Witness in Doctor’s Murder Hearing Tells of Stun-Gun Attack

A Hollywood computer operator testified Thursday that a Glendale physician--accused in a murder-for-insurance scheme--attacked him with a stun-gun one night in 1988, but he managed to escape without permanent injury.

Prosecutors allege that Dr. Richard P. Boggs attempted to kill the witness, Barry C. Pomeroy, two weeks before the physician succeeded in slaying another man.

In addition to attempting to murder Pomeroy, Boggs, 55, is accused of killing Ellis H. Greene, 32, a San Fernando Valley accountant, and then telling police that the dead man was Melvin Eugene Hanson. The alleged murder plot was intended to cash in on about $1.5 million worth of life insurance on Hanson.

Partner Disappears

Authorities say that Boggs told Glendale police on April 16, 1988, that Hanson--a Columbus, Ohio, businessman and a long-time patient--had died of a heart attack in his medical offices.

Several months later, Hanson’s business partner, John B. Hawkins, collected on Hanson’s insurance policies and disappeared, after having cremated the body of Greene.

Hawkins, who is still at large, and Hanson were owners of Just Sweats Inc., a chain of sports clothing stores in Ohio and Kentucky--which is in bankruptcy.

Hanson was arrested on a fugitive warrant at the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport in April, 1989, as he was returning from Mexico, sporting a face-lift and carrying numerous false identification cards as well as about $14,000 in undeclared cash. He is fighting extradition from Ohio.

Boggs has pleaded innocent and has steadfastly maintained that he was duped by Hanson.

Authorities have called the alleged murder-for-insurance plot “a near-perfect” crime that came to light only after an insurance claims agent questioned the identity of the dead man.

Trial Ruling Due

Pomeroy was the first witness called by Deputy Dist. Atty. Albert H. MacKenzie in a preliminary hearing that began Thursday afternoon. At the end of the hearing, which is expected to last several months, Los Angeles Municipal Judge Patti Jo McKay is to rule on whether Boggs should stand trial in Superior Court. If tried and convicted, Boggs could get the death penalty.

Pomeroy, 44, testified Thursday that he met Boggs--who identified himself at the time as Peter Richards--in late March, 1988, at a Hollywood bar.

They met again about a week later and drove around Glendale to admire the architecture of the new high-rises in the city’s rapidly developing commercial area, Pomeroy said. Then they went to Boggs’ downtown Glendale medical office at about 9 p.m., where the physician gave Pomeroy an electrocardiogram, Pomeroy told the court.

As they were about to leave, Pomeroy said, Boggs lunged at him “and started jabbing me in the back” with what turned out to be a stun-gun, leaving bruises and a cut on his neck.

Went to Police

During an ensuing struggle, Boggs dropped the stun-gun and apologized for his actions, for which the doctor said he was undergoing therapy, Pomeroy testified. Afterward, Pomeroy said, he accepted two sedatives from Boggs and allowed the doctor to drive him home. The witness said he reported the attack to police about a week later.

Prosecutors say Boggs intended to kill Pomeroy and pass his body off as that of Hanson. Several weeks after the attack on Pomeroy, Boggs allegedly murdered Greene, 32, in his Glendale office. The coroner initially ruled that Greene had died of heart failure, but authorities now believe he was slain.

One of Boggs’ defense lawyers, Larry M. Bakman, said after the court session Thursday that the injuries suffered by Pomeroy, who has twice been arrested for battery and is an admitted recovering alcoholic, were not inflicted by Boggs.