06x07 - Mistaken for Dead

[bunniefuu]

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NARRATOR: In , a patient in Southern California

collapsed and d*ed of a heart att*ck in his doctor's office.

But like many Hollywood stories, it was pure fiction.

Investigators suspected that the patient and his doctor

were one of several characters involved

in a real-life m*rder mystery.

MAN: Cut.

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NARRATOR: Dr. Richard Boggs was a Harvard-educated neurologist

in Glendale, California, a short drive from Hollywood.

ALBERT MACKENZIE: He had been married.

He'd had children.

He had a huge mansion, had, for all intents

and purposes, the-- the good life.

Drove a Rolls-Royce.

The wife drove a Jaguar.

NARRATOR: Early one Saturday morning in April of --

WOMAN: . Do you have an emergency?

NARRATOR: Dr. Boggs called to report that a patient had

d*ed in his office of an apparent heart att*ck.

-Yes.

NARRATOR: He said he performed an electrocardiogram,

which appeared normal.

But when he momentarily stepped out of the examining room,

the patient collapsed on the floor.

By the time paramedics arrived at : AM,

the patient was dead.

Dr. Boggs identified the man as -year-old Gene Hanson, who he

said had been a patient for years.

Hanson's identity was confirmed by credit cards

and a birth certificate in his wallet.

But paramedics were suspicious because the body was cold,

and rigor mortis had set in.

Sgt. James Lowrey was one of the first police

officers who arrived on the scene.

SGT. JAMES LOWREY: The arteries or veins

that would be in the face seemed to be broken.

There seemed to be a blotchiness to it.

Having seen lots of deaths, both natural and unnatural death,

it was my impression, looking at this body, that he had

been deceased for quite some time.

NARRATOR: The coroner estimated the time of death

by comparing the temperature of Hanson's liver

with the room temperature.

The body temperature drops a degree and a half every hour

after death

CRAIG HARVEY: The temperature of the room was degrees.

The temperature of the body was degrees.

Based on that, just a rough guess,

it would indicate that it was anywhere from maybe six

to seven hours since the person had d*ed.

NARRATOR: Which meant that Hanson d*ed between and

o'clock in the morning, long before Dr.

Boggs had called paramedics.

SGT. JAMES LOWREY: I told Dr. Boggs.

I says, you're nothing but a liar.

I don't believe you.

Everything you've told us is a lie.

NARRATOR: As the son of a physician,

Sgt. Lowrey knew something was amiss.

Dr. Boggs was a neurologist trained

in treating brain and other neurologic problems.

So why was he treating a patient for chest pains?

And Dr. Boggs' appearance gave no indication

that he had performed CPR.

SGT. JAMES LOWREY: I looked at Dr. Boggs.

His clothes were not messy.

He wasn't covered in sweat.

His hair was still neatly combed.

Having done CPR in the field myself,

I know how exhausting that is.

NARRATOR: There were too many inconsistencies

for the police to accept.

SGT. JAMES LOWREY: I knew that this person hadn't d*ed the way

that Dr. Boggs had told us, but I thought

there may be some other explanation.

I didn't know if this had been some type

of an romantic encounter.

I didn't know if this had been some type of a drug overdose.

I mean, there were other possible explanations

for what had gone on here.

NARRATOR: And in a search of Dr. Boggs' office,

police discovered some unusual devices

not found in most medical offices.

-What was found during the course of the search warrant

phase were various sex toys that were actually

within the examination room of the doctor.

I mean, the little cabinets with drawers-- that was in there

while a doctor was seeing patients, which was really kind

of a bizarre way to run a business.

NARRATOR: Just two weeks earlier,

police had responded to another incident in Dr. Boggs' office.

A man we'll refer to as Bruce Smith

claimed that Dr. Boggs att*cked him

in his office with a stun g*n after hours.

Since the two met earlier that night at a gay bar,

police concluded it was a lover's spat.

In recent years, Dr. Boggs experienced

both professional and personal difficulties.

He lost his medical privileges at several hospitals.

He had gone through a divorce and had admitted

publicly that he was a h*m*.

And police discovered that Dr. Boggs

was a regular at clubs specializing in sadomasochism.

STEVEN SCOTT: You could

we're outlaws, sexual outlaws.

The activities that they engage in

are probably not legitimately recognized

in the community as consensual play.

NARRATOR: Police hoped an autopsy would reveal what

really happened in Dr. Boggs' office.

Police were stumped when the autopsy confirmed exactly what

Dr. Boggs had said caused Gene Hanson's death--

non-specific focal myocarditis, a heart ailment.

Hanson's body was positively identified

by his business partner, John Hawkins.

-It's him.

That's definitely him.

NARRATOR: Hanson and Hawkins owned a clothing company

in Columbus, Ohio, called Just Sweats.

[music playing]

ANNOUNCER [ON TV]: Lightweight sweats

are the hottest new look for summer.

NARRATOR: This is a television commercial for Just Sweats.

John Hawkins was a regular performer in the spots.

