All language subtitles for The.Real.Murders.of.Los.Angeles.S01E05.720p.WEBRip.x264-BAE

[tense music]

- People who come to la
often come

Here to take on
a whole new life,

Get a complete clean slate.

- There are
many people out there that

Try to create a new identity.

But sometimes
someone who is one

Person publicly,
privately, you just

Never know who this person is.

- In a city where
nothing is as it seems...

- He is
a chameleon and able

To adapt his personality
to any given situation.

A great scam artist.

- California dreaming
can be deadly.

- Paramedics
find a body on the floor.

The man was clearly dead.

- But there's
an hour delay in calling 911.

Red flag.

- There's
two major people missing

In the coroner's office.

They can't identify
their john doe.

- And soon
it's clear as day

That in the city of angels
some people are anything but.

- Customs agents see
this person who was acting

Very suspicious,
and they find

A large amount of cash.

- Well, it was almost
the perfect crime.

- Mistaken identity,

Fraud, deception, murder.

It's the quintessential
los angeles story.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[sirens wailing]

- So we're
in the city of glendale,

And this is where this
all began back in 1988,

This crazy and bizarre
murder mystery.

You can't make this stuff up.

It's just crazy.

My name is moses castillo.

I was with the
los angeles police department

For over 30 years.

I'm a retired detective
supervisor assigned

To robbery homicide division.

April 16th, 1988, Saturday
morning at around 7:00 a.M.,

A local doctor
from glendale named

Dr. Richard boggs called 911.

He said, "I have a patient
that's unconscious.

"I think he's having
a heart attack.

"I'm performing cpr.

Nothing's working."

And he was very frantic.

The paramedics get there,
and the doctor ushers

Them up to the second floor.

My name is robin yocum,
and I'm

A former crime and
investigative reporter

With "the columbus dispatch."

The paramedics find
a body on the floor

Of a small examining room
prone on his back

With a pillow under his feet.

He's very small,
slight build with a beard,

Thinning brown hair.

- The paramedics
assess the scene

And quickly realize
the victim is deceased,

And there's nothing more
they can do.

Soon after, glendale
police arrive on the scene

And question the doctor
about his patient.

- Dr. Richard boggs
identifies the body

As his patient, 46-year-old
melvin eugene hanson,

And that he had been a patient
for several years.

- Dr. Boggs told police

That at 3:30
in the morning mr. Hanson

Had called and left a message
on his answering machine.

- On that voice message,
hanson had indicated

That he was drinking
all night and that he

Had been experiencing
some chest pains,

Difficulty breathing.

- Dr. Boggs got up at 5:00,
checked the message,

Called mr. Hanson, and mr.
Hanson pleaded with dr. Boggs,

"I need to see you right now."

So dr. Boggs agreed right away
to meet him at the office.

Dr. Boggs arrives
at the office a little

Before 6:00 in the morning.

Mr. Hanson is there.

He takes him into
the examining room.

Said he did an ekg
and there was

Nothing wrong with his heart.

- Boggs tells police
that he then told his patient

To rest while he went
to his office to take

Care of some paperwork.

- Dr. Boggs
says that at 6:00 a.M.

He hears a thump.

That's when he finds
hanson on the ground face up

Unresponsive,
and he starts to do cpr.

- But to both
police and paramedics,

Details from the
doctor's story spark

More questions than answers.

- My name is michael fleeman,

And I'm
an investigative reporter.

So police do press him.

They say, "why didn't
you tell your patient

"to go to the emergency room
if he's having chest pains

Early in the morning?"

And dr. Boggs says, "hanson's
a different kind of guy.

"he doesn't trust doctors.

"he only trusts me.

And so, yes,
I agree to treat him."

- Another detail
that seems odd to police

Is the timeline
dr. Boggs maps out.

- Dr. Boggs claims that hanson
collapsed around 6:00 a.M.,

But the 911 call came in
at around 7:00 a.M.

So there's an hour delay
in calling 911,

And the question is, why?

Dr. Boggs claims that he
dialed in 911 three times.

And every time he called,
he would get a busy signal.

Considering that it's
Saturday morning at 6:00 a.M.,

I don't think the calls
are coming in that crazy.

- When investigators
get more details

From first responders
about the state

Of gene hanson's body,
their suspicions only grow.

- When the paramedics arrived,

The body was cold
to the touch, he's stiff,

And that shows that he
has been dead for a while.

