# Hollywood Nightmare: The Shocking Death of an Aspiring Actress

An episode of [Lazy Chill True Crime](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1815534472), 9 Sep 2025, 16 min.

Audio: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO1573517472.mp3

Join me as we discuss the mysterious unsolved death of Crystal Spencer, an aspiring actress in Los Angeles who had fallen into the dark world of adult entertainment. 👇 Youtube links: Lazy Chill True Crime Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8dVJtzeHcJgd_Z0bHrJTHQ Lazy Chill History Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LazyChillHistory Lazy Chill Zone Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LazyChillZone 👇 Support My Work: 🛍️ Merch: https://lazy-chill-zone-shop.fourthwall.com ❤️ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lazychillzone 👇Social Media Links: https://www.instagram.com/lazychillzone/ 👇 Podcast links: ⚡History Video Podcast on Spotify⚡: https://open.spotify.com/show/7km5pLWpYWEj1mrPpEfRUr?si=0FHYnZf-Qs2FY1GyLevfig ⚡True Crime Podcast on Spotify⚡: https://open.spotify.com/show/0klIz08pAr7wR4we0Ia4sk?si=68qZxCeAQkysXzMZrHE0Iw 🍏 True Crime Podcast on Apple 🍎: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lazy-chill-true-crime/id1815534472 Crystal Spencer death, Crystal Spencer case, unsolved Hollywood mystery, Los Angeles unsolved cases, Marina del Rey mystery, unexplained deaths, mysterious actress death, Crystal Spencer theories, strange Hollywood deaths, unsolved crime podcast

## Transcript

[0:00] When retired NFL quarterback Eric Kramer checks himself into
[0:03] a motel room, puts a gun to his head and pulls the trigger, he
[0:06] thinks all his problems will be over.
[0:08] But when Eric survives, he's got the brain capacity of a six year
[0:12] old, and a tall blonde con woman swoops in, secretly marries him,
[0:17] and starts leading him dry. The secret marriage was a way to
[0:20] keep her taking his money. And the law is on her side.
[0:23] They're married. What's his is hers.
[0:25] What's hers is his. Listen to The Quarterback and
[0:27] the Con Artist wherever you get your podcasts.
[0:30] In the early hours of May 7th, 1988, a chilling sound crept
[0:36] through the walls of a quiet Burbank apartment building.
[0:39] Muffled shrieks and high pitched moans Jarred awake 23 year old
[0:43] Susan Aiken, a former Miss America.
[0:47] She listened in alarm with her fiance as the mysterious cries
[0:51] continued rhythmically for nearly an hour.
[0:55] Less than a week later, on Friday the 13th of May,
[0:58] neighbors complained of a foul odor from that same upstairs
[1:02] unit. Police responded and discovered
[1:05] the lifeless body of 29 year old Crystal Spencer lying face down
[1:09] on the floor of her apartment. Crystal Spencer was an ambitious
[1:15] young woman with Hollywood aspirations.
[1:18] She grew up in a small Northern California town, and after her
[1:22] father passed away when she was just eight, life got a lot more
[1:26] difficult for her. Crystal ended up having to leave
[1:30] high school early to help her mom support the family.
[1:33] In her early 20s, she moved to Los Angeles dreaming of stardom.
[1:38] But like many hopeful actresses, she found only bit parts and
[1:41] frustration in her first years. To make ends meet, Crystal
[1:46] reluctantly took a job as a dancer at the Wild Goose, an
[1:50] adult club near Los Angeles International Airport.
[1:54] She wasn't happy that she was in this line of work, and Crystal
[1:57] never abandoned her Hollywood dreams.
[2:01] She landed a couple of small roles, including two TV
[2:04] commercials, and enrolled in drama and comedy workshops to
[2:08] hone her craft. By 1988, at 29 years old, she
[2:14] was still striving for that big break.
[2:18] In 1987, she had begun dating Anton Klein, a 37 year old
[2:23] aspiring screenwriter whom she met at a garden party.
[2:28] For several months, Crystal hid her dancing job from him, afraid
[2:32] of losing his respect and that it would cause them to break up.
