Today is Saturday, January 16th, 2021.

On this day in 1997, Ennis Cosby stopped to fix a flat tire on the side of a California

freeway and was murdered in cold blood.

Welcome to Today in True Crime, a Spotify original from Parcast. Due to the graphic nature of today's crimes, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of murder that some people may find offensive.

We advise extreme caution for children under 13. Today we're covering the roadside murder of doctoral candidate Ennis Cosby.

Let's go back to January 16, 1997, to the 405 freeway in Los Angeles around 1 a.m.

It was after midnight, but that didn't stop 47-year-old screenwriter Stephanie Crane

from pulling on her fur coat, hopping in her jaguar,

and driving down Los Angeles' 405 freeway to meet a new friend in need.

The friend in question was 27-year-old Ennis Cosby, who Crane had met earlier that month at the Swanky Chateau Marmonde. The hotel was known for

celebrity sightings, and both Stephanie and Ennis fit the bill. Stephanie Crane's father was

Harry Crane, co-creator of the Honeymooners. Ennis Cosby was the son of Bill Cosby, the world-famous

comedian who had not yet been exposed as a serial

abuser of women. While Stephanie tried to make her own way in entertainment over the years

with a series of stalled screenplays, Ennis never had his heart set on a Hollywood life. Ennis shied away from identifying himself as Bill Cosby's son, even as storylines on the

Cosby show were directly inspired by Ennis's issues with his father and his poor academic performance.

Ennis struggled with school his whole life, much to the consternation of his parents, who both had PhDs in addition to Hollywood careers.

His troubles only came to an end when he matriculated at Morehouse College and was finally diagnosed with dyslexia.

The diagnosis changed his life, improved his grades, and inspired him to pursue

a career in education. By 1997, 27-year-old Ennis was a doctoral candidate at Columbia University

in New York, who gave back to the community by tutoring children with learning disabilities.

But that January, Ennis was back in L.A., where he met Stephanie after two parties at the Chateau Marmont

...