- The scene is unusual.

The patrol officers say,
"hey, why don't we bring in

A coroner investigator?"

My name is craig r. Harvey,
and I'm a retired chief

Of investigations
for the los angeles county

Coroner's office.

When the glendale
police department called,

Our first reaction was, "why
are you calling the coroner?"

You have a man with
a known medical history

Who dies
in his doctor's office.

The doctor is present
at the time.

But the police department
felt that there

Were suspicious circumstances
surrounding the death.

- If foul play was involved,

It's up to the
coroner's investigator

To find and document any such
evidence at the crime scene.

- When I'm doing
my body exam,

I'm looking for injection
sites, wounds, healed scars,

Those kinds of things.

I'm looking for any petechial
hemorrhaging in the eye

To see if there's
any indication

That this person could
have been strangled.

But I didn't see any of that
when I examined the body.

- After a cursory
on-site exam,

The coroner's investigator
concludes that gene hanson

Likely died of natural causes,

But just like
the first responders,

He has questions about
the timeline of his death.

- The state of rigor mortis

Was fairly advanced
for somebody

Who allegedly had
just died probably

Within the last hour or so.

- The coroner's investigator

Digs into the
dead man's pockets

To see if he can learn more.

- And then I found a little--

Like a card wallet.

It wasn't even a full-blown
wallet like most people carry.

But there was no photo id.

There was no driver's license
or anything that had a photo

Of melvin eugene hanson.

It had some credit cards in it

And a birth certificate
for melvin eugene hanson.

- This date of birth

Giving him the age of 47.

- Did he look as old
as the birth certificate

Would indicate?

No, not really.

But I'll give him
the benefit of the doubt.

This is los angeles.

People change hair color,
people change

How they appear all the time.

The birth certificate
gave me a starting point

To start trying to figure out
their next of kin.

- But the lack
of a photo id

Raises a few questions
for investigators.

- Who carries their
birth certificate with them

In their wallet?

Between the birth certificate
and dr. Boggs

Getting three busy signals
back to back while calling 911

It appears to be
very suspicious.

- There's a lot
of really odd circumstances

That are just not quite right
about the scene,

And I don't think there
is any answer to it

Other than dr. Boggs was lying.

- Coming up--

- When they discovered
that dr. Boggs

Had a very dark side--

- Now this case
is international news.

- A woman calls the
authorities and says,

"there's a skin condition
that he has

On his most private of parts."

- This is now a major
fraud investigation.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- Glendale police
suspect that neurologist

Richard boggs knows more
than he's saying

About the recent death
of one of his patients,

A man he identified
as 47-year-old

Melvin eugene hanson.

- So the police send the body
to the coroner's office

For an autopsy,
and then they visit dr. Boggs

At his apartment so they
can listen to the message

Gene left on his
answering machine.

- Dr. Boggs plays
the recording.

- And lo and behold,
at 3:30 in the morning,

There's a call
from a gentleman identifying

Himself as gene hanson who
says, "I'm having chest pains.

Please call me
as soon as possible."

- So what
the doctor has reported

Is now being corroborated
by this recording.

- Verifying hanson's call

Removes some of the suspicions
about boggs' story.

But until they get
the autopsy results,

Police can't be 100% sure that
hanson died a natural death.

- So the next morning,

Melvin eugene hanson
is assigned

To one of our senior
deputy medical examiners.

The toxicology report
comes back,

And the blood alcohol level
was 0.29.

- That's almost four times
the legal limit.

He also had a damaged liver,
which would not be unusual,

Because dr. Boggs
had reported

That he was
a very heavy drinker.

- It appears
that melvin eugene hanson,

The deceased, died of
nonspecific focal myocarditis,

Which is an inflamed
heart muscle

And probably related to
his years of alcohol use.

There's no smoking gun
that would indicate there's

Some sort of foul play.

The death is closed
as a natural death.

- With the cause of death
finally established,

The coroner looks for someone
in hanson's life

To relay the tragic news.

- Gene hanson did not have
a next of kin listed

In his medical records
at dr. Boggs' office,

But he did have a person
to contact in case

Of emergency, john hawkins.

- So the coroner reaches
john hawkins.

He's in columbus, ohio.

He gets the news,
and he sounds devastated.

- Police learn from john
that gene hanson was

A classic la character,
an ambitious man who moved

West to follow his dreams.

- Gene hanson is originally

From the florida panhandle,
raised by a single mom.

