The murderer of TV producer and director, Barry Crane arrested 34 years after his death in July 1985!

Updated On March 18, 2024 | Published By: shahid | In Crime , Death , Legal

Is the longest-running unsolved real-life murder mystery of Hollywood solved now?
The TV producer and director Barry Crane, 57 was murdered in his Los Angeles home in July 1985.
But his murderer was not found until now when the police claim to have zeroed in on the killer whose name is Edwin Hiatt.

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The 1985 Hollywood murder mystery

In July 1985, TV director cumin producer Barry Crane was found dead in his home in Los Angeles. He was killed by means of a telephone cord which was found wrapped around his neck. Additionally, he was attacked by a large ceramic statue. His body was wrapped in bed sheets and it was hidden in his garage.

Also, Barry’s wallet and his Cadillac car were taken away from his home at that time. A thorough police investigation led to naught. The case remained unsolved over the last 34 years.

The cold-case detectives find the killer

Now, cold-case detectives decided to reopen the case and they tasted success this time. They had found some fingerprints on the car and for the fourth time, the sleuths decided to run a match test on it.

Luckily, they found a match. Using social media, the detectives found the man with whom the fingerprints matched. His name is Edwin Hiatt and he hails from North Carolina. Furthermore, he works there in a car repair workshop.

The police first conducted a surveillance operation. For it, they picked up his discarded cigarette butts and one coffee cup. They then checked whether the DNA found on these picked-up items matched those that were found on Barry’s car in 1985.

After they found that there was a link there, the FBI’s Fugitive Task Force went ahead and arrested Edwin. But the police have to extradite him to California where he would face a trial.

They have charged him with one count of murder “with a special allegation that he used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a heavy decorative object, during the commission of the crime”. The motive behind the murder is not known. If found guilty, he could face the maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Edwin Hiatt and his statement to the press

Edwin was probably 18 at that time since his current age is said to be 52. As the police led him after the arrest, the reporters questioned him about his crime and this is what Edwin said:

“Anything is possible back then because I was big into drugs. I don’t have a really good memory. Bits and pieces were brought back to me just by suggestion.
“I don’t remember the guy, until they told me his name. And then I didn’t remember his picture.”

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He added:

“I just don’t want to remember the past.”

About Barry Crane

Barry Crane had given the world a number of hits. He had directed and produced Incredible Hulk, The Six Million Dollar Man, CHiPS, Hawaii Five-0, and Dallas. He was the director of five episodes of The Incredible Hulk between 1979 and 1981.

Besides, he directed some episodes of The Dallas series which ran on television from 1978 to 1991. Barry had directed some of its early episodes before his death. He was an avid bridge player and had played at an international level. He was 57 when he was killed.

Barry was married and divorced twice. His first wife was Arlene Crane and she was from Los Angeles. And, his second wife Shirlee Koblin was from Southfield, Michigan. He had two children from his second wife. They are Sharilyn Cohen and Ben Crane. Additionally, he had a brother called Elliot Cohen.

Source: Wikipedia, NY times, NDTV

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