Ex-Wife, Son Plead for Life of Doctor Guilty in Murder

In tearful testimony that left jurors and the defendant dabbing their eyes, the ex-wife and the son of a Glendale doctor convicted of murder pleaded Thursday for his life.

“Even if it could be possible that he is guilty of the crime you said he is, he does not deserve the death penalty,” Lola Boggs testified at a hearing on whether Dr. Richard Boggs will die in the gas chamber or spend his life behind bars.

Describing a model life during a 21-year marriage that produced four children, she said Boggs changed dramatically after a failed business venture forced him to declare bankruptcy and he moved out of the home and into a series of homosexual relationships.

Crying uncontrollably, the couple’s son, Dana, testified that his father was always caring and continues to communicate from jail. Boggs was convicted last month of a 1988 murder and life insurance scam.