On June 29, 1978, the body of Bob Crane was discovered in a Scottsdale, Arizona, apartment, where he had been living while performing in the play "Beginner's Luck" at the Windmill Dinner Theatre, dinner theater being his main source of income in the last years of his life. The body was discovered by a co-star, Victoria Berry, who grew concerned when Crane failed to appear for lunch and went to check on him in his apartment and found his front door open.
Berry found Crane lying on his bed, his head in a pool of blood. He was unrecognizable, with blood also splattered on the bedroom walls. He had been bludgeoned to death and had an electrical cord wrapped tight around his throat.
Though Crane was fully clothed, the scene showed signs of his sexual activities. The scene of Crane's murder contained much of his homemade pornographic material, as well as Crane's notorious black bag, which those close to him knew contained various X-rated materials and equipment for filming. This time, the bag had been opened, and something taken something from it. Investigators later speculated that the murder weapon that had fatally struck Crane on the cranium and temple may have been a tripod for a video camera. Robert Crane claims in "Crane" that the actor's second wife, Patricia Olson, told him: "Your father's lifestyle caught up with him."
