Crawley was incompetent

He may have helped a bit in the investigation, but really it was his incompetence that led to Dex getting away with murder, and pinning the job on someone else.

- He let Vance release Cecil, and let Cecil keep his shotgun, which led directly to Vance getting killed by Cecil near the end of the movie.

- Vance is the only one to solve the crime, but since Cecil killed him before he could reveal it, the truth never came out. Crawley then completely ignored any suspicions Vance may have indicated towards Dex, and just pinned the murders on Vance.

- He skipped town before verifying the prints, which would have proven Vance's innocence, and indicated that his job was not over yet.

- Earlier in the movie, he indicated that he would be quite upset at his wife cheating on him, and also indicated that he does not drink or smoke. He was guilty of all three of these acts over the course of the movie. Doesn't really point so much to job performance, but it had to be pointed out.

- He gave the murderer a ride out of town without so much as even glancing inside Dex's car, which would have revealed the dead body to him, and would lead to Dex's arrest.

- Also, even if Vance hadn't swiped the fax with the fingerprints of the Green River Killer, Crawley would never have gotten a match with the real killer, because he was suspecting the wrong people.

Makes me wonder how this guy ever got hired to the FBI.

I enjoyed the movie, but I just had to say something about Crawley, as a character. He should've let Vance have control of the investigation, and just assist him, rather than taking over and, eventually, stripping Vance of his badge. He really botched that case, and even worse, does not even realize the case was botched, or that the real murderer is still out there, sitting in the passenger seat next to him. ;)

Alan