording device and getting Dennis to confess to poisoning Carol Hellar. This was brave, and hopefully Karen's role in aiding the prosecution was rewarded. To me, the information about and photo of the 'cheerleader outfit' was an unnecessarily gratuitous aspect of the episode. It made for an enticing sound bite, but I have to imagine Karen was potentially embarrassed to have to wear the outfit. In my opinion, this made no contribution to the investigation's outcome. One wonders why Karen associated with a loser such as Dennis Hellar. She was his adulterous girlfriend over the course of Dennis' marriage to Carol. Did she even know Dennis was already married? The promise of a marriage may have encouraged Karen – I wonder if she knew the wedding rings she was trying on were someone else's.
A couple of parting questions to ponder in this case:
- Carol had been diagnosed bipolar for quite a while, long before her relationship with Dennis. It's likely she'd been prescribed medication before, maybe even lithium. So why suspect this psychotropic medication might be the cause of her symptoms?
- The Oklahoma City bombing in April 1995 was an incredible tragedy. The 168 victims created a backlog for the medical examiner. It was claimed this was among the reasons Carol did not receive an autopsy. But why would the ME have a six-week backlog? Additional resources couldn't be requested from nearby cities/states?
- Three months before Carol's murder, Dennis Hellar was in jail in Oklahoma City for 30 days for shoplifting. During this month, Carol Hellar did not visit the hospital. Shouldn't this period of separation without incident been a cause to wonder if Dennis had something to do with her recurring illness?
Where is Dennis Hellar now in 2024?
It seems that Dennis Hellar was discharged from prison after serving 14 years for first-degree manslaughter in the slow poisoning of his wife Carol Hellar with ethylene glycol (antifreeze). This occurred in late November 2012, just days after his 68th birthday. Dennis Hellar then died almost immediately after his release. (Thanks! @Files2023)
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Robert S.
I've been a fan of Forensic Files since the show's inception, and it is still my favorite true crime series. I have seen every episode several times, and I am considered an expert on the series and the cases it covers.- Unholy Alliance (s10e24) Posted: December 24, 2023
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