ANNOUNCER [ON TV]: For one week only,

lightweight sweats are % off our regular prices.

-It appeared that they had a tremendous go-go business.

They had something like clothing stores.

They were driving fancy cars, living a very high life.

NARRATOR: Gene Hanson's body was cremated

and the ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

John Hawkins was the sole beneficiary of his partner's

estate, which included a $ million life insurance policy.

After the funeral, Hawkins returned to Ohio

and then vanished.

-He drove his convertible Mercedes to the airport

and left it with the top down in Columbus, Ohio, rainy weather,

hopped on a plane with now $ million in cash.

NARRATOR: Sometime later, an employee

at the insurance company was closing out her file

on Gene Hanson and requested a copy

of Hanson's driver's license.

California driver's licenses include not only

a photograph, but also a thumbprint.

But the thumbprint on Hanson's driver's

license did not match the thumbprint taken in the morgue

after his death.

The insurance company reported this discrepancy to police.

After looking through their files,

police discovered that a -year-old Hollywood

accountant had been reported missing.

His name was Ellis Greene.

When the photograph of Dr. Boggs' patient

was shown to Ellis Greene's family,

they positively identified him.

When confronted by police, Dr. Boggs said he was shocked.

He said the man who d*ed in his office was a patient for years

and had always been known as Gene Hanson.

But Lt.

Perkins took a closer look at Gene Hanson's medical file

and found a startling inconsistency.

During three different office visits,

Dr. Boggs performed EKG examinations on Gene Hanson.

But when Lt.

Perkins placed the EKG strips end to end,

he noticed ink marks and other printing evidence that showed

that the three EKG tests were all performed on the same day.

LT.

JON PERKINS: When I placed each of the EKG strips end to end,

the broken part of the actual EKG

strips all matched perfectly.

And the red dye matched up to the other one,

and then the-- the end that was only halfway marked

with the red dye matched up with the other one that

did not have any dye on it whatsoever.

NARRATOR: This was evidence that Dr.

Boggs had performed just one test.

Then he ripped the strip into three pieces

and wrote a different date on the back of each piece

and placed them in Hanson's file.

LT.

JON PERKINS: He had actually goofed them up,

which really made us-- our job a whole lot easier.

So this was the first time that we could really

say beyond a reasonable doubt that this

was a phony or forged medical file.

NARRATOR: Investigators then decided

to take a second look at the autopsy.

Ellis Greene's blood and tissue samples

were sent for more sophisticated testing, including

gas chromatography, which can identify hundreds

of toxic chemicals in human tissue.

But none were found.

Next, a second forensic pathologist

was brought in to review the initial autopsy findings.

The new pathologist noticed signs of discoloration

in Mr. Greene's face and fingertips,

an indication of suffocation.

Such discoloration is often very subtle

and disappears quickly after death, which

is why suffocation sometimes goes undetected.

Despite Dr. Boggs' claim of innocence,

he was arrested on suspicion of m*rder.

But did he act alone?

Or was John Hawkins involved?

And where was the real Gene Hanson?

When investigators looked into Dr. Richard Boggs' background,

they discovered that despite his fancy lifestyle,

he was penniless.

He had recently gone through a divorce

and also lost a large amount of money

in a failed business venture.

-When we did the search of his apartment,

we found in one of the bathrooms a bathtub filled with not

water, but just a-- just overflowing amount

of bills directed at the doctor.

NARRATOR: And when they looked into the Ohio clothing business

owned by Gene Hanson and John Hawkins,

they found the same thing-- huge financial losses.

-One of the ways out of their dilemma--

you could make a lot of money.

Therefore, life insurance became a very attractive proposition.

NARRATOR: If the m*rder of Ellis Greene was an insurance scam,

investigators were certain Dr. Richard Boggs, Gene Hanson,

and John Hawkins were all involved.

ALBERT MACKENZIE: I don't know how they met.

I know that both Hawkins and Hanson had been patients of Dr.

Boggs, and they'd known each other for many years.

NARRATOR: Plans for Hanson's staged m*rder

may have begun a full year earlier.

Phone records show the trio was in constant communication.

LT.

JON PERKINS: Phone records set up for us the conspiracy.

Every time they prepared to do something in this case,

you saw an increase in phone activity

between all three individuals.

NARRATOR: After buying a $ million insurance policy,

Gene Hanson told his friends and colleagues

that he was dying of AIDS, which wasn't true.

And he said he was moving to California.

Before he left, he made John Hawkins the sole beneficiary

of his estate, eliminating his family from his will.

-This is a case that involved elaborate planning to make

sure there's no mistake, that some bereaved relative

of the true Mr. Hanson, such as his mother, doesn't show up

and say, wait a second, this ain't my kid.

NARRATOR: Police believe that Hanson and Boggs met

Ellis Greene in a north Hollywood bar.

Greene was at the wrong place at the wrong time,

and he filled all the requirements

they were looking for.

He resembled Hanson, was HIV positive,

and was very, very drunk.

