The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver has rejected Melvin Dummar's latest attempt to claim a piece of Howard Hughes' fortune. The court ruled Friday that Dummar's case was sufficiently litigated during a 1978 jury trial.
Dummar claims to have saved Hughes' life in the Nevada desert in 1967 and then to have been named in Hughes' will as a one-sixteenth beneficiary of his empire, or $156 million. But the 1978 trial determined that the handwritten will was a fake.
In 2006, Dummar took another shot at the case after pilot Robert Deiro came forward with a story of repeatedly flying Hughes from Las Vegas to a rural brothel around the same time as Dummar allegedly picked up the billionaire near the brothel south of Goldfield. Deiro said that during his last flight with Hughes, the pilot fell asleep at the brothel while waiting for Hughes and when he woke up, Hughes was gone. The theory is that Hughes left the brothel for some reason during the night and was left for dead in the desert a few miles away, where Dummar picked him up and drove him back to Las Vegas.
Many people who worked closely with Hughes at the time insist that he never left the penthouse floor of the Desert Inn Hotel between 1966 and 1970, and they dismiss Dummar's and Deiro's stories as impossible.
In my Hughes book, I have a long chapter dissecting the Dummar story. I interviewed Dummar for several hours in a motel room in Tonopah, during which he recited the story he has told so many times over the years. After the book came out in February, I spent several hours with Deiro as well, during which he told me his story. I plan to post a summary of that latter conversation on this blog soon. I think I'll also call Deiro again and get his reaction to the appeals court ruling.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
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2 comments:
Geoff - in this article you say: "Many people who worked closely with Hughes at the time insist that he never left the penthouse floor of the Desert Inn Hotel between 1966 and 1970, and they dismiss Dummar's and Deiro's stories as impossible."
You are incorrect -ALL the people who worked closely with Hughes say he never left the penthouse floor, not MANY, as you state. There is a HUGE difference in these two statements. Did you interview ANYONE who worked closely with Hughes at the time who said he had ever left the Desert Inn during that time? I don't think so.
Paul B. Winn
Well, Mr. Geoff and others,
Considering the FACT that when the Desert Inn was destroyed, they found a staircase which was secret to only Howard, and considering the FACT that Howard ordered food and drink and then ordered he be left alone for days at a time, It is not only likely but highly probable that Hughes was visiting not only the brothel, but also the Spring Ranch, (and God knows where else)as the land lady next door, Bonnie, states that Hughes was a REGULAR and always ordered the same thing. He also often stayed in a room at the Bonnie Ranch (which handily was next door (about 1/4 mile from Jean's digs. (just a 5 minute moonlight walk and he could come and go without even his own employees knowing, and also avoid press camped out at the gate). Interesting that so many want to paint him crazy and a recluse, when he obviously often outsmarted them all and maybe even after he's dead, he's still doing it. His foresight was legendary, Wonder what he's still got up his sleeve?????? lol
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