THE AXEMAN COMETH!

Happy Halloween fans! Keeping in line with my scary October theme, today I'm writing about The Axeman!

 

 

Everyone knows who Jack the Ripper was, but far less know the story of the Axeman of New Orleans. Despite the fact that The Axeman had more victims than Jack, and the murders took place at a different time, and in different countries, there are several similarities between the two killers.

 

Both chose a certain type of victim. Jack killed only women while most of the Axeman’s victims were of the both sexes and they were all Italian Americans. Whoa! Now

that really made me sit up and take notice!

Both killers used a blade of some kind and both wrote letters to newspapers. There are so many similarities between the two that police wondered if the Axeman was a “copycat killer,” or maybe it was Jack himself.  I tried to find pictures of these men, but had no luck. I guess they weren't photogenic. :-)

Here's a photograph of the map showing where the murders took place in New Orleans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The story of the Axeman begins in May 1900 when Joseph Maggio and his wife Catherine were killed while sleeping. Their throats cut, and their hands disfigured by an axe. Catherine’s cut was so severe, her head was barely hanging on.

 

The bodies were found the next morning by Joseph’s brother, Andrew. Joseph was apparently still alive, but he died before help could arrive. Police found bloody clothes on the scene and determined that the killer had changed his clothing after murdering the couple. They also found a bloody razor that Maggio had removed from his store two days previously to hone. Due to the blood found on the knife, police concluded that this was the murder weapon. Robbery was quickly discounted as a motive in the killings, as no valuables were taken.

Police suspected Andrew because he find the couple and he also lived next door. The brutal nature of the attacks should have been loud enough to wake Andrew, but he claimed not to have heard anything until the next morning when he checked on a suspicious groaning noise. When questioned, Andrew told the police he was sleeping off a drunken stupor, but he was able to describe a man he saw across the street when he came home. Unable to find any evidence, Andrew was released from custody.

A second attack with all the same markings happened again on June 27th, when Louis Besumer and his lover, Harriet Lowe were attacked in Louis’ bedroom located in the back of his grocery store. Despite being struck by a hatchet in the face, both initially survived and were found by the driver of a delivery truck lying in a pool of blood. Once again, the weapon used in the attack was a hatchet found in Louis’ bathroom. And just like the Maggio case, the weapon belonged to the victim. Robbery was again suspected, but nothing was missing indicating the killer was killing for the sport of it.

Louis survived the attack but Harriet died on August 5th. Before her death, she made several accusations, most of which were contradictory. At first, she claimed that her attacker had been black, and police arrested an employee named Lewis Oubicon. Eventually, he was released because of a lack of evidence. The second claim from Harriet regarding Lewis was she suspected him of being a German spy. This was a highly suspect claim until police found letters in German and other Eastern European countries in his belongings. They arrested him immediately. They wondered if Harriet had somehow found out about his “espionage” and threatened to expose him, at which time he attacked her. After a lengthy trial, Louis was acquitted of murder and espionage, leaving the case unsolved.

On the day Harriet died, Anna Schneider’s husband Edward returned home from work to find her with a scalp wound and several missing teeth. Anna, who was pregnant, survived the attack and was well enough to deliver a baby a week later. She told police that all she remembered was waking from a nap to find a dark figure standing above her.

Edward had an airtight alibi. A few days after the attack, police arrested an ex-con named James Gleason. The only thing Gleason was arrested was because he ran away from police when they tried to question him. He was eventually released. Without any leads, the police began to lean more toward it being a serial killer.

On August 10th, Pauline and Mary Bruno awoke to suspicious sounds coming from their uncle Joseph Romano’s bedroom. Pauline saw a dark figure in the hallway, but could recount no other details The girls found Joseph in his bedroom, covered in blood from two head wounds.  An axe was found in Joseph’s back yard, and although he remained conscious for two days before succumbing to his wounds, Joseph was unable to provide police with any helpful information. Again, nothing had been stolen from the home, although Joseph’s room was in disarray.

