Doctor’s Accounts of Death Differed

A Glendale physician accused in a murder-for-insurance conspiracy gave authorities conflicting accounts of how a man came to die last year in his office, a death prosecutors now say was a well-planned murder, a Los Angeles Municipal Court judge was told Friday.

The doctor, Richard Pryde Boggs, 56, is accused, along with two Ohio businessmen, of killing the man, passing him off as one of the businessmen and then collecting $1.5 million on the businessman’s life insurance policies.

The businessman whose death was allegedly faked, Melvin Eugene Hanson, 48, was arrested earlier this year--with a fresh face lift, varying pieces of personal identification and $14,000 in cash.

Killed was Ellis H. Greene, a 31-year-old San Fernando Valley accountant found with papers on him that identified him as Hanson.

On April 16, 1988, Boggs summoned Glendale officials to his office, where they found Greene’s body. Boggs told fire and police officials separately that the man was Hanson, and he died of a heart attack while in Boggs’ office.

According to Glendale Police Detective Jerry Jones, Boggs said Hanson was driven to the office by another person. But Glendale Fire Capt. Stuart Jones testified that Boggs said he had personally driven to the man’s home in Hollywood and brought him back to his office.