Life Sentence Urged for Man in Murder-for-Insurance Case

A jury has recommended life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for a co-founder of a sportswear company who was convicted of killing a North Hollywood bookkeeper in a murder-for-insurance scheme.

The Los Angeles County Superior Court jury deliberated about 20 minutes before making its recommendation Tuesday in the case of Melvin Hanson.

Hanson and John Hawkins, 32, co-founders of the Just Sweats chain, were charged with murdering Ellis Greene in 1988 and later identifying him as Hanson to collect on a $1.45million life insurance policy.

Hanson was found guilty of murder Aug. 9, but the jury deadlocked on a murder charge against Hawkins. Hawkins, however, was found guilty of conspiracy along with Hanson.

Superior Court Judge Paul G. Flynn has scheduled a Sept. 13 sentencing hearing for the two. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty.

A third defendant in the case, Glendale neurologist Richard Boggs, was found guilty of murder in 1990 and is serving a life sentence.

The defense conceded during the trial that Hanson and Hawkins tried an insurance scam but argued that they had nothing to do with Greene’s death. They said they paid Boggs $50,000 for Greene’s body, thinking he got it from a hospital or morgue.