North Carolina man charged with 1985
murder of top Hollywood director
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[May 11, 2019]
By Dan Whitcomb
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A North Carolina
man has been charged in the long-unsolved murder of a top Hollywood
television director and world-class bridge player who was found slain at
his Los Angeles home in 1985, prosecutors said on Friday.
The arrest came after more than three decades of mystery surrounding the
bludgeoning and strangulation death of Barry Crane, known for his work
in the 1960s, '70s and '80s on such hit shows as "Dallas," "Mission:
Impossible" and "Hawaii Five-O."
The suspect, 52-year-old Edward Hiatt of North Carolina, was linked to
the crime scene after DNA evidence was retested last year, the Los
Angeles Police Department said in a statement.
"On March 8, 2019, (Robbery Homicide Department) detectives traveled to
North Carolina and interviewed Hiatt. During the interview, Hiatt
admitted to killing Barry Crane," the LAPD said.
Hiatt, who was taken into custody by agents from an FBI fugitive task
force, has been charged with one count of murder, the Los Angeles County
District Attorney's Office said in a statement.
It was not immediately clear whether he had retained an attorney.
The Morgantown (N.C.) News-Herald newspaper reported that Hiatt had also
been connected to the case by a fingerprint found on Crane's car, which
was stolen from his home after the murder.
The News-Herald said FBI agents were able to collect a sample of his DNA
from a coffee cup and cigarette butts he had discarded at the auto
repair shop where he worked.
Hiatt, who was facing extradition proceedings that would bring him back
to California, was expected to make an initial court appearance in North
Carolina on Friday. He faces life in prison if convicted.
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Edward Jerry Hiatt, 52, who has been charged in the long-unsolved
murder of a top Hollywood television director Barry Crane in 1985,
poses for a booking photo provided by the Burke County Jail in
Morganton, North Carolina, U.S., May 10, 2019. Morganton Department
of Public Safety/Handout via REUTERS
Crane, 57, was born Barry Cohen in Detroit and was already an
accomplished bridge player when he moved to Los Angeles in the 1950s
to work in Hollywood, according to the online movie database
IMDB.com.
He worked as a director on dozens of TV episodes over the next three
decades as well as a producer on such shows as "the Magician,"
"Mission: Impossible" and "Mannix."
Crane was also recognized as one of the top contract bridge players
of all time.
A housekeeper found Crane's body in the garage of his home on July
5, 1985, wrapped in bedsheets with a telephone cord wrapped around
his neck. An autopsy determined that he had been bludgeoned to death
with a large ceramic statue.
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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