Insured for Murder

by Robin Yocum, Catherine Candinsky

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 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.

Genres: Mystery

286 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1993

About the author

Robin Yocum is the author of the award-winning, critically acclaimed novel, Favorite Sons (June 2012, Arcade Publishing). Favorite Sons was named the 2011 USA Book News Book of the Year for Mystery/Suspense, and is a Choose to Read Ohio selection for 2013-14. His latest novel, The Essay, was released in October 2012 by Arcade. He also is the author of Dead Before Deadline, a compilation of stories from his days as a crime beat reporter with the Columbus Dispatch, and Insured for Murder, which he co-authored with Dispatch colleague Catherine Candisky. Robin joined the Columbus Dispatch as a reporter in 1980 and worked at the paper for eleven years, spending four years on the crime beat, followed by a post as senior reporter on the investigative desk. He won more than 30 local, state and national awards while at the paper. Yocum has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University.

Reviews

[Sophia Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book secondhand after watching the story on Forensic Files and a previous owner has written “Not worth reading! Very boring!” on the inside cover, but this book was anything but boring. I have never read a nonfiction story written in the narrative way like this one was, but I throughly enjoyed it. This is such a fascinating and almost unbelievable story and this book is very well written by the two reporters who helped bring these men to justice by broadcasting their story in their local paper.

[Becky Schreiber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Writing!

I was the investigator for Gene Hanson’s attorney in Los Angeles and I can say the writers did an excellent job of following this case and writing this very accurate book!

[Sandy Morgan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not keep up with the story, it seemed to bounce back & forth too much for what I like to read. I actually skipped several chapters for this reason. Maybe I'll try reading it again sometime

[deLille · Rating 2 out of 5]

I went to a book signing for this book and read it when I lived in Columbus, OH during the early 90s. I had followed this story in the Columbus Dispatch as it unfolded, and found the entire saga to be quite intriguing. I couldn't wait for the book to come out because the story had all the elements needed for a wonderful crime novel: a suspicious murder, a Val Kilmer look-a-like playboy, an international manhunt, an insurance scam, etc. However, the two journalists who wrote the book got bogged down with the factual reporting of the events, rather than weaving a suspenseful tale of mystery and intrigue. They took a fascinating, horrific and evil tale... and made it boring.

[Jannice · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an ok read. Kind of disappointing coming from two newspaper reporters who authored it. I read it because the brother of a friend was involved in a roundabout way so I wanted to see what it was about. Scary what these guys did!

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pair of Columbus, Ohio newspaper reporters get to the bottom of a bizarre insurance scam. Fascinating stuff, but as noted in many reviews on Amazon: the eBook version is loaded with typos and missing punctuation, often making it a challenge to read.