And then in the late
'70s, early '80s,

Gene hanson takes a job
at an upscale department store

In los angeles and becomes

One of their top shoe buyers.

Gene struggled with his
sexuality his whole life,

And he's finally coming
to terms with the fact

That he's gay.

And soon he is a fixture
at gay bars

In the west hollywood
section of los angeles.

Then in 1981,
gene hanson's in a gay bar

And he strikes up
a conversation

With this extremely
handsome man,

And this man is john hawkins.

- John hawkins was
18 years old, and gene hanson

Was in his 40s.

They developed
a relationship right away

And eventually became
romantically involved.

And in my opinion, gene hanson
fell in love with hawkins.

- Always a romantic at heart,

47-year-old gene would have
been happy to settle down,

But john was still
young and free

And didn't want to commit.

But their enduring friendship
blossomed into a business

Relationship
three years later

When they decided to start
a new exciting business

Venture in ohio.

- What they want to do is, they
want to take a los angeles

Store called pure sweat,
and they thought,

"well, let's bring this same
kind of a business to ohio."

- John had come
to columbus, ohio,

And liked that
college town vibe

And decided
this would be a good place

To start a business.

- But they can't use
pure sweat,

'cause that's taken.

So they called
their store just sweats.

It's a clothing store.

These were like
workout clothes.

You got to remember that gyms
and workouts were really

Taking off in the 1980s.

So it's huge.

Stores open one
right after the other.

Gene handles the
business side of it,

And good-looking john
is on the marketing side.

And by 1987, two years later,
they've got 22 outlets

And $10 million in revenue.

- But just when it seemed

Like life couldn't
get any better,

Fate dealt gene
a terrible blow.

- In late 1987, gene told
co-workers he was sick

And dying, said he had
a bad heart and doesn't have

Much time left.

He's having chest pains.

And so gene hanson
comes back out to la

To see his personal doctor,
dr. Richard boggs,

For these heart ailments.

- But just two weeks
after he moved back to la,

The successful entrepreneur
is dead on dr. Boggs' floor,

Leaving his former partner
to grieve alone

At the helm of just sweats.

- From columbus, ohio,

Hawkins approves
what gene wanted per the will,

And that was
to cremate the body.

- Three days later,
john hawkins comes to la

And he claims the ashes,

Says he spreads them
in the ocean,

And he heads back
to columbus, ohio.

- So at this point,

The coroner's involvement
is done.

We've closed the case;
we move on to the next one.

[airplane engine roaring]

- Three months pass.

Then in mid-July,
glendale police get a call

About a life insurance payout.

- It's a financial investigator
for this insurance company

And she says, john hawkins was
not only hanson's emergency

Contact,
but he also happens to be

The beneficiary of
gene hanson's life insurance

Policy of $1 million.

- There's a lot of businesses
that take out policies

On each other in case of death.

So I don't think
that was highly unusual.

- But then the phone call
takes a turn.

- The financial investigator
for the insurance company

Decides to say,
"hey, can you send us

A copy of the photograph
of the person who died?"

- So they wanted some sort of
photographic comparison

That would assure them
that they had

Paid off on the right policy.

- The insurance adjuster

Found a dmv record that had a
photo of melvin eugene hanson.

Glendale police said, "well,

We have a picture
of the corpse."

So glendale police sends
a photo of the dead man

To the insurance adjuster.

- And when they look at the
photograph of the deceased

And they look at the
photograph of the person

In the dmv records--

- It's not the same man.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- Glendale police
have just learned

That the body id'd
as melvin eugene hanson

Might not be him at all.

So to find out for certain
who died in dr. Boggs' office,

Detectives compare
the dead man's fingerprints

To gene hanson's.

- The coroner's had taken
fingerprints of the corpse

Before it was cremated.

So the insurance
company compared them

To the fingerprint
gene hanson had given

When he got his
california driver's license.

They were not the same.

- So now the question is,
who is this deceased body?

- And why did dr. Boggs
and the papers on the body

Identify him as gene hanson?

- At the scene,
when I examined the body,

All I had was
a birth certificate

That said melvin eugene hanson,

And all I had was
the assertion by dr. Boggs

To the police that
this was melvin eugene hanson,

A longtime patient of his,

And that's how
the id was established.

At that time,
I didn't have something that

Would put a face to a name.

- So we don't know

If this is mistaken identity,
a paperwork snafu,

Fraud, who knows.

