Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Life of Bob Crane Part II

Trial

At the 1994 trial, Crane's son Roberttestified that in the weeks before his father's death, Crane hadrepeatedly expressed a desire to sever his friendship with Carpenter.He said that Carpenter had become "a hanger-on" and"a nuisance to the point of being obnoxious". "Mydad expressed that he just didn't need Carpenter kind of hangingaround him anymore," he said. Robert testified that Cranehad called Carpenter the night before the murder and ended theirfriendship.

Carpenter's attorneys attacked theprosecution's case as circumstantial and inconclusive. They presentedevidence that Carpenter and Crane were still the best of friends,including witnesses from the restaurant where the two men had dinedthe evening before the murder. They noted that the murder weapon hadnever been identified nor found; the prosecution's camera tripodtheory was sheer speculation, they said, based solely on Carpenter'soccupation. They disputed the claim that the newly discoveredevidence photo showed brain tissue, and presented many examples of"sloppy work" by police, such as the mishandlingand misplacing of evidence—including the crucial tissue sampleitself. They pointed out that Crane had been videotaped andphotographed in sexual relations with numerous women, implying thatany one of them might have been the killer. Other potential suspectsproposed by defense attorneys included angry husbands and boyfriendsof the women, and an actor who had sworn vengeance after a violentargument with Crane in Texas several months earlier.

Carpenter was acquitted, and hecontinued to maintain his innocence until his death in 1998. Afterthe trial, Robert Crane speculated publicly that Olson, his father'swidow, might have had a role in instigating the crime. "Nobodygot a dime out of [the murder]," he said, "exceptfor one person," alluding to Crane's will, which excludedhim, his siblings, and his mother, with the entire estate left toOlson. He repeated his suspicions in the 2015 book Crane: Sex,Celebrity, and My Father's Unsolved Murder. Maricopa County DistrictAttorney Rick Romley responded, "We never characterized Pattyas a suspect," adding "I am convinced John Carpentermurdered Bob Crane." Officially, Crane's murder remainsunsolved.

Later DNA testing

In November 2016, the Maricopa CountyAttorney's Office permitted Phoenix television reporter John Hook tosubmit the 1978 blood samples from Carpenter's rental car forretesting, using a more advanced DNA technique than the one used in1990. Two sequences were identified, one from an unknown male, andthe other too degraded to reach a conclusion. This testing consumedall of the remaining DNA from the rental car, making further testsimpossible. Authorities tried to get DNA samples from Crane andCarpenter's remains, but their families refuse permission to exhumethem.

Auto Focus

Crane's life and murder were thesubject of the 2002 film Auto Focus, directed by Paul Schrader andstarring Greg Kinnear as Crane. The film, based on a book on Crane'smurder written by Zodiac author Robert Graysmith, was described as"brilliant" by critic Roger Ebert. The film portraysCrane as a happily married, church-going family man and popular LosAngeles disc jockey, who succumbs to Hollywood's celebrity lifestyleafter becoming a television star. When he meets Carpenter, played byWillem Dafoe, and as a result of their friendship learns aboutthen-new home video technology, he descends into a life of stripclubs, BDSM, and sex addiction.

Crane's son with Olson, Scotty,challenged the film's accuracy in an October 2002 review. "Duringthe last twelve years of his life," he wrote, "[Crane]went to church three times: when I was baptized, when his fatherdied, and when he was buried." His son further stated thatCrane was a sex addict long before he became a star, and that he mayhave begun recording his sexual encounters as early as 1956. Therewas no evidence, he said, that Crane engaged in BDSM; there were nosuch scenes in any of his hundreds of home movies, and Schraderadmitted that the film's BDSM scene was based on his own experience(while writing Hardcore). Before production on Auto Focus wasannounced, Scotty and Olson had shopped a rival script alternativelytitled F-Stop or Take Off Your Clothes and Smile, but interest ceasedafter Auto Focus was announced.

In June 2001, Scotty launched thewebsite bobcrane.com. It included a paid section featuringphotographs, outtakes from his father's sex films, and Crane'sautopsy report that proved, he said, that his father did not have apenile implant as stated in Auto Focus. The site was renamed "BobCrane: The Official Web Site", but is now abandoned. The"official" Bob Crane website was maintained by CMGWorldwide. The website no longer exists.

Filmography

Film

1961 Return to Peyton Place

1961 Man-Trap

1964 The New Interns

1968 The Wicked Dreams of PaulaSchultz

1972 Patriotism

1973 Superdad

1976 Gus

Television

1953 General Electric Theater:Episode: "Ride the River"

1959 Picture Window

1961 The Twilight Zone: Episode:"Static"

1961 General Electric Theater:Episode: "The $200 Parlay"

1962 The Dick Van Dyke Show: Episode:"Somebody Has to Play Cleopatra"

1963 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour:Segment: "The Thirty-First of February"

1963 Channing: Episode: "AHall Full of Strangers"

1963–65 The Donna Reed Show

1965–71 Hogan's Heroes

1966 The Lucy Show: Episode: "Lucyand Bob Crane"

1966 Password

1967 The Green Hornet: Episode:"Corpse of the Year, Part 1"

1967 The Red Skelton Show: Episode:"Freddie's Heroes"

1969 Arsenic and Old Lace

1969 Love, American Style: Episode:"Love and the Modern Wife"

1971 Love, American Style: Episode:"Love and the Logical Explanation"

1971 Love, American Style: Episode:"Love and the Waitress"

1971 The Doris Day Show: Episode: "AndHere's... Doris"

1971 Night Gallery: Episode: "House– with Ghost"

1972 The Delphi Bureau

1974 Tenafly: Episode: "ManRunning"

1974 Tattletales

1974 Police Woman: Episode: "Requiemfor Bored Wives'

1975 The Bob Crane Show

1976 Joe Forrester: Episode: "TheInvaders"

1976 Ellery Queen: Episode: "TheAdventure of the Hardhearted Huckster"

1976 Spencer's Pilots: Episode: "TheSearch"

1976 Gibbsville: Episode: "Trapped"

1977 Quincy, M.E.: Episode: "HasAnybody Here Seen Quincy?"

1977 The Hardy Boys/Nancy DrewMysteries: Episode: "A Haunting We Will Go"

1978 The Love Boat: Episode: "TooHot to Handle/Family Reunion/Cinderella Story", (finalappearance)

Awards and nominations

1966 Primetime Emmy Award: OutstandingLead Actor in a Comedy Series--Hogan's Heroes-Nominated

1967 Primetime Emmy Award: OutstandingLead Actor in a Comedy Series--Hogan's Heroes-Nominated