Keith Daven Crotwell, a 19-year-old white male from Long Beach, California, was one of the many victims of notorious serial killer Randy Kraft, also known as the "Scorecard Killer" and the "Freeway Killer." Born on September 22, 1955, Keith met a tragic end in 1975, though the exact date of his death is recorded as March 29, not September 6. His remains were discovered in Long Beach, and he was later buried in Valhalla Cemetery in Birmingham, Alabama.
Keith Crotwell’s death was
initially shrouded in uncertainty. He had last been seen getting into a car with Randy Kraft, a man who would later be convicted of murdering at least 16 young men. Kraft admitted to taking Keith for a ride, claiming they were “just wandering around,” and insisted he had left the teenager alive at an all-night café. However, this account was met with skepticism by investigators. Despite their suspicions, Los Angeles County prosecutors declined to file murder charges against Kraft at the time due to the absence of a body and a confirmed cause of death.
Years later, Keith’s death was definitively linked to Randy Kraft’s killing spree. Kraft’s modus operandi involved drugging, sexually assaulting, and murdering young men, often leaving their bodies along Southern California highways. Keith, a white male teenager, fit the profile of Kraft’s victims. The connection between Kraft and Keith was strengthened by Kraft’s own admission of having been with him shortly before his disappearance, and by the pattern of similar murders attributed to Kraft.
Randy Kraft was eventually arrested and convicted for a series of brutal killings. He was sentenced to death and remains on death row. His crimes spanned over a decade, and his victims were predominantly young white males, many of whom were hitchhikers or individuals he encountered in bars or on the streets. Keith Crotwell’s murder, though not among the cases formally prosecuted, is widely accepted as part of Kraft’s deadly legacy.