- Since the autopsy
didn't report any signs

Of foul play,
the glendale police department

Defers the case
to the coroner's office.

They create a special
investigations unit.

Their first task--find a match
for their new john doe.

- Once it's determined
that our dead guy

Isn't who we thought
the dead guy is,

Those fingerprints now
are going to be sent

To various databases.

But in 1988,
databases were not interlinked.

A lot of times we're dealing
with hand searches.

- The task force
from the coroner's office

Also joins forces
with the state

Of california's
insurance fraud investigators,

Who work another angle.

- They requested
all the missing persons

Reports that they could get
from la county from the date

That the death occurred to
current for a possible match.

- While the search
for the john doe's real name

Continues,
investigators are determined

To get to the bottom of
the false identification,

And dr. Richard boggs
is in their crosshairs.

- Dr. Boggs identified
the body as that

Of melvin eugene hanson.

So investigators
go to dr. Boggs

And tell him that this
wasn't gene hanson.

- Dr. Boggs says,
"I thought it was hanson."

He takes the position that he's
a victim in this whole thing.

- I saw him,
maybe, six or seven

Times during those years.

Individual who I thought
was hanson was coming in

Complaining of chest pain,
was coming in several times,

And then ended up
dropping dead in the office.

- Investigators
must determine,

Was dr. Boggs lying,

Or was it possible
that the dead man had

Stolen gene hanson's identity

And been posing as him
for years?

- At this point there are
some odd circumstances,

But there isn't anything that
proves boggs to be a liar.

- So the investigative team

Moves on to the next
potential person

With answers, eugene hanson's
beneficiary, john hawkins.

- So investigators

Are keeping an eye
on dr. Boggs,

But they also follow up
with john hawkins,

The guy who collected
the million dollars

On gene hanson's
life insurance policy.

They call him
in columbus, ohio.

He says, "look,
I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Tomorrow comes, and they
can't reach john hawkins.

♪ ♪

Nobody knows
where john hawkins is.

- Investigators
are having no better luck

Finding their last possible
source of answers,

The real gene hanson.

- Gene isn't around, and nobody
seems to know where he went

Or if he was even alive.

- So with the money gone

And the two major
people now missing,

The coroner's office is trying
to identify their john doe.

And the insurance company
is also now in red alert.

This becomes
a major fraud investigation.

- By now, the media
has latched onto the story.

Reporter robin yocum
from "the columbus dispatch"

Calls just sweats headquarters
to see if they know how

To find the two missing men.

- In August of 1988,
we contacted

Their corporate counsel,

And nobody knew
where they were.

They said gene had left
late the previous year,

They thought he was dying, and
we don't know if he was dead,

And john had just
recently disappeared

With the corporate counsel
trying to keep it afloat.

- The media attention
prompts investigators

To take a closer look
at the just sweats business.

And they quickly learn
that in recent years,

Although just sweats
was a cash cow,

The company was
mysteriously bleeding money.

- By 1987, the books
aren't quite adding up.

Money is missing.

And then in the
late fall of 1987,

Gene hanson and john hawkins
took out those life insurance

Policies on each other.

- With both hanson
and hawkins in the wind,

Investigators
continue the search

To identify
their unnamed victim

And find a motive
for his murder.

- Was this a scam to collect
on an insurance policy?

So now the question is,
was this a murder

For financial gain?

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- Fraud investigators
in glendale, california,

Are on the hunt
for two missing men

They believe defrauded

An insurance company
and may have committed

Murder in the process.

- John hawkins and
gene hanson are being accused

Of fraud in a $1 million
insurance policy,

And the allegation
was that john

Had collected a $1 million on
a body that wasn't gene hanson.

Somebody died
or was murdered

And put on that doctor's floor,
and at this point,

Nobody still knows who he is.

- But in September 1988,
4 and 1/2 months

After the mysterious
and unnerving death,

Fraud investigators'
work pays off.

- After searching over
150 missing persons cases,

Investigators
from the insurance company

Finally found one that
matched the description

Of the person in dr. Boggs'
office that was found dead.

And that missing person
is someone

Named ellis henry greene.

♪ ♪

- This one stood out,
because he lived in the area,

And he somewhat
physically matched

The description of the corpse.

His aunt had filed a missing
persons report with the la

Police department
right around the time

When the body was found
on dr. Boggs' floor.

