Born as Hazel Elizabeth Magee in Belfast, Northern Ireland, she emigrated to then Rhodesia as a child and later to South Africa in adult life. In South Africa she was involved in several philanthropic committees and projects, such as the educational sponsorship of poor students.
Later life
Crane was previously married to Anthony Crane, although he was killed at age 25 in combat in the Rhodesian Bush War. The couple already had one child, and at the time of her husband's death, Crane was pregnant with their second child. She later had a tumultuous marriage with alleged Israeli mafia boss Shai Avissar. At the time of his murder in 1999, the couple were estranged. She was a close friend of Winnie Mandela, who attended her funeral and was the chief witness in her wedding to Avissar. Crane accompanied Mandela during her hearings before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Death and legacy
Crane was shot dead in her car in November 2003, while travelling to the Johannesburg High Court to attend the trial of alleged Israeli mafia member Lior Saat, accused of murdering Crane's estranged husband near Sunninghill, Gauteng in 1999. Crane had been travelling with a female companion, who was shot in the hand, but police determined that the incident was a "direct attack" on Crane's life, who was shot in the head, leg, chest and arm. It later emerged that Crane had been expected to testify in the murder case against Saat and a source close to Crane said that she knew too much, being able to identify and implicate a number of figures in the Saat murder case. She was the third state witness in the Saat murder trial to be murdered; Giulio Bascelli was shot in the head in a deserted garage soon after Avassi's death in 1999 and Carlo Binne was shot dead at the Gecko Lounge, a Johannesburg nightclub, in April 2001. Prior to her death, Crane was working with a British journalist, David Kray on her memoirs. The biography, Hazel Crane: Testimony from Beyond the Grave received a posthumous release in 2004 and contained several shocking details about the socialite's colourful past. The book details Crane's own secret life of crime. She made her fortune by smuggling diamonds and emeralds, making blackmarket currency deals, owning a striptease joint and selling hard-core pornography. She also tells of how she would tuck emeralds into her beehive hairdo or pack them into her son's nappies for smuggling. Prior to a crime career, she trained as a State Registered Nurse in Rhodesia and in later life was an active businesswoman.
