All the ingredients of a first-rate thriller stand out in this investigative report by Robin Yocum and Catherine Candisky, who reveal a sinister and deadly con game that was three years in the making: a murder, an insurance scam with a multi-million dollar payoff, a playboy businessman, a sinister stun-gun-toting neurologist, false identities, and an international manhunt.
On the morning of April 16, 1988, the emergency squad was called to the office of Dr. Richard P. Boggs, a respected neurologist in Glendale, California. On the floor of the examining room was the body of Melvin E. Hanson, the vice president of the Just Sweats athletic clothing store chain, based in Columbus, Ohio. Apparently, he had collapsed and died of heart failure during a routine examination. Early next morning, Hanson's business partner and the company president, John B. Hawkins, arrived from Columbus and had the body unceremoniously cremated. The coroner ruled that Hanson died of natural causes, so there was nothing to be investigated, and the Glendale police did not pursue the case further.
But this wasn't just another unfortunate death. There was something very, very wrong here. The body lying on the floor was not Hanson's. The corpse was an anonymous double who had been murdered in a scheme to fraudulently collect on Hanson's life insurance policy.
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Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Yocum, a former reporter for the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch , and Candisky, who is still a reporter on that paper, together laid the groundwork for a case that the police had ignored. On April 16, 1988, Columbus businessman Melvin Hanson died in the office of Glendale, Calif., neurologist Richard Boggs, who had been treating him for seven years; the next day Hanson's business partner, John Hawkins, arrived in California and had the body cremated immediately. Hanson's life had been insured for more than a million dollars and some of the insurance was paid. Returning to Ohio, Hawkins cleaned out the clothing firm's bank accounts and disappeared. Thanks to the investigations of Yocum and Candisky, it was determined that the body of ``Hanson'' had been deliberately misidentified by Boggs, and was that of a murder victim (who was later found to be a drifter). Eventually Hanson, Boggs and Hawkins were apprehended. Boggs was found guilty and drew a life sentence; the other two are awaiting trial. A remarkable story. Photos not seen by PW. (Nov.)
From the Publisher
A remarkable story." - Publishers Weekly"A good prospect for true-crime fans." - Kirkus Reviews
"Twists and turns, false identities, stun guns and two undaunted reporters determined to expose the truth make this book worth reading." - Oklahoman
"Anyone who likes a good mystery, with all the classic elements of fraud, sex, and murder, will find this book worthwhile." - Toledo Blade
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