A few days earlier,
he told his aunt

He was going
to long beach for a party,

But then he never came back,

And no one knew
where he had gone.

- Investigators
contact ellis' aunt

About the somber next steps.

- The aunt came in
and identified

The photo of the corpse
as that of her nephew.

- But the body has already
been misidentified once.

This time, investigators
insist on a fingerprint match

To make absolutely sure
they have the right man.

- Ellis henry greene

Had served in the military, so
there were those fingerprints,

And that's what we were able
to finally match

The fingerprints
from the body to.

And now we knew the dead
person was ellis henry greene.

♪ ♪

- As law enforcement
shifts gears

To pursue this new lead,
local reporter, robin yocum,

Gets a tip and starts
doing his own digging.

- Ellis greene's parents
are from a place

Called portsmouth, ohio.

So I get one of the
phone books of portsmouth,

And I'm going
to call the family.

The mother told me she hadn't
seen ellis in four years.

He grew up in a little
town of powhatan point

In eastern ohio.

His mother told me he had
dreams of opening a bakery.

- He would say,
"I want to open

My own cheesecake business."

Ellis greene always
had this dream.

And I think it's a dream that
came with him to los angeles.

- But he never
found his footing.

- In 1985, he moves to la,

And by all accounts,
ellis greene spirals.

He drinks heavily.

He has trouble
holding down a job.

He can barely make ends meet.

And in April 1988,
ellis is working

For a friend in a tax
preparer's office just

Helping with the paperwork.

- As investigators
learn more about greene,

They still need to answer
the most important question.

How did he wind up
as the person first

Identified as gene hanson?

- Investigators find out

That a few days before
ellis greene goes missing,

He told his friend that
recently he made what he

Says are two friends in a bar.

- They had started talking
one night,

And miraculously
these two guys are

Very interested in investing
in ellis' cheesecake business.

- And, you know,
he's going to make it in la.

He's going to be
the cheesecake titan.

So on April 15, 1988,
ellis tells his friend

That he and these two friends

Are going to meet
at another bar later.

- So he meets these two people
in the bullet,

Which was a gay bar
in north hollywood.

And when I interviewed
the bartender,

He said he wouldn't
serve ellis,

Because he was so intoxicated.

Ellis greene leaves
the bullet in this cab,

And they drop him off at the
office of the accounting firm

Where he worked,
because he was sleeping

In one of the spare rooms.

- Then the next morning,

The deceased is lying on the
floor at the doctor's office.

- When investigators
circle back to dr. Boggs,

He continues to maintain that
the man who died in his office

Was his patient of
several years, gene hanson.

At the same time,
the insurance company

That paid out $1 million
on eugene hanson's

Suspicious death
hasn't given up on trying

To get their money back.

So they unleash
a secret weapon.

- I'm dino tripodis,
a former private investigator.

When I got involved
in the investigation

For the insurance company,
the goal was find john hawkins.

And it seemed like the only
person who had any information

In respects to where
he might be going

Was his roommate,
erik desando.

Erik desando was not talking
to anybody of authority--

Police, investigators.

He was, however, seemingly
enjoying talking to the media.

So I contacted
erik desando and told him

I was a reporter,
that I had to find out as much

As I could about john hawkins.

September 17, 1988,
we had a long, long session

In respects to the history of
john hawkins before he split

And left columbus, ohio.

"the roommate says that john
is a great scam artist,

"that he is a chameleon, and is
able to adapt his personality

To any given situation."

- Desando tells
dino tripodis that hawkins

Could be anywhere.

But there's one thing
he's sure of.

- Erik revealed to me

That john hawkins admitted that
gene hanson was still alive.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- With the help
of a private investigator,

Detectives
in glendale, california,

Have just discovered that
gene hanson faked his death

In order to share
a windfall of insurance money

Paid to his awol
business partner,

John hawkins.

- John hawkins' roommate,
erik, revealed to me

That john hawkins admitted

That gene hanson
was still alive.

- Erik told the media
the same thing.

- The theory behind
the case now

Is that hanson and hawkins

Tried to pull off
a monster insurance scam

And in that process

Likely murdered a man
named ellis greene.

I said, "well,
what are you going to do?"

And he said,
"I'm going to leave,

"and I'll probably
never be back.

"I'm going to get
my money tomorrow

And cruise out of town."

- Greene's body is found

In dr. Boggs' office,
was passed off as hanson,

And john hawkins collected
on his million-dollar

Life insurance policy.

