Bob Crane

Last Updated on June 24, 2026

Bob Crane was a famous actor and star of Hogan’s Heroes who was murdered.

He was found bludgeoned to death in his apartment by co-star Victoria Berry, another member of Hogan’s Heroes cast, after he failed to turn up to a lunch meeting.

Over 40 years later, Bob Crane’s murder remains unsolved, and the investigation revealed that he led a sordid private life.

Bob Crane was married to Patricia Annette Olson, but evidence of relations with other women was discovered during the investigation.

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Murder

On June 29th 1978, Bob Crane’s body was found in his bed.

He had been bludgeoned to death with a blunt object as he slept and was found with an electrical cord around his neck.

Bob Crane’s Hogan’s Heroes co-star, Victoria Berry, discovered the crime scene and called the police.

She came to his apartment after he failed to turn up to a lunch meeting.

Bob Crane was nude and found in his bed with two blows to the head as cause of death.

There were no signs of forced entry.

Crane’s killer wiped the murder weapon on the sheet and pulled the sheet up over his head before leaving the apartment. 

Controversy

The investigation revealed that Bob Crane was a sex addict.

Police found Bob Crane had sex tapes he had recorded of him having sex with numerous women.

Bob Crane enjoyed porn but he also made his own porn videos.

It was later discovered that only some of the women had consented to the videos being recorded.

A number of women were only made aware when they were contacted by investigators into his death.

Bob Crane had a number of sex photos with various women that were believed to have been taken with John Carpenter.

John was a traveling salesman and would schedule his business trips around Bob’s touring schedule to meet, film, and photograph women.

His son Robert covers more information about the personal life of Bob Crane in Crane: Sex, Celebrity, and My Father’s Unsolved Murder (AD*)

Investigation

The investigation was carried out by the Scottsdale Police Department.

The crime scene offered little help to them as there was no sign of forced entry, nothing was taken from his home and no murder weapon was left next to his body.

Police investigated and interviewed John Carpenter after seeing him on the videotapes found in the property.

They were suspicious as he told police that he had been shown a book of pornography, photographed by Bob.

This book was not found by police and a camera tripod was also missing.

Victoria had seen Crane’s black bag when she discovered the body but this also went missing.

Police discovered that the house was not secure, a door had been left unlocked on the night of Bob Crane’s death.

The police discovered blood in Carpenter’s car.

The blood was the same blood type as Crane but it wasn’t conclusive that it was his. 

At this time, DNA testing was not advanced enough to be matched to Crane.

The evidence was re-examined in Who Killed Bob Crane? The Final Close-Up (AD*)

Investigation Mistakes

There were a number of mistakes that impeded the investigation into Bob Crane’s death.

The police failed to secure the crime scene because his friend and co-star, Victoria, was allowed into the apartment.

She entered multiple times to answer the telephone to John Carpenter. 

The Medical Examiner shaved his head to examine the wound and climbed over him to do so. 

Photographs in evidence show what looks like DNA evidence (human tissue) on the main suspect Carpenter’s rented car.

The evidence is either missing or was not collected by the forensics team.

Arrest and Trial

Scottsdale police charged John Carpenter with the murder of Bob Crane in 1992 and he went to trial in 1994.

Bob’s son Robert testified that he had motive as his father wanted to end the relationship with him.

He testified that Bob had called John on the night before the murder to end their friendship.

The prosecution argued that he had beaten Bob to death with the tripod consequently the blood had transferred from the weapon. 

They presented a photograph that they claimed showed brain tissue, the photo was taken from inside Carpenter’s car.

Carpenter’s defense argued that their case was circumstantial and they had no evidence, weapon and discredited the tissue photograph.

Did John Carpenter kill Bob Crane?

John Henry Carpenter was acquitted due to a lack of forensic evidence linking him to the murder.

John Carpenter was still considered the prime suspect of the killing of Bob Crane until his death in September 1998.

Many believe that we will never discover who killed Bob Crane.

Suspects

John Carpenter remains a suspect in the murder of Bob Crane.

Other suspects include women who later discovered that they were recorded without their consent.

Many of the women that they had sex with and photographed/videoed were married.

It could have been the husband of a woman who had relations with Bob that killed him.

Robert Crane also suggested that Bob’s wife, Patricia Olson, could have been involved in his death, as she was the only person included in his will.

Investigation – 2000s

The blood samples were retested in 2016 using new, advanced DNA testing methods.

They revealed two new DNA profiles, neither of which was a match for Bob Crane.

One was an unknown male, and one was inconclusive as it had degraded.

There is no longer any DNA available for testing, as the samples were used up with these tests.

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