True Crime Stories

When fourteen year old Greg Holman was reported missing in October 1978 from his Scottsdale Arizona home the police initially believed he was a runaway and they had their hands full as it was and seemingly just kind of brushed it off. In June of that year former Hogan's Heroes cast member, Bob Crane had been bludgeoned to death in Scottsdale and it appears that every officer in the department was still working to solve that case.  It is now 2017 and officially Bob Crane's murder is unsolved (and the man everyone believes did it not only died but was acquitted at trial many years later), and Greg Holman's murderer roams free.  Although, I should say in fairness Greg's case was solved, thirty years after it took place.   The man who was ultimately convicted in the murder of Greg Holman was not a man at all in 1978 and some would argue never grew into a real man.  In 1978 Jon Douglas Benson was fourteen, just like Greg.  And once officers kind of got their heads ...

I was never a Hogan's Heroes' fan. It is much more slap stick comedy than I tend to enjoy.  However, the story of Bob Crane's murder falls right into my fascinations with both true crime and Hollywood. While brushing up on this case, I was reminded of a few other Hollywood crimes (although the Crane case did not take place in California, let alone Hollywood), many of which have been unsolved.  But in my tradition of blogging about similar cases I will get to some of those, for now it's about Bob Crane. On June 29, 1978 Bob's body was found in an apartment in Scottsdale, Arizona, he was renting while doing a dinner theater play called "Beginner's Luck" by his co-star Victoria Berry, around noon.  According to Berry she had an "appointment" with Bob and that when he did not answer her knocks she found the door unlocked and entered the apartment.   Bob Crane was found in his bed with his skull crushed in and a cord wrapped around his ...