Coerced Into Insurance Plot, Doctor Tells Jury
A Glendale doctor convicted of murder told jurors Tuesday, during the penalty phase of his trial, that he misidentified a dead body because he feared public exposure of his homosexuality.
Dr. Richard Boggs, trying to persuade jurors to spare his life, insisted he did not kill Ellis Greene and blamed defendant Melvin Hanson for an identity-switch insurance fraud that has been linked to Greene’s death.
Boggs, 57, said Hanson threatened to expose his homosexuality and ruin his practice if he refused to sign a phony death certificate identifying the dead man as Hanson. Boggs said Hanson told him he had embezzled a large amount of money and needed to disappear.
Prosecutors claim Boggs was to share in the $1.5-million insurance proceeds, which Hanson allegedly shared with a third defendant, James Hawkins.
Hawkins remains at large.
A jury convicted Boggs in July of nine felonies including murder, but deadlocked in the penalty phase.
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