 After this attack, a retired police detective, John Dantonio, compared the Axeman killings to a series of murders he investigated in 1911. He told reporters that he suspected that the killer was a normal person with a “Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde” type personality. When combined with the already sensationalized media coverage, Dantonio’s statements terrified all of New Orleans. People began setting up night watches, and several people claimed to have seen the Axeman, although he was described as everything from tall and thin to short and fat; some even claimed that “he” was actually a woman. Other people suggested that the Axeman was actually the Devil or a demon, while others claimed that he was a ghost.

Six months went by with no killings and the city slowly began to relax. This illusion of safety was shattered on March 10th, 1919, when three immigrants, Charles Cortimiglia, his wife Rosie, and their two-year old daughter Mary, were attacked in the suburbs of New Orleans. All had been attacked by an axe and suffered wounds similar to those found in previous attacks. An axe was also found in the Cortimiglia’s back yard. Nothing was stolen and the couple survived the attacks.

 Rosie and Charles survived the attack, but Mary died at the scene. Rosie publicly accused their landlord, Lorlando Jordano, and his son Frank. Charles did not corroborate the story, and despite the fact that Lorlando was 69 years old and in poor health, he and Frank were convicted of murder. Frank was sentenced to death by hanging and Lorlando was sentenced to life in prison. Luckily for them, Rosie recanted her statement a year later and the two were released. Horrified by the false charges that put these men through hell, Charles divorced Rosie. Police were again left without a suspect.

 On March 13th, three days after the attack on the Cortimiglias,  a letter from someone claiming to be the Axeman was printed in the New Orleans Times-Picayune. The letter was addressed to  the readers as “Dear Esteemed Mortal(s),” and went on to explain that the Axeman was in fact a demon, bragging that he would never be caught and not to be surprised about him taking more victims because his work wasn't done. Apparently jealous by the false allegations that appeared in the newspaper, he addresses those taking credit for all of murders and warns the police not to investigate any further.

 

It seemed odd that he would profess his love of jazz, until he promised that anyone playing jazz the next time he flew over the city would be spared. To create fear within the city, he gave the date of his next visit- the following Tuesday at 12:15. 

 

 

Tuesday became a legendary day in New Orleans. The night was filled with upbeat melodies of jazz as every home, restaurant, and club blasted jazz music. One composer even wrote a piece called the The Mysterious Axeman Jazz, which was played throughout the night.

The Axeman appeared appeased by this, because no one was killed that night. In fact, the attacks stopped completely and the city moved on.

 

But all that changed again on August 10th when grocer Steve Boca was attacked by an axe wielding dark figure as he slept. He survived the attack, although he couldn't remember anything beyond vague details. Like with the other attacks, an axe was found, and nothing was taken.

No suspects were named.

On September 3rd, Sarah Laumann, a 19-year-old woman living alone, was found in bed bleeding from a severe head injury and missing several teeth. No axe was found in her back yard, however this time the attack occurred with a blunt object. In addition, Sarah’s attacker entered her room through an open window. Since the M.O. was similar, but not the same as the previous attacks, the police began to suspect it was a “copycat” killer. Unfortunately, when Sarah woke up, she was unable to remember anything about the attack-including what the killer looked like. With no suspects to point to, police attributed the attack to the Axeman.

 The final Axeman attack occurred on October 27th, when Esther Peptitone investigated strange sounds in her husband Mike’s office only to find dead. His wounds were very similar to other killings. What was so interesting to the police was that Esther was strangely calm over the ordeal. When police arrived, Esther told them, “It looks like the Axeman was here and murdered Mike.” She told police she hadn't seen the killer, but an axe was found in her yard pointed toward the Axeman.

 Since the majority of victims were Italian-Americans, police initially suspected that they were mob related, but this was never proven. Police interviewed literally hundreds of people, but aside from those mentioned above, no arrests were ever made. It seemed as if the Axeman truly a demon and able to move at will through New Orleans, killing as he pleased.

 About a year after the attack, however, a posthumous suspect emerged. On December 2nd, 1920, New Orleans’ resident Joseph Mumfre was shot and killed in Los Angeles by none other than Esther Pepitone. She made no attempt to escape and told police that Mumfre was the man responsible for Mike’s death. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but was paroled after three and disappeared from the public eye.