- With hawkins
and hanson still on the run,

Investigators turned
their attention

To dr. Boggs' personal life.

- And they discovered
that dr. Boggs

Was one person in the public,
but he had a very dark side

That was very private.

- He was a very
well-respected physician

In town,
married, father of three,

Lived in a very nice house.

Just had the ideal life.

- He was the founder
of one of the very

First hmos in california.

He was even recognized
by president nixon

For his accomplishments.

- But behind the scenes,
his life is crumbling.

- Dr. Boggs is coming to terms
with the fact

That he's gay,
and it's causing a lot

Of confusion and anxiety,
stress in his life.

- He starts being loose

With his prescriptions, drugs,
the money, the party scene.

So he's able to have access
to prescriptions,

And he did freely
to anybody who

He wanted to be friends with.

- He becomes sloppy
and erratic.

And the malpractice suits
start piling up.

- He lost his wife, the kids,
the house, his business

Started going under.

It was a mess.

- And at the same time
as dr. Boggs is

Accepting his sexuality,
he becomes

A fixture in the gay community
at the bars of west hollywood.

- According
to john's roommate,

John hawkins and dr. Richard
boggs met at a gay bar.

- Dr. Boggs fell in love
with hawkins.

Here's this young guy,
good-looking,

And likes to be around
dr. Boggs.

Dr. Boggs will do
anything for hawkins.

- Hawkins' roommate,
erik, reveals that eventually

Hawkins and hanson
hatched a plan that would

Snag them a big easy payoff.

- But to get
a life insurance policy,

You need a body.

- The story from
john hawkins to erik

Was, dr. Boggs
was going to find

A body that looked like gene
hanson from a private morgue.

There was no initial plan
to murder anybody.

But that didn't work out.

They don't get the body
from the morgue.

Enter one ellis greene.

What ellis greene didn't know
is that he looked just enough

Like gene hanson
and that life was

Going to take a deadly turn.

- Investigators think

That ellis greene was
murdered and his body

Passed off as hanson.

- It's a chilling theory.

But to prove it, investigators
not only need hard evidence;

They need to apprehend
hawkins and hanson.

So they put dr. Boggs
under surveillance

And alert federal
authorities about the two

Missing fugitives.

Then, nine months
after greene's murder,

The case gets
a surprising boost.

- On January 29, 1989,

At a dallas-fort worth
airport two customs agents

See this person who was acting
very suspicious,

Very nervous that was flying
out from mexico.

- He's got
a pretty bad toupee on.

They think he's smuggling drugs
into the country from mexico.

So the customs officers said,
"well, can we in your bag?"

- He had $16,000 in cash
that he had not declared.

He had an overdue dade county
florida library book

On how to change your identity

And 15 or 16 different pieces
of identification,

One of which was the driver's
license of ellis henry greene.

- Customs agents
take the man's fingerprints.

- Turned out to be gene hanson,
the fugitive on this case.

Gene hanson was arrested
on the spot in dallas.

- Investigators find out
he'd been on the run.

In mexico, he's running out
of cash, he's back to the u.S.

To close a real estate deal
to get some money.

- Once hanson
is under arrest,

All eyes turn to dr. Boggs.

- So you did not kill
ellis greene?

- No, of course not.

When everything comes out,
I will be vindicated.

- Detectives
begin desperately searching

For evidence to justify
the doctor's arrest.

After weeks of scouring
the phone records

Of all three men,
a bleak picture of conspiracy

Begins to take shape.

- At this point,
investigators also

Are able to link gene hanson,
john hawkins,

And richard boggs with phone
records,

Because before the murder

And after the murder, there's
this flurry of phone calls

Between the three of them.

- Also there's a phone call
made from the payphone

At the rawhide bar, the place
where ellis greene had gone

Before he ends up
at the bullet,

And that call was six minutes
to dr. Boggs' office.

Speculation is that gene hanson
had a very drunk

Ellis henry greene,
and he was going to bring him

Over to dr. Boggs' office.

- So approximately

Three weeks later,
glendale police

Rushed the home of dr. Boggs.

- They arrested dr. Boggs
on 10 charges--

Murder for financial gain,
conspiracy to commit murder,

Insurance fraud.

I mean, they were
throwing the book at him.

- So the cops
now have hanson and boggs.

But where is hawkins?

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- By the spring of 1989,

Police have apprehended two
out of three suspects

In the plot to murder
ellis henry greene.

