The Murder of Bob Crane

Bob Crane — the actor best known for playing Colonel Robert Hogan in the long-running CBS sitcom "Hogan's Heroes" — was found beaten to death in his Scottsdale, Arizona apartment on June 29, 1978. He had been struck repeatedly in the head with a blunt instrument while sleeping, and an electrical cord had been tied around his neck after death. Crane had been starring in a dinner theater production locally and was found by his co-star and acquaintance. Despite a brutal and bloody crime scene, no murder weapon was ever recovered, and the case went unsolved for over a decade.

Investigation revealed an uncomfortable dimension of Crane's private life: despite his wholesome public persona, he had an obsessive interest in amateur pornographic filmmaking and had relationships with numerous women, many of whom appeared in homemade recordings he catalogued and kept. Crane's primary co-conspirator in this lifestyle was John Henry Carpenter, a video equipment salesman who had befriended Crane through their shared interest. Carpenter was in Scottsdale the night of the murder and left quickly the following morning. Years later, a criminologist analyzing photographs taken in Carpenter's rental car found what appeared to be a small fragment of biological material.

Scottsdale police arrested Carpenter in 1992, nearly fourteen years after the murder. The trial hinged on the forensic evidence — specifically that stain in the car — and testimony about the nature of Crane and Carpenter's relationship, including the suggestion that Crane had been trying to distance himself from Carpenter before the murder. The jury acquitted Carpenter in 1994, finding the evidence insufficient. Carpenter maintained his innocence and died in 1998.

Bob Crane's murder has never been officially solved. The case is notable not only for its Hollywood dimension but for how it illustrated the difficulty of prosecuting circumstantial cases two decades after the crime, when key evidence degrades and memories fade. Paul Schrader's 2002 film "Auto Focus" dramatized Crane's life and the investigation. As of 2025, the Scottsdale Police Department considers the case officially open, and Crane's family has continued to advocate for renewed investigative attention.