 Several things about Joseph Mumfre pointed toward him as being the Axeman. He'd already served time in prison for another murder. His time in jail and his release coincided with the exact time frame of all the murders and he left New Orleans shortly after Mike Pepitone’s murder. Police wondered if Esther saw him leaving the scene and was calm because she knew what she was going to do to avenge her husband's death.

This story was never proven, however, and there is no record of Esther’s trial or Mumfre’s death. Of course, the records may have been lost over the years since the murders or reported to make people feel better.

To this day, it's never been confirmed who the actual killer was.  Some believed he was actually a demon, but whether you choose to believe this or not is your choice.

 

Thank God we've advance with modern to help  our law enforcement to solve crimes!

 

If you enjoy reading about serial killers/copy cats, you'll enjoy reading Deadly Obsessions available through Amazon.

 

 

To finish out the Halloween theme, next week my post will be about The Little House of Horrors! Thanks for stopping by.

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED AT THE HINTERKAIFECK FARM ON THAT DREADFUL NIGHT?

 

 

 

 

With Halloween only two weeks away, I’m writing about ghoulish unsolved crimes! So lock the doors, pull down the shades and put your fright cap on, because this scary crime is about to begin!

When friends and neighbors living in a small community near the city of Munich hadn't seen Viktoria Gruber of the Hinterkaifeck Farm at church services the week before, they became suspicious and formed a search party to investigate.

 

What they saw inside that barn on that day is still thought of as one of the grizzliest-murders in German history.

The bodies of the mother, father, their daughter Viktoria and granddaughter, were neatly stacked, one on top of the other, covered with hay. When they suddenly realized Viktoria’s youngest son wasn’t among them, the horrified party searched the rest of the farmstead and found him dead in a cot in his mother’s bedroom, and the body of the Gruber’s maid, Maria Baumgartner in her chambers, who’d just begun working for them that day!

 

   

 

 

All had been killed with a Mattack, a tool similar to a pickaxe.

When police arrived on the scene, they noticed several odd things about the case. First, the neighbors reported having seen smoke coming from the chimney over the weekend, although the congealed blood and state of the bodies indicated the killings had happened the previous week.

Surprisingly, in addition to the chimney smoke, all the farm animals had been fed and properly cared for, as well as the family dog who was found tied near the barn, upset but unharmed. Further investigation showed signs of meals having been prepared, and one of the beds appeared to have been slept in.

Because the family was well-off, the police initially suspected robbery, but it was soon discovered that aside from some petty cash missing, no other valuables had been taken-including several gold coins and pieces of jewelry. The very fact that the killer stayed in the house for three or four days after the killings strongly indicated the killer was familiar with the surroundings.

Police also believe that whoever the killer was, he’d managed to lure each family member to the barn independently to murder them. Ultimately, the killings were labeled a “crime of passion.”

Although over 100 suspects were interviewed, police eventually eliminated all but three suspects, and two of them were dead at the time of the murders. The live suspect was one Lorenz Schlittenbauer, who was a neighbor who had allegedly had an affair with Viktoria and was rumored to be the youngest child’s father. It’s possible that Viktoria was considering suing Lorenz for alimony, something he could not afford, mainly because he was married with a child of his own.  

Some circumstantial evidence pointed toward Lorenz’s involvement in the search party and his lack of emotion, shock or otherwise, when the bodies were discovered, something pretty difficult to hide when looking at mutilated. Those present said he calmly unstacked the bodies and when asked why, he’d said he was “looking for his boy.”

The fact that Lorenz was able to expertly lead the search party around the farm, the dog barking furiously whenever he was in sight, made him all the more suspicious. Police questioned Lorenz at length, but without physical evidence, they had to release him.

Grasping at straws, police another suspect was Viktoria’s supposedly deceased husband, Karl Gabriel who had served in the German Army during World War One, and although it was said he was killed during an invasion, his body was never found. Speculation was that he’d made his way back to the farm and upon seeing that his wife had moved on without him, he killed the family in a fit of rage.

 

There are several things about this theory that doesn’t add up. Despite Karl’s comrade’s swearing they saw him get hit by a mine-shell that killed him instantly, it wasn’t unusual for bodies to be missing, never to be found.