While glendale police search
for the elusive john hawkins,

La county prosecutors
bring dr. Richard boggs

To trial in may 1990.

- The prosecution's theory

Is that gene hanson
and richard boggs

Somehow brought ellis henry
greene into boggs office

And murdered him.

- So he thinking was that
they met him in a bar,

Ellis was probably drunk, and
they strike up a conversation,

Ellis tells them
that he wants to start

A cheesecake business,
and they're

Suddenly interested in backing
him, and he gets excited.

What we don't know is how
ellis greene died on the floor

Of dr. Boggs' office.

- In court,
when I testified, I said

That when I examined the body,
ellis henry greene

Had a pillow under his feet,
so it's possible

That the pillow could have been
used to suffocate mr. Greene.

But it was the nonspecific
focal myocarditis,

Which ultimately
is blamed for the death.

- After he was murdered,

Prosecutors think
that boggs went home,

And then we know that gene
hanson makes the 3:30 a.M.

Phone call to dr. Boggs.

At this point, we think
boggs returned to the office,

Where the corpse has already
been laying on the ground,

And calls 911.

- Shortly thereafter,

There's a record that
hanson leaves california

And heads to florida.

Meanwhile, john hawkins is
on standby in columbus, ohio,

Awaiting the notification call
so that he can swoop in,

Arrange the cremation
of the body

To destroy the evidence.

- My understanding was john got
most of the money, dr. Boggs

Didn't get anything,
because once the house of cards

Started to fall, I think it
was every man for himself.

- It's an elaborate scam
that might have gone

Unpunished were it not
for the phone records

Connecting boggs to hawkins
and hanson

At the time of the murder.

It's enough to convince boggs
to change his story

About his involvement.

- Dr. Boggs' whole defense
is that, he says,

"I didn't kill anybody;
I don't know.

"the body was there.

"they threatened to out me
as gay if I didn't take

"part in their insurance scam.

I was a victim too."

The jury did not buy it,
and dr. Richard boggs

Is convicted of murder
for financial gain,

Conspiracy to commit murder,
insurance fraud,

And other felony charges.

- Dr. Boggs
is sentenced to life

Without chance of parole.

- But while dr. Boggs
is hauled off to prison

And gene hanson awaits trial,
john hawkins is still mia.

- Then in July of 1991,

Oprah does a show
about the show

"america's most wanted."

Well, one of the photos
they put up is john hawkins,

And a woman in amsterdam
freaks out,

Because she had been dating
john hawkins.

But she didn't know him
as john hawkins.

She thought she had been
dating a canadian businessman

Named bradley bryant.

So she calls
the american authorities

And said,
"I know where he is.

♪ ♪

He's on a red catamaran
called the "carpe diem"

Headed towards sardinia.

They asked her, "can you give
us any identifying marks?

And she said, "there's a skin
condition where you'll see

Like a lack of pigmentation."

And john had this on his
most private of parts,

And that was one of the pieces
of information

The authorities
had never released.

- On August 2nd of 1991,
the fbi surprised john hawkins

On the dock in sardinia.

- He tries to pass himself off
as an irish sea captain.

They said, "well,
we think you're the american

"john hawkins, and we're going
to find out here

"pretty quickly.

Drop trou,
and let's take a look."

- They arrested him
on the spot for murder.

- He is extradited
to the united states.

- In April of 1995, now
seven years after the murder

Of ellis henry greene,
the just sweats

Partners are sweating bullets.

- They're tried together.

Hanson was alleged to have
helped kill ellis greene.

Hawkins, because he
was in columbus, ohio,

Couldn't have been involved
in the actual killing

But was charged with being part
of the conspiracy.

- Hawkins and hanson,
both convicted.

Gene hanson gets life
without chance of parole.

John hawkins got 25 to life.

- What I don't understand
is the money.

With the insurance paying out,
and there was a decent amount

Of cash, but there was more
money in the operation

Of just sweats.

John hawkins wanted
to lead a good life

But did not want to put
the good hard work into it.

- In a case with three
cunning predators

And such an elaborate scam,
it's easy to forget

That in the eye of the storm
was ellis henry greene,

A man whose own
hopes for the future

Were callously cut short.

- Ellis greene
was a guy who didn't

Have any steady relationships.

He's the ideal victim.

- But he had dreams
like everybody else.

He was manipulated
in the cruelest possible way.

He should not be forgotten.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