ALBERT MACKENZIE: From what we know,

Greene was a very affable, friendly man.

And they probably invited him to join them,

and he went along with them.

And not having any clue as to what his fate was going to be.

NARRATOR: At the very moment paramedics

were attempting to resuscitate Ellis Greene in Dr. Boggs'

office, a man matching Gene Hanson's description

checked into this hotel just two blocks from Boggs' office

under an alias.

Later, the real Gene Hanson received a telephone

call from John Hawkins in Ohio.

And when Ellis Greene was pronounced dead,

John Hawkins flew to California from Ohio,

identified Greene's body as that of his partner, Gene Hanson,

had the body cremated, and collected the $ million

from the life insurance policy.

Then Hawkins and the real Gene Hanson

both vanished, leaving behind their bankrupt clothing company

and Dr. Richard Boggs to defend himself against m*rder charges.

The hunt for Gene Hanson and John Hawkins

would take more than three years and lead

halfway around the world.

As Dr. Richard Boggs sat in a California jail

for the m*rder of Ellis Greene, his conspirators, Gene Hanson

and John Hawkins, were still on the run.

A tip led police to this house in Florida,

and a fingerprint found on a drinking glass positively

identified Gene Hanson as the resident.

But evidence inside the home indicated

Hanson had fled the country.

A few months later, Hanson was arrested at the Dallas/Fort

Worth airport after arriving on a flight from Mexico.

Security personnel noticed he was behaving suspiciously.

The scars from numerous plastic surgeries and hair transplants

were still noticeable.

He denied he was Gene Hanson, and he had Ellis Greene's

driver's license in his possession.

He also had several false IDs and a book

entitled "How to Create a New Identity."

His fingerprints matched those of the real Gene Hanson,

and he was arrested.

Finding John Hawkins was much harder.

LT.

JON PERKINS: John Hawkins was a chameleon.

He could schmooze his way into any lifestyle,

to-- to any location.

Plus, he had money to-- to assist along the way.

NARRATOR: For three years, Hawkins

used the insurance money to travel the world.

ANNOUNCER: Tonight on "America's Most Wanted."

NARRATOR: In Amsterdam, a woman saw a television program

in which John Hawkins was identified as being wanted

in connection with the m*rder of Ellis Greene.

The woman was one of Hawkins' former lovers.

With information she provided, authorities found Hawkins

off the coast of Sardinia, in a red catamaran

called "Carpe Diem," seize the day.

-When they confronted him, John Hawkins

was a very nasty individual.

He said, what?

I'm not who you think I am.

I'm Bradley Bryant.

I'm an-- I'm an English citizen.

Here's my passport.

He presented a-- a legitimate British passport.

And that he accused them of making

a-- a terrible error as to his identification.

NARRATOR: John Hawkins was positively

identified through fingerprints.

Prosecutors believe that financial problems brought

Boggs, Hanson, and Hawkins together in an insurance scam

which would net them $ million.

Dr. Boggs' assignment was to identify and m*rder

a look alike for Gene Hanson.

His first target was Bruce Smith, whom Boggs picked up

in a gay bar, took him back to his office,

and att*cked him with a stun g*n.

But Smith escaped.

Two weeks later, Dr. Boggs was joined by Gene Hanson.

And together, they tried it once again.

Boggs and Hanson met Ellis Greene at a nightclub

sometime around midnight.

Greene had a blood alcohol level of . and was very drunk.

-Ha, I like it.

NARRATOR: Boggs and Hanson took him back to Boggs' office

and att*cked him with a stun g*n.

-OK, you just get out of here.

I can handle this. We'll talk.

NARRATOR: But Dr. Boggs made numerous medical mistakes,

which were his downfall.

He k*lled Greene sometime after midnight,

but he didn't call emergency personnel until : AM.

By the time they arrived, the body was cold,

and rigor mortis had set in.

John Hawkins, Gene Hanson, and Dr. Richard Boggs

were charged with m*rder, conspiracy,

insurance fraud, and grand theft.

At the trial, prosecutors presented forensic evidence

that Ellis Greene had been suffocated by Dr. Boggs

and the real Gene Hanson was in town on the day of the m*rder,

checking into a nearby hotel just as the paramedics arrived.

The defense argued that Ellis Greene d*ed of natural causes,

primarily due to the extremely high

level of alcohol in his bloodstream.

But the jury didn't agree.

Dr. Boggs and Gene Hanson were convicted

of m*rder and conspiracy to commit

m*rder and insurance fraud.

Both were sentenced to life in prison without parole.

John Hawkins was convicted of conspiracy

to commit m*rder and insurance fraud,

and sentenced to years to life.

-I think it was a-- a great result.

I think we brought three men to justice thanks

to great investigators, great experts, and people who pulled

together from, you know, all over the world.

NARRATOR: Solid police work and forensic evidence

helped solve one crime and may have prevented another.

Investigators discovered evidence

that the trio was planning another m*rder, this time

a Hawkins look alike, in order to cash in on another million

dollar life insurance policy.

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