 

Now, here’s where the Halloween spirits come to light in this article . . . that is, if you believe in ghosts.

Prior to the murders, Hinterkaifeck experienced some unexplained and paranormal activity. During the previous winter, foot tracks were found leading to the farm from a nearby wooded area, but there were no foot tracks leading back into the woods. It was reported that the family also heard what sounded like footsteps all over the house, but when these were investigated, nothing was found. This is especially odd, considering that some of these footsteps came from the attic. These occurrences spooked the previous maid so much that she fled the farm several months before the murders. In the days leading up to the murder, the father reported missing keys and scratches on one of the barn door locks-almost as if someone or something had been trying to get in.

 

The police obviously did believe in ghosts, so much that they beheaded the bodies and sent them to a clairvoyant in Munich. Nothing was ever found and surprisingly, the heads were never returned..

If you suspend your disbelief a bit, the idea of a supernatural killer doesn't seem all that far-fetched when you consider that the father, Andreas Gruber was a terrible man who was known for beating his wife and children relentlessly. Although no connection with these beatings was ever made, Viktoria is the only one of his children to survive to adulthood.

All this made Hinterkaifeck a place full of negative energy and possibly the site of previous murders. According to legend, this combination makes a place ripe for a haunting. A haunting would certainly explain the noises the family heard in the months leading up to the murder. Could one of the Gruber children have returned from the dead for revenge?  But why kill the entire family?

 

In 2007, the case was reopened by a group of police academy forensic students, but they concluded that the lack of evidence and the time since the murders makes the case nearly unsolvable. They did point to a likely suspect, although the name was withheld from the public report to prevent embarrassing surviving family members. Perhaps someday this information will be released to the public, but even when it is, the identity of the true killer will remain a mystery.

Hinterkaifeck was demolished in 1923, and today, the only thing that remains is an old monument dedicated to the family. Perhaps it’s better that way; it allows the ghosts of Hinterkaifeck farms, whomever they were, to finally rest in peace!

A TRAGIC ENDING - RAPPER, TUPAC

Today, I'm writing about the rapper, Tupac and his shortened life. I do this research for many reasons, one of which is story ideas, and secondly, to entertain you. Although, none of my current mysteries are about a celebrity, don't be surprised if I use something like this in the future.  I hope you find this week's post as interesting as I did.

 

Tupac

1971-1996

 

 

In 1971, Tupac Amaru Shakur (whose birth name was Lesane Parish Crooks), was born in East Harlem, New York to Afeni Shakur and Billy Garland.

 

 Here are two pictures of his parents. The reason I'm showing you these is because they were members of the Black Panther Party, a violent group formed in the 70's when the Black Liberation Army (BLA) would not take  a more direct-and violent-approach against our government.

 

Mom with Tupac                                       

                                                                                                               Dad

 

While the BPP was no stranger to violence, it’s speculated that much of their reputation was fabricated by the FBI and other government agencies--but that's never been proven either way. They had no qualms about committing murder, robberies, prison breaks of several members and were also implicated in bombings. The BPP loved knowing everyone was frightened of them.

Tupac's entire life was centered around violence. His godfather, was convicted of murdering a school teacher (although this was later overturned). Tupac's stepfather, Mutulu, broke his sister out of prison after she killed a New Jersey State Trooper; as a result, he spent four years on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list before being caught in 1986. I remember this occurrence very well, and let me tell you, we were scared. Mutulu was also charged with a robbery of a Brink’s car that resulted in two police officers and a guard being killed. These were very bad people.

 

Despite his background, it appeared as though Tupac's  life was turning around for the better and that he'd escaped the stigma from this violent lifestyle when his family moved to Baltimore in 1986. It was here that Tupac attended The Baltimore School For the Arts, where he acted in everything from Shakespeare plays to The Nutcracker. He also showed a keen interest in poetry and acting, two subjects that would serve him well in his rapping career. While at the school, Tupac and friend Dana “Mouse” Smith won many rap competitions. Tupac was known to have a great sense of humor and was one of the most popular students.

