LOS ANGELES — A man charged with bludgeoning and strangling to death a Hollywood television director more than three decades ago has been arrested in North Carolina after police said DNA and a confession linked him to the crime.
Edwin Hiatt was arrested Thursday in Burke County for the 1985 death of Barry Crane in Los Angeles. He has been charged with murder in California, Los Angeles police announced.
A housekeeper found Crane, 57, dead in his garage in his Studio City home on July 5, 1985. He was naked and had been wrapped in bedsheets. He had been beaten with a large ceramic statue and strangled with a telephone cord, the News Herald of Morgantown, N.C., reported, citing court documents.
Crane directed dozens of episodes of such hit 1970s and ’80s TV shows as “The Incredible Hulk,” “Hawaii 5-O” and “The Six Million Dollar Man.” He also was associate producer for “Mannix” and “Mission: Impossible.”
He also was a world-class bridge player.
There was no information on a motive for the killing.
Crane’s death went unsolved until police said they matched a fingerprint from Crane’s stolen car to Hiatt last year. FBI investigators then obtained discarded cigarette butts and a coffee cup from the parking lot of the auto repair shop in Burke County where Hiatt worked.
DNA from some items matched that from cigarette butts found in Crane’s stolen car, which was discovered shortly after his death on a mountain road, investigators said.
On March 8, homicide detectives went to North Carolina to interview Hiatt.
“During the interview, Hiatt admitted to killing Barry Crane,” an LAPD statement said.
Crane was crowned national bridge champion 13 times and was inducted into the American Contract Bridge League Hall of Fame in 1995. At the time of his...
