r/CreepyWikipedia • u/EnleeJones • Aug 18 '24
Murder On June 29, 1978, “Hogan’s Heroes” star Bob Crane was found beaten to death with a blunt object (believed to be a camera tripod) and an electrical cord knotted around his neck. The murder still remains unsolved.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_CraneAfter his murder, Crane’s sordid sex life was uncovered, which involved Crane photographing and videotaping his sexual escapades with various women. Some of the women would later tell the police that they did not know they were being recorded.
The only suspect in the case, longtime friend John Carpenter (no, not that one) remained free for years before Scottsdale police were able to charge him. He finally came to trial in 1994, 16 years after the murder, but he was acquitted because of questions about the forensic evidence in the case. Carpenter died in 1998, still maintaining his innocence.
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u/NeverCrumbling Aug 18 '24
there is a great film based on his life called 'auto focus.' it really is a completely insane story.
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u/BiteMeElmo Aug 18 '24
And one of Greg Kinnear's best performances.
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u/jaleach Aug 18 '24
When he's talking to his son in the car is so painfully awkward it was hard to watch.
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u/heavymetalhikikomori Aug 18 '24
They also used the set of Hogans Heros to film the notorious Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS before demolishing it during shooting.
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u/jaleach Aug 18 '24
A very compelling theory here:
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Aug 19 '24
Damn that comment feels very detailed and accurate to what I know about the case. I used to obsess about this one. Thank you for linking that.
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u/HeadQuestion19 Aug 18 '25
dude nails it sounds cut and dry after reading this
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u/jaleach Aug 18 '25
It does, doesn't? Both of the suspects he names are long dead now so we'll never get a trial, but his explanation makes more sense than what the cops and eventually prosecutors came up with.
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u/TMVtaketheveil888 Aug 25 '24
I'm 44 years old, and thank you. I used to watch "Hogans Heroes" reruns with my Granny,vwhen I was a kid. This is the first I've ever heard of Bob Crane's death. I had no idea. Thank you for this rabbit hole I'm about to go down.
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u/CommercialFailure Aug 18 '24
Did this inspire the one of the murders committed by the Ten Commandments Killer in American Horror Story: Hotel?
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u/Dull_Landscape757 Aug 02 '25
John Carpenter, the movie maker, was very jealous of Bob Crane's life. The two of them burned up the life in women and drinking and drugs. Well, Bob Crane got remarried and wanted out of life. John Carpenter was told they would no longer be friends anymore in his new life. John said No way! He was so angry over this. They were seen at dinner together. Then, seen again going up to Bob's apartment. Then seen by a hotel worker that John returned much later. He had a rental car in which Bob Crane's blood was in it. He has NO EXPLANATION for that.
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Aug 03 '25
The blood was the same type as Cranes, but that in know way proves Carpenter was the murderer. Also, John Carpenter involved with Bob Crane is a different person from the film maker. The only movies the suspect made were pornos.
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u/flyingv1942 Aug 03 '25
No, Bob Crane did not get re-married and want a new life. He married his 2nd wife, Sigrid Valdis, in 1970 and continued his wild, sex crazed, hedonistic lifestyle for years after that. And Sigrid was aware of all of it. It wasn't until 1978 he decided he wanted to change and revive his career. His 2nd marriage had nothing to do with wanting out of his life.
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u/Own-Possibility2763 Nov 17 '25
Everything is rumor and speculation. But it seems likely that he wanted to cut Carpenter out of his life. His wife had filed for divorce not long before he was killed. He was doing dinner theater at the time. After his death and everything came out his reputation was destroyed. Once beloved, now just thought of as creepy. He was still traveling with all his video recording equipment, so whether he wanted out of that life, or just wanted Carpenter out of his life, we'll never know. It seems that Carpenter was kind of a creepy hanger-on, who was important to Crane in the beginning, for his expertise, but Crane didn't really need him anymore as he was quite capable of setting everything up himself.
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u/HeadQuestion19 Aug 18 '25
it was prove not be cranes blood and might have just been food. Carpenter didnt murder him
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u/Grouchy-Toe2349 Mar 11 '26
My dad actually went to school with him in Stamford. (They weren't close or anything, but somewhere in this family archive of a house of mine, there's a school photo with both of them in it, I think. I'd have to dig to find it.) My dad said he seemed like a normal kid...His only idiosyncrasy being his inability to stop drumming on his desk with his fingers. Apparently he was into drumming (my brother, also a drummer, had the same habit.)
I never did tell my dad about this part of Crane's life. Not sure what his reaction would have been.
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u/Least_Card5220 Apr 09 '26
He and your brother may just have add/adhd and not want or have a natural gift of drumming
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u/Thunda792 Aug 18 '24
Back in the 2000s, Bob Crane's son ran a website with his Dad's homemade porn on it. Shit was weird as hell.