Man wanted in death near Forest Drive restaurant. Records show he has long rap sheet.
The investigation into a body found in Forest Acres has deepened.
On April 5, around 9:10 a.m. Columbia Police were called in about a body behind San Jose Mexican restaurant at 5417 Forest Drive.
After a week of investigating, police have determined the man’s death was a homicide. The case is now a murder investigation, police say.
Coroner Gary Watts identified the man as 35-year-old Charles Arthur Crane of Pensacola, Florida. An autopsy showed Crane died from blunt force injuries.
Police are looking for Conrad Davin Anderson in connection with the killing.
Anderson, 47, knew Crane, and the two had argued before Crane’s killing, police said in a statement.
A warrant for Anderson’s arrest was issued. Once found, he will be charged with murder.
Anderson has other charges pending court records show. In July 2018 police arrested Anderson and charged him with selling drugs near a school while unlawfully carrying a gun.
His criminal record goes back to the late 1990s, according to records.
In 1999 Anderson was found guilty of domestic violence. He pleaded guilty to assault of a high and aggravated nature and domestic violence in 2002 and was sentenced to three years in prison with two years of probation. A judge sentenced him to five years in prison.
After he was released, police arrested him in 2004 for burglary to which he pleaded guilty and spent one year in jail. Police arrested Anderson again in 2005 for pointing a gun and assaulting someone which landed him in prison for five years.
Anderson has lived in Eastover and Columbia, court records show.