Recently, I watched some old reruns of an old classic comedy called Hogan’s Heroes, which aired from 1965 to 1971. The show developed a following during its original run. It seemed impossible to find anything funny about a WWII German prison camp. However, Albert Ruddy and Bernard Fein managed to pull it off.

In addition to its great cast, Hogan’s Heroes also had great scripts. POW Colonel Robert Hogan was the main character while incompetent German soldiers Colonel Wilhelm Klink and Sergeant Hans Schultz ran the prison camp. Prior to Hogan’s Heroes, Bob Crane was a relatively unknown actor. As well as being an accomplished drummer, he was a popular radio broadcaster. He was once called the “king of the Los Angeles airwaves.”

Crane became a household name during his time on Hogan’s Heroes. He had an affair with his co-star Patricia Olson (AKA Sigrid Valdis), who played Hilda, Klink’s secretary. Crane divorced his childhood sweetheart and married Olson.

Hogan’s Heroes co-star Richard Dawson introduced Crane to Sony Electronics’ video expert John Henry Carpenter. He was the guy celebrities went to for quality video equipment. An unusual friendship developed between Carpenter and Crane. The men frequented bars and clubs seeking attractive women. Afterwards, the men filmed themselves having sex with the women.

After Hogan’s Heroes, Crane struggled to find work in television or movies. In Scottsdale, Arizona, he performed at the Windmill Dinner Theatre in a program called Beginner’s Luck. Crane stayed in room 132A at Winfield Apartments (now Winfield Condominiums).

Eventually, Crane must have grown tired of his lifestyle. He decided to make some changes after his second marriage had ended. The changes included ending his friendship with Carpenter. The elder Crane had described Carpenter as a leach to his son, Bob Crane Jr.

Earlier in the night, Crane had been seen with Carpenter. Crane had told Carpenter that he wanted to end their friendship and make changes in his life. Several hours later, on June 29, 1978, actress Victoria Ann Berry arrived at Crane’s apartment. After he hadn’t shown up for a lunch meeting, she became concerned.

The horror scene Berry walked into would be worse than any horror film. When she entered Crane’s bedroom, she found him lying in bed. Blood soaked his pillowcase. Someone had beaten Crane to death and then strangled with an electrical cord.

Crane’s funeral was held on July 5, 1978. He was buried in Los Angeles’s St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church. Patricia Olson, his former wife, had him reburied at Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles. Olson was buried next to him after she died on October 14, 2007.

John Henry Carpenter was the main suspect for years. Crane was last seen with him shortly before his death. He was said to have been angry with Crane for ending their friendship. Despite the presence of blood evidence at the scene, DNA technology did not exist in 1978. Carpenter was charged with Crane’s murder nearly 20 years after the homicide. Acquitted in 1994, Carpenter died four years later in 1998.

Bob Crane Jr. has publicly stated that his stepmother Patricia Olson may have been involved in his father’s death. He wrote Crane: Sex, Celebrity, and My Father’s Unsolved Murder about his father’s homicide. In November 2016, a Phoenix reporter named John Hook was permitted to retest DNA using modern technology.

The samples weren’t of much use. One sample belonged to an unknown man, while the other was too degraded to identify a suspect. Hook also wrote a book about Crane’s murder titled “Who Killed Bob Crane? The Final Close-Up.” It’s a well-written book. Hook was confident that he could solve the case and find Crane’s killer. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to share any significant news with surviving family members.

Currently, Crane’s homicide remains one of the most disturbing cold cases involving a celebrity. It is unlikely that we will ever get the truth since Patricia Olson and John Henry Carpenter are both deceased. Alternatively, I have read that a jealous husband or boyfriend may have killed Crane.

However, it seems unlikely. Actor Bob Crane was killed by a person who wanted to make sure he was dead. The killer was probably someone Crane knew well, as there wasn’t a forced entry. Since Crane was killed nearly 50 years ago, his killer is probably deceased. Greg Kinnear portrayed Crane in the 2002 film Auto-Focus. The case of Crane remains cold and is unlikely to be solved.

Marc is a longtime resident of Clermont County and an avid reader. Contact him through his website at www.themarcabe.com. Marc also has a podcast called Catch My Killer where he interviews family members seeking justice for their murdered loved ones. You can listen at www.catchmykiller.com.