At 17, Tupac moved to California (near San Francisco). He continued to perform in several school plays, and music productions. He was also known for writing powerful and insightful English papers. He even attended poetry classes. Eventually,  Tupac’s love of rap was too strong to resist, and he became a backup dancer for the group named Digital Underground.

Digital Underground

 

In the early 90’s, Tupac began to come into his own as a rapper and took on more of a prominent role in Digital Underground. Doing so garnered so much attention that Tupac was able to release his first solo album, 2Pacalypse Now. While not as popular as later albums, it gained notoriety when a Texas man claimed that its themes of police brutality and oppression influenced him to shoot a state trooper. Even Vice President Dan Quayle publicly denounced the record as “having no place in our society.” Tupac, however, claimed that he had no intention of causing any violence.

But then, Tupac’s childhood came back to haunt him, and he began to engage in violent criminal behaviors. Sadly for this bright young man, he was arrested five times, mostly for assault. One of these incidents, however, resulted in a sexual assault claim. Initially found guilty, Tupac served 120 days in jail before the case was overturned on appeal. Tupac insisted he was innocent of the charge his entire life.

 

 

Over the years, many assault charges resulted from the East Coast-West Coast battle, which killed hundreds of promising rappers (and members of their entourages). Two of the biggest names in the conflict were Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G. (also known as Biggie); the two waged  a public war of words, although the two never came to blows. Tupac, however, wasn't immune to the effects of the conflict, and in 1994 Tupac was shot five times outside Manhattan’s Quad Recording Studios. When the police arrived, they immediately thought it was a robbery, but when they noticed Tupac's Rolex still on his wrist, it was ruled out.

 

Upon recovering, Tupac accused Sean Combs, Jimmy Henchman (a friend of Combs), and Biggie of the shooting.

 

Sean Combs

Biggie Smalls

 

Jimmy Henchman

 

Although no charges were filed, Biggie had an alibi that he and his entourage were in the studio at the time of the attack, and Sean Combs was never charged, but in 2011, Dexter Isaac, a career criminal currently serving a life sentence on unrelated charges, claimed that Jimmy Henchman paid him $2,500 to murder Tupac.

 

Dexter Isaac

 

On September 7th, 1996,  Tupac and his entourage had been watching the Bruce Sheldon vs Mike Tyson boxing match and he was attacked by Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson in the lobby of the MGM Grand hotel. Anderson, a member of the Crips gang. After the assault, Tupac and his entourage left the MGM and headed to Club 662 in a “convoy” made up of several cars.

 

Later, while parked at a stoplight, a white Oldsmobile pulled up next to Tupac’s car and opened fire gangland style hitting him in the chest, pelvis, right hand, and thigh, and one piercing his lung. Rushed to The University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, Tupac was placed on life support. Although his family and friends hoped that surviving the initial shooting would lead to a recovery, Tupac succumbed to internal bleeding on September 13th at the young age of 25.

Being involved with the Cripps, a feared violent gang, the most obvious suspect was Anderson. It’s possible that he decided to exact revenge upon Tupac. Despite this obvious motive, police only interviewed Anderson once before releasing him. Anderson was never charged, and was shot to death two years later.  

 

 

Orlando Tive "Baby Lane" Anderson

 

Several other events on the night of the shooting raise eyebrows. Knight, a passenger in the car  wasn’t directly struck by any of the bullets, despite the fact that 14 shots were fired at the car. While this could be the result of mere luck, it could also be that Tupac’s death was faked and Knight was given superficial injuries to cover it up.

 

No one outside the rapper’s immediate entourage witnessed the shooting, because the street was  relatively empty--a very unusual occurrence in Las Vegas, where the streets are usually packed with cars and entertainers-especially after a large fight like Tyson vs Sheldon. Could this have been related to Tupac’s death? Did a rapper, even a famous rapper like Tupac, have enough pull to empty out a street in Las Vegas?

 

Several pieces of evidence after the shooting don’t add up either sending the speculation force to come out in droves to prove he's still alive. While in the hospital, the only people allowed to see Tupac were medical staff and his mother, which raises the question of whether Tupac was actually in an intensive care unit at all. After his death, the coroner’s report listed Tupac as being 6’0, 215 lbs. According to Tupac’s driver’s license, he was 5’10, 168 lbs. In addition to this, after Tupac was cremated, the person that cremated him retired shortly thereafter, which theorists believe is related to a large payoff from Tupac.

