The Murder of Actor Bob Crane
Bob Crane was a charismatic American actor and radio personality best known for his starring role as Colonel Robert Hogan in the popular 1960s TV sitcom Hogan’s Heroes. The show, which aired from 1965 to 1971, was a comedic take on World War II prisoners of war, and Crane’s performance earned him widespread recognition.
Off-screen, Crane led a complicated personal life. Known for his charm and good looks, he was socially active and became deeply involved in the emerging home videotaping scene. He often filmed himself during sexual encounters with various women, a private hobby that later drew media attention and complicated his public image.
On June 29, 1978, Crane’s body was found in his apartment by his co-star Victoria Ann Berry, who went to look for him after he didn’t show up for a lunch meeting. Crane was killed with an electrical cord and likely struck twice with a camera tripod. The brutality sharply contrasted with the friendly image the actor projected on screen.
Close to Crane was John Henry Carpenter, a friend and videotape equipment salesman who frequently accompanied him during private escapades. Carpenter became the primary suspect after blood evidence was found in his rental car, including what appeared to be brain tissue. Two days before his death, Crane called his oldest son, Robert, to discuss his upcoming divorce from his stepmother, Patti. Crane also acknowledged his desire to distance himself from John Carpenter, who had become difficult to be around. “He wanted a clean slate,” said Robert Crane.
Robert later said that Carpenter became enraged when his father tried to detach him. Several witnesses at a Scottsdale nightclub reported that the argument occurred a few hours before Crane’s death.
DNA testing wasn’t available in 1978, but all signs pointed to Carpenter. Not only did the police know that the pair had been fighting, but there was also no sign of forced entry into Crane’s apartment, which suggested that the victim knew his attacker. Ultimately, the lack of direct evidence kept Carpenter’s guilt unproven.
To make matters worse, the day of the murder, Detective Barry Vassall went to the airport to pick up Robert Crane, attorney Bill Goldstein, and Lloyd Vaughn, Bob Crane’s business manager, and brought them to the scene. According to Robert’s book, “We added our fingerprints, footprints, and hair samples to an already contaminated, lackadaisically investigated, casually considered…murder scene.”
Crane’s second wife, Patricia Olson, whom he planned to divorce, also became a suspect shortly after the burial. Reports indicate that she moved Crane’s body without informing the family and started a website selling her husband’s pornographic photos with her son. Since Olson stood to lose a lot of money in a divorce, the possibility of her being the murderer became plausible. However, once again, there was little or no evidence linking her to the crime.
In 2016, new tests were conducted on the blood samples taken from the crime scene. They revealed the presence of another unidentified male, but it did not lead to any new suspects. Bob’s killer still hasn’t been identified.
Most experts say that the Crane’s family will never have a resolution to their father’s death. The compromised crime scene, missing evidence (e.g., the brain tissue), limitations of DNA analysis at that time, the age of forensic samples, and the death of the two main suspects will always hinder any possibility of pursuing leads to uncover the truth.
It’s always disheartening when justice doesn’t prevail.
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Harper
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