So was Helen actually the one committing the murders? [SPOILERS]

I've seen some theories suggest she was possessed while others say Candyman was in fact the killer but Helen was framed after each murder. I'm having a hard time drawing my own conclusion based on a few things that occurred in the film.

There were three occurrences where only one person was present in the room. These being the babysitter towards the beginning of the movie, the little boy in the bathroom, and Helen's husband at the very end of the movie. This brings up another question as to whether Candyman possesses a power to cause people to either kill or harm themselves? One of these occurrences (the little boy in the bathroom) suggests that someone or something was seen outside of the assault itself, which caused the sole witness to go into complete shock.

Another reason I'm not completely sold on Helen committing these murders is the state of the bodies upon murder. For the most part each victim is gutted (Bernie and the psychiatrist) while the dog is decapitated. The suggested murder weapon for Bernie is a kitchen knife, we weren't given much of an idea of what could've been used in the psychiatrist's office, and for the dog a meat cleaver. Given what we saw it just wasn't plausible to me that these weapons could carve up bodies the way they were left. They were just too narrow in scope compared to something like a hook that could go deeper and spread wider.

This all brings me back to my original question: is Candyman an actual "being" that transcends into the physical world to commit these murders or does so vicariously through someone else?