unsolved murders and mysteries

Bob Crane

Bob Crane is most commonly known for his role as Colonel Robert E. Hogan in the sitcom Hogan's Heroes, but he is also known for the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death. Crane was living in the Winfield Place Apartments in Scottsdale, Arizona in June of 1978. During this time he was acting at the Windmill Dinner Theater in his play Beginner's Luck. On June 29th however, luck was not on Crane's side and his co-star, Victoria Ann Berry discovered his body in his Winfield Place Apartment. Berry was supposed to be meeting Crane for lunch but when he didn't show up for the meeting she went to his apartment in search of him.

When Bob Crane was found he had an electrical cord tied around his neck and had been bludgeoned to death. Investigators never did find the weapon that had been used to bludgeon him, but they suspect that it had been a camera tripod. A friend of Crane's, John Henry Carpenter fell under suspicion at the time; however, since DNA testing did not exist at the time and insufficient evidence was present, no charges were filed against him. According to reports though, Carpenter had called Crane's apartment multiple times and when he showed up there he was not surprised that the police were on the scene. This made investigators suspicious and they had Carpenters car impounded. Inside the car, the police found blood which matched Bob Crane's blood type but with no DNA testing at the time it was not possible to determine whether it was Crane's blood or not. No one was charged with the murder.

In 1990 Maricopa County reopened the murder case and were able to retest the blood samples retrieved from Carpenter's car. The DNA testing was inconclusive, but a detective on the case found a picture of what he believed to be brain tissue in the car. The detectives on the case hoped that this would be enough to indict Carpenter for Crane's murder and in June of 1992 Carpenter was arrested and charged with murder. An Arizona judge ruled that despite the evidence being lost, there was enough evidence to try Carpenter. Carpenter was eventually found not guilty and maintained his innocence until his death in 1998. With Carpenter cleared, Bob Crane's death remains unsolved.