[2:37] When Anton eventually discovered her other life, he was shocked
[2:40] but accepted it and the two stayed together.
[2:46] In early 1988, a new opportunity on the horizon gave her hope.
[2:52] Crystal was preparing to spend 3 months in Japan working as a
[2:55] nightclub Hostess, a job that promised quick money and a
[2:59] chance to step up from the dancing scene.
[3:02] She confided to a friend that the idea of moving to Japan made
[3:06] her nervous, but she was determined to go through with
[3:09] it. On Wednesday, May 4th, Anton
[3:15] stopped by Crystal's Burbank apartment because she was home
[3:18] sick with what seemed like a bad cold.
[3:21] He brought her groceries and noted that she appeared to be in
[3:23] good spirits. The next night, Thursday, May
[3:28] 5th, would be the last time Crystal spoke with her family.
[3:32] Late that evening, Crystal phoned her sister Julie,
[3:36] sounding distressed and claiming she had come down with a
[3:39] terrible flu. She wanted to know what number
[3:42] their mom could be reached at, since their mom was staying with
[3:45] friends in Los Angeles while Crystal plan to leave for Japan.
[3:51] She begged Julie for their mother's phone number, desperate
[3:54] to reach her mom for comfort or help, but Julie thought Crystal
[3:58] was being dramatic and told her she didn't have it.
[4:03] As midnight passed into the early hours of May 6th,
[4:07] troubling signs continued at Crystal's apartment.
[4:10] Very late that night, unusual noises emanated from her Unit 1
[4:14] neighbor later told police they had heard sounds throughout the
[4:17] day and into the night that sounded a lot like violent
[4:20] vomiting. Then came the harrowing screams
[4:24] that Susan Aiken and her fiance heard in the early hours.
[4:28] As mentioned, due to the rhythmic style of agony they
[4:31] heard, they assumed that a couple were taking a walk on the
[4:34] wild side and didn't call the cops.
[4:37] This decision not to call the cops because they didn't want to
[4:41] interrupt a freaky night going on upstairs would come to haunt
[4:44] the couple. Meanwhile, Anton Klein was
[4:50] growing concerned. All through that weekend, he
[4:53] repeatedly tried calling Crystal, but her phone line was
[4:57] persistently busy. Eventually, a phone operator
[5:00] informed him that the line wasn't just busy, The telephone
[5:04] receiver in Crystal's apartment was off the hook, effectively
[5:07] disabling incoming calls. On Monday, May 9th, with still
[5:13] no word from Crystal, Anton took an extra step.
[5:18] He phoned the Wild Goose Club where she worked and asked the
[5:21] doorman if anyone had seen her. The response he got was strange
[5:26] and unexpected, since Anton was informed that Crystal had left
[5:29] for Japan. Anton was rather heartbroken
[5:33] that she had left without saying goodbye, but ultimately decided
[5:37] to reluctantly accept what he was told.
[5:42] On May 13th, 1988, nearly one week after the mysterious late
[5:46] night screams, the truth of Crystal's fate was finally
[5:50] revealed. Neighbors, unable to ignore the
[5:53] awful smell seeping through the building's hallway, called the
[5:57] police. Officers entered Crystal
[5:59] Spencer's apartment and found her on the living room floor.
[6:04] Crystal's body had lain there for days, decomposing in the
[6:08] spring heat. She was found wearing only a red
[6:11] top, with no clothing from the waist down, and her telephone
[6:15] was off its hook next to her, the cord wrapped around her
[6:19] legs. The apartment itself was in
[6:21] disarray, belongings scattered about which could have indicated
[6:26] A struggle or break in. Although friends noted Crystal
[6:29] wasn't the tidiest person to begin with.
[6:33] One responding officer noted immediate suspicion of a
[6:36] possible slaying given the state of the apartment and her body.
[6:40] However, with the corpse so badly decayed, it was difficult
[6:43] to discern much from the crime scene.
[6:46] Notably, there were absolutely no signs of trauma that could be
[6:49] conclusively identified on the remains.
