Autopsy Reports

click to enlarge images.

Contamination at the Crime Scene

Dr. “K”, as he was known, began a cursory look at the body, observing the blood spatter on the wall above the bed, and the blood soaked sheets and pillow partially pushed away from Crane’s battered head. He immediately noted the electrical cord tied around Crane’s neck. Then Dr. “K” took the highly unusual step of getting right in the middle of the crime scene. He wanted to get a better look at the mortal wound to Crane’s left temple. He took out out a straight razor, and right there on the blood-soaked bed, shaved a four-inch semicircle around Bob Crane’s left ear. He wanted to get a clearer idea of what kind of weapon could have done this type of damage. This introduced issues of contamination, and possible cross-contamination, of the crime scene that would haunt the case from that moment forward.

Photo of Bob Crane’s wound after investigators shaved it. The electrical cord around his neck is still visible.

He is clearly seen, and heard, on the extended crime scene videotape saying in his distinct German accent, “Well, we’ve got two blows here that are different.” As investigator Jim Raines later told me, “It was insane. That was frickin’ insane. It was just unbelievable. He’s in there shaving Crane’s wounds right in the death scene. He should never have done that.” Raines understood how Dr. “K’s” actions that day compromised the crime scene. All of this should have been reserved for the formal autopsy performed the next day. At 8 a.m. on June 30th, deputy medical examiner Dr. Thomas Jarvis performed the autopsy on Bob Crane. Crane was just 49 years old. He would have turned 50 in two weeks. The type of death is listed as “violent.” The manner: “by blunt instrument and cord.” The abnormal findings: abundant dry blood on face, hair, upper chest. The autopsy report also noted a flaky, white, dry material on the pubic hair, right lower abdomen and right anterior thigh (likely semen, though it was never tested). Police later theorized that the killer may have masturbated over Crane’s dead body after the killing — a final “fuck you” to the victim. It was just a theory, but the semen was never tested. According to former Scottsdale Police Officer, Dennis Borkenhagen, who was present for the autopsy along with Lieutenant Ron Dean, he asked for the semen to be collected. According to Borkenhagen, Jarvis dismissively said, “What’s that going to tell you? That he had a piece of ass before he was killed?” That was the end of that, and the semen was never collected.

A pillow covered in Bob Crane’s blood at the scene of the murder.

Was it from Crane? Was it from the killer? We will never know for sure.

How Tall was Bob Crane?

What we did learn from the autopsy: Crane was 5’-10” not 6 feet tall (which he often said) and he weighed 191 pounds. Crane died from the two blows to his head, and the electoral cord was tied around his neck right at the time of death, possibly to stop the noise he may have been making in the final throes of death. Or it could have also been another final F.U. to the victim. Crane likely died within two minutes. He was a asleep during the attack and never knew what hit him.

Did Bob Crane have a Penile Implant?

One other note: it has long been rumored that Crane had penile implant surgery in the 70’s to enhance his appearance in his porn videos. The autopsy put this to rest with the simple line, “External genitalia are normal adult male in type and distribution”. Bob Crane never had penile implant surgery. It’s one of many rumors I put to rest in “Who Killed Bob Crane?”