Unscripted — Who Killed Bob Crane? offers first-hand accounts from Crane biographers
Staff Reports | Digital Free Press
The brutal murder of Bob Crane made front-page headlines in June 1978 when the actor’s bludgeoned body was found in a guest condo where he stayed while performing at the Windmill Dinner Theater in Scottsdale.
The answers to what happened that night went unanswered for 14 years until one man was charged with the crime. But at trial, that suspect was found not guilty, once again leaving the question: who killed Bob Crane?
Mr. Crane’s career began in radio in Upstate New York and Connecticut before getting his big break at KNX radio in Hollywood, where his unique and charming style garnered interviews with A-list celebrities of the day.
At the same time, he acted in popular television series including the Dick Van Dyke and Donna Reed shows. Then, he was called to audition for the role that would gain him worldwide fame — the wise cracking Col. Robert Hogan in Hogan’s Heroes.
The comedy series ran for six seasons from 1965 to 1971 and, to this day, it airs in syndication.
But the shocking circumstances of his murder and his secret lifestyle drew widespread media coverage.
It was discovered that Mr. Crane, 49 years old at the time of his death, was a sex addict who filmed many of his liaisons along the way. In fact, at the condo where he was killed, police found several pieces of video recording equipment, and the missing murder weapon was suspected to be a camera tripod.
Theories on motive for the murder range from jealousy, to vengeance, to the recovery of a “black bag” that Mr. Crane reportedly kept with him containing compromising photographs, some allegedly including prominent people.
In the episode of APB Cold Case audio podcast titled, ‘Unscripted,’ explores Bob’s personal life, the events leading up to his death, the grisly crime scene, and the aftermath of it all with interviews from two Crane biographers – Carol M. Ford and Linda Groundwater.