[6:53] Further yet, investigators found no trace of substances in
[6:57] Crystal's system either. In the absence of clear
[7:00] evidence, the coroner could not determine how Crystal Spencer
[7:04] perished. After a thorough autopsy, the
[7:08] cause was officially recorded as undetermined, essentially
[7:12] acknowledging that the forensic experts were unable to say what
[7:16] ended her life. When Crystal Spencer's remains
[7:21] were first examined, the coroner's office registered them
[7:24] as a Jane Doe. Her body was so decomposed that
[7:28] staff had to remove her fingertips surgically just to
[7:31] get prints for identification. This autopsy would cause a
[7:35] significant degree of controversy for Crystal's family
[7:38] and friends. It listed a 5 foot seven, 140 LB
[7:42] woman, while Crystal was barely 5 feet tall and just over 100
[7:47] lbs Anton Klein suggested that her body may have been switched
[7:52] out either accidentally or on purpose.
[7:56] However, the authorities explained that the height
[7:58] discrepancy was likely a clerical error and the weight
[8:02] discrepancy came from not factoring in the weight of the
[8:04] Gurney. Notably, the authorities tested
[8:08] her fingerprints 2 more times to ensure the proper body had been
[8:11] examined, which they were able to confirm.
[8:17] Questions also arose about the initial police investigation.
[8:22] Burbank police did look into Crystal's passing, but only
[8:25] briefly. They processed the apartment and
[8:28] interviewed a few people. Yet within a few months, the
[8:31] department quietly closed the case, having found no concrete
[8:35] evidence of foul play. Eventually, by the summer of
[8:39] 1988, Crystal's file was marked as a passing due to probable
[8:43] natural causes. This conclusion infuriated
[8:47] Crystal's family and Anton Klein, who believed the police
[8:51] had been too quick to write off the case.
[8:54] Anton and Crystal's family took it upon themselves to find what
[8:57] the police didn't. In the days after the autopsy,
[9:03] Crystal's relatives went through her disheveled apartment and
[9:06] discovered a potential clue that investigators had left behind
[9:11] Crystal's camera. This camera had a roll of
[9:14] undeveloped film still inside, and the police had not
[9:18] confiscated it or even noted its existence.
[9:22] Anton had the film developed on his own and the photos revealed
[9:26] something intriguing. It showed a middle-aged man with
[9:29] a mustache sitting in Crystal's apartment, smiling at the
[9:32] camera. This unknown man's presence
[9:35] raised alarm bells. Anton managed to obtain
[9:39] Crystal's phone records and playing detective, matched a
[9:42] number to the mystery man's identity, then handed this
[9:46] information to the Burbank police.
[9:49] Detectives did track the man down and interview him, and in
[9:52] the end he was ruled out as a suspect.
[9:58] More than three decades later, the death of Crystal Spencer
[10:01] remains an unsolved puzzle, and people still debate whether she
[10:05] perished from natural causes, causes, or was the victim of a
[10:09] sinister plot. Over the years, several theories
[10:13] have emerged to explain what might have happened in that
[10:16] Burbank apartment in May 1988. One possibility is that Crystal
[10:22] did in fact die of a medical issue, a rapid and severe
[10:26] illness that struck suddenly. No definitive illness was
[10:30] identified in the autopsy, but not every condition leaves
[10:34] obvious traces. It's conceivable that severe
[10:38] complications from the flu or another natural cause took her
[10:42] life quickly. Proponents of this theory point
[10:45] out that no evidence of violence was found on her body, and the
[10:49] coroner couldn't pinpoint any injury or toxin which might
[10:53] indicate a medical cause. However, the natural death
[10:58] hypothesis struggles to explain the haunting screams heard in
[11:03] the night. Some have suggested that it's
[11:07] unusual for someone dying of illness to make the kind of
[11:10] prolonged, shrill cries that were described.
[11:15] Further, it doesn't fully explain why she wouldn't have
[11:17] called an ambulance as her condition was worsening.
[11:21] However, those who believe this theory generally think that she
[11:23] did make an attempt to call 911, but only did so when it was too
[11:28] late. Many, including Crystal's
[11:32] family, strongly suspect that she met with foul play.
