Hanson Hawkins Boggs
Life insurance scams are tough to carry off, unless the deceased's doctor is in on the plot. Gene Hanson and John Hawkins were con men who had successfully carried off smaller insurance frauds when they decided to fake the death of Hanson. Dr. Boggs, a California physician, was an old friend and drug dealer. Hanson and Hawkins had started a successful business and taken out large life insurance policies on one another. Several months later, Hanson disappeared with some of the profits. Hawkins told creditors that he and Hanson had dissolved their partnership because Hanson was ill. Shortly thereafter, Boggs called L.A. police to report that a patient had died in his office.

When police arrived, Boggs gave them the man's belongings, which identified him as Gene Hanson. Boggs also identified Hanson, saying that he had a heart condition. The doctor in charge of the autopsy took Boggs' word about Hanson's condition and health history, million-dollar insurance payoff. But the insurance company wanted to tie up loose ends as a matter of routine. They sent a detective to interview Boggs, and everything appeared to be in order. Then, as a matter of course, they obtained Hanson's driver's license. The photo did not resemble the autopsy photo. Fingerprinting revealed the corpse to be Ellis Green, who had disappeared from a gay bar the month before Hanson's death. Hanson was found living very well as Ellis Green. Hawkins was located in Italy through the television show ‘America's Most Wanted’. Dr. Boggs was convicted of murder and received a life sentence. Hawkins was found guilty of fraud and conspiracy and is serving a 25-year term in prison.

Black Dahlia
The case of the Black Dahlia - aka Elizabeth Short - remains one of the most sensational unsolved murder cases in the United States. Short's nude, sexually assaulted and dismembered body was discovered in a vacant lot near Hollywood in 1947. Though there were dozens of leads, no charges were ever brought. A connection between Short's death and the earlier murder of socialite Georgette Bauerdorf was explored, but no one could locate the tall soldier with whom Bauerdorf had last been seen. About a year after Short's body was found, an informant came to the police with a tape recording that he said he got from a man named Arnold Smith, who said a sex pervert named Al Morrison killed Dahlia. He gave a very detailed account of the killing. Police suspected that Smith and Morrison were actually the same person, and found that the Sheriff's Department was also investigating Smith in connection with Bauerdorf murder. A meeting was set up between the informant and Smith, at which time the police planned to pick Smith up. Unfortunately, a few days before the meeting, Smith passed out in his bed while smoking and died in the resulting fire. The case of the Black Dahlia was never solved.