 

Why would Tupac choose to turn away from a life of stardom and begin living anonymously? Several reasons. First, there was the issue of his safety. The East Coast-West Coast battle was still raging at the time of the shooting, and as one of the public faces of West Coast rap, it was only a matter of time before Tupac was attacked again. After coming so close to dying  in Manhattan, it’s possible that Tupac realized his own mortality and decided to disappear before his luck ran out?

 

My belief is that this bright young man didn't stand a chance, and the loss of his life ended dramatically.

 

There’s the lifestyle he was living. Although he was rich and famous, he was constantly involved in violent activities and had huge entourages that followed him everywhere. Being constantly followed and having to defend himself could have quickly exhausted Tupac. When combined with the way he was raised, Tupac may have just been in search of some long awaited peace and quiet.

At the end of the day, Tupac was a rapper and a poet, and like most artists, it was an integral part of Tupac’s personality; he literally couldn't live without producing art, which means even after faking his death, Tupac would most likely continue to make music. Unbelievably, he has done exactly that-since his death, Tupac has released 7 albums. While it’s likely that he was working on an album when he died, and therefore had enough tracks to release one album, this still begs the question of where the rest of the recordings came from. Producers claim that the recordings were lost, but the existence of enough recordings to produce seven posthumous albums is difficult to believe.

 

To some, the thought of Tupac living a peaceful life somewhere in relative anonymity and releasing an album every few years to sate his creative side helps them deal with his death. Some even believe he's in Cuba. If that was the case, he certainly had the financial means to bribe his way through, but none of this has ever been substantiated.

 

It’s far more likely that Tupac really did die. Tupac lived a violent life, and many of the people he was associated with-both friends and enemies-met violent ends. Tupac was the face of West Coast rap at a time where being a West Coast rapper was deadly. Tupac had a lot of enemies, and seemed to make more every day. Thus, while it’s possible Tupac escaped the hazardous world of gang allegiances, posturing, and conflict, it’s far more likely that he was the victim of his own lifestyle.

 For more suspense, check out my Kensington-Gerard Detective series, The Last Witness, Elusive Justice and Deadly Obsessions

 

 

 

 

HOGAN'S HERO, OR NOT?

October is gruesome celebrity murders. First up is Robert Edward "Bob" Crane, an American actor, drummer, radio host and disc jockey. The once popular Crane  played Colonel Robert Hogan in Hogan's Heroes, a show of the 60's. 

At a young age, Crane began showing musical talent and even became a drummer for the Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, Two years later, he was fired for “clowning" around during a Bach fugue. Disgusted, Crane abandoned his musical ambitions and pursued a career in radio.

 

After marrying his high school sweetheart Anne Terzian, Crane began working at a radio station in Hornell, NY. He proved to have the same aptitude for radio as he did for music, and quickly rose to prominence and ended his career on at a large Boston radio station to take a job at a radio station in Los Angeles, where he quickly became known as “The King of the Los Angeles Airwaves on the number one radio show in America.”

However, it wasn’t long before Crane became disenchanted with radio, and began filling in for Johnny Carson on the show Who Do You Trust. Shortly after, Crane began acting on television and in movies. His credits were The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and The Dick Van Dyke Show. His performance was so good, he was offered a role as Dick Van Dyke’s neighbor, Dr. Dave Kelsey.

In 1965, he began acting as Colonel Robert Hogan in Hogan’s Heroes, which would become his most widely remembered role. On the set of Hogan’s Heroes, he met Patricia Olsen, who played Hilda, Colonel Clink’s secretary. The two fell in love and he divorced his wife to marry Olson that same year.

 

     

After Hogan’s Heroes was cancelled in 1971, Crane’s career rapidly declined. Although he had several movie roles and numerous TV appearances, he ultimately was unable to resurrect the success of Hogan’s Heroes. Patricia and Crane began having marital troubles and eventually separated.