[11:37] The screams heard by multiple neighbors bolster the idea that
[11:40] she wasn't alone and was in severe distress.
[11:44] If this theory is true, the identity of the attacker remains
[11:47] unknown, and no direct suspects have ever been identified
[11:51] publicly. It could have been a stranger,
[11:54] perhaps a patron or stalker from the club, or someone Crystal
[11:59] knew casually. It could even be someone such as
[12:02] a boyfriend who inserted himself into the investigation
[12:05] consistently over the following years.
[12:08] But that's just speculation, of course.
[12:12] Notably, there were no signs of forced entry reported, but
[12:16] Crystal might have opened her door willingly if she recognized
[12:19] the visitor. Unfortunately, the delayed
[12:23] discovery of her body meant much of the evidence which may have
[12:26] existed could have vanished by the time the cops found her
[12:29] body. One particularly tangled theory
[12:35] involves A corrupt ex cop and the criminal underworld orbiting
[12:38] the adult club scene. Horace McKenna was a former
[12:42] California Highway Patrol officer who, according to rumor,
[12:46] allegedly secretly owned or controlled the wild goose where
[12:49] Crystal worked. According to an LA Times report,
[12:54] McKenna was said to run an illegal gambling operation out
[12:57] of an Inglewood warehouse. In fact, a waitress friend of
[13:01] Crystal's later attested that Crystal had spent time at this
[13:04] clandestine casino, possibly rubbing shoulders with dangerous
[13:08] people in Mckenna's circle. The theory goes that Crystal
[13:12] might have become an informant on Mckenna's illicit activities.
[13:16] Notably in favor of this theory, it turned out that the FBI had
[13:20] an open file on Crystal, which Anton obtained.
[13:25] The only problem was that the file was almost entirely
[13:27] redacted. According to this theory,
[13:30] McKenna ordered the hit and then used his significant connections
[13:34] within the Los Angeles Police Department to botch the
[13:37] investigation. However, McKenna himself was
[13:40] eliminated just months later, and no evidence ever tied him to
[13:44] Crystal's demise. Another theory branches off from
[13:50] Crystal's planned trip to Japan. Some have wondered if the offer
[13:54] to work as a nightclub Hostess in Tokyo wasn't as quote UN
[13:58] quote innocent as it seemed. During the 1980s, there were
[14:03] real instances of young American women being lured abroad for
[14:06] Hostess jobs that ended up being fronts for forced exploitation.
[14:13] Now this theory really gets into wild and speculative territory.
[14:17] So I mentioned that there was initially some doubt about
[14:20] whether the body examined was Crystals due to some issues with
[14:24] mismatches and information. This theory claims that the
[14:28] Yakuza, the Japanese mafia, kidnapped Crystal and then
[14:33] shipped her to Japan or Hawaii and then put another body in her
[14:37] apartment. Notably, the authorities double
[14:40] checked the fingerprints on the body twice and determined that
[14:44] they were indeed from Crystal. Notably, there's been no
[14:48] connection whatsoever found between the Yakuza and Crystal.
[14:53] To this day, it remains entirely unclear whether Crystal was the
[14:56] victim of a crime or whether she simply perished due to natural
[15:00] causes. However, personally, I can't
[15:05] accept that Crystal's death was simply natural or accidental.
[15:10] The condition of her body left to decompose for nearly a week
[15:14] may have erased the very signs that would have revealed the
[15:17] truth. Advanced decomposition can
[15:20] obscure bruising, subtle trauma, or even evidence of
[15:24] strangulation if the hyoid bone wasn't broken.
[15:29] The fact that she was found half clothed, the phone ripped from
[15:33] its base, and neighbors reported hearing what sounded like
[15:36] screams makes me strongly suspect foul play.
[15:44] Hey everyone, Jimmy here as usual with a shout out to all
[15:47] subscribers, YouTube members and patrons.
[15:50] Also, don't forget to check out my new history video podcast,
[15:55] Lazy Chill History by clicking the link in the description.

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