Per All That’s Interesting, Turner’s next romance was with Johnny Stompanato. According to Birth.Movies.Death, Stompanato was charming, but was also a thug. His claim to fame was being bodyguard to Mickey Cohen, a well-known Los Angeles mobster. Crane and Stompanato actually had a good relationship, until he began to abuse Turner. History 101 writes that Turner was unaware that Stompanato had a criminal past. Once she discovered the truth, it was too late; her new beau refused to let her go, no matter how many times she tried to end it. Turner continued to endure acts of violence and threats to her and Crane’s livelihood.
In 1957, Turner starred in “Peyton Place” (via Slate). The critically acclaimed film received nine Academy Award nominations and Turner herself was nominated for best actress. Instead of taking Stompanato to the 1958 ceremony, Turner took Crane, an action that threw him over the edge. On April 4 of that year, Turner was determined to end things for good with Stompanato (per All That’s Interesting). She informed Crane that she was breaking things off and told her to wait upstairs inside of their Beverly Hills home.
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Crane obliged, but heard the pair’s arguing escalate. At one point, Stompanato threatened to mutilate Turner and have her mother and Crane killed. Frightened that Turner’s life was in danger, Slate reports that 14-year-old Crane ran downstairs, grabbed a knife, and plunged it into Stompanato. His last words were reportedly “My God, Cheryl, what have you done?” (per Slate). Stompanato fell to the floor and died.
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