 

Living in a Scottsdale, Arizona apartment by himself, he couldn't get rid of the acting bug and stared in a stage play still attracting fans where he often spent time afterwards, signing autographs.  
 

Crane’s up and down career ended abruptly in 1978 when Beginner's Luck costar Victoria Ann Berry found him bludgeoned to death in his apartment.

What police would find in his apartment would forever shock the world, and forever change the public perception of the amiable Crane. During the initial search, police found several pictures of Crane involved in sex acts with numerous women. Homemade sex tapes were also found, and negatives of a recent sexual escapade were found in Crane’s bathroom. Although his sexual partners varied, most of the pictures and movies had one thing in common: they were taken by Crane’s good friend John Henry Carpenter, a regional sales manager for Sony Electronics.

 

 

The two met on the set of Hogan’s Heroes. As police began interviewing those close to Crane,  the nature of their relationship quickly became clear. Introduced to women as his agent, Carpenter used Crane’s celebrity to pick up women at various clubs and bars. Sometimes they would leave with separate women, but would mostly go back to Crane’s apartment where Carpenter would take pictures or video tape Crane having sex.

Carpenter, who lived in New York, was visiting Crane at the time of his murder. Before Carpenter’s visit, Crane told several friends that he was planning to end his friendship with Carpenter. Of course, this depended upon whom you asked. it's unknown whether this was due to Carpenter's clingy personality or because Crane was trying to give up his late night carousing.

Witnesses say that on the morning of June 28th, the two men were seen eating breakfast together at a local restaurant and although the conversation seemed amiable, several waitresses said that Carpenter appeared “strained” and was “acting odd”. Speculation was that Crane had ended their friendship during that breakfast.

Another speculation that circulated around was that later on that date, Carpenter gave Crane a ride to a nearby gas station to repair the flat tire on Crane's car. The mechanic who examined the tire claimed that it had been tampered with, leading many to believe that Carpenter had flattened the tire with the intent of luring Crane into an isolated situation in which he could bludgeon him with a tire iron.

 

A third story states that after the debacle with the car tire, the two men went to a bar and began running their “celebrity and manager” routine. again despite's Crane's desire to give it up, only this time, it appears they struck out. Carpenter's alibi was that he did give one of the women at the bar a ride home after dropping Crane off at his apartment. Carpenter states that nothing happened and that he dropped her off around 10 or 11. This gave him more than enough time to return to Crane’s apartment and murder him, which took place somewhere between 11pm and 4am the next morning.

What is certain is that Victoria Ann Berry found Crane bludgeoned in his bed and she called the police. Around 3:15pm, Carpenter called the apartment and spoke with Scottsdale police Lt. Rob Dean. During the conversation, Carpenter claimed that he had been drinking with Crane until 1am. When the detective called Carpenter back 15 minutes later, Carpenter claimed that the two had been out until 2:45am. Realizing his faux pas, he quickly changed the time to 11pm. The extremely odd thing about both phone calls, however, is that Carpenter never asked about the nature of why he was being questioned and the detective never mentioned anything about Crane being murdered.

 

When combined with the photos and tapes, this odd behavior began to raise suspicions, and police soon named Carpenter a person of interest in the case. Sometime during the investigation, Detective Darwin Barrie noted a spot of dried blood on the interior of Carpenter’s rental car. This gave police enough evidence to impound the car, which was photographed and searched. Subsequent tests revealed that the blood was Type B (the same blood type as Crane-and about 10% of the population); this ruled out the possibility of the blood being Carpenter’s (he had Type A blood). Despite the fact that Carpenter couldn't explain the blood, there wasn't enough evidence to charge him with Crane’s murder, and DNA testing wasn't available at that time. Ultimately, the country prosecutor’s office didn't have enough evidence to arrest him and Carpenter was set free.

 

In 1990, the case was reopened when the detectives noted a small piece of brain matter in one of the pictures of Carpenter’s car. In addition, it was revealed that tissue samples found in the car matched those found at the scene. Even though police did not have enough data to perform a DNA test, Carpenter was arrested for his murder. The trial lasted two months with a not guilty verdict rendered by the jury, and Carpenter was once again set free.

Speculation abounds as to who killed our once beloved Bob Crane. Something we may never know.