A Rebuttal From Greg Magnesen
After I reviewed The Investigation (here and here), I had a few e-mail exchanges with Greg Magnesen (the author's son) and Robert Deiro (the author's key witness). While my review wasn't the most positive, Mr. Magnesen and Mr. Deiro have always been very cordial.
After my post on Wednesday about the return of Melvin Dummar, I received another e-mail from Greg Magnesen, who graciously agreed to allow me to post it as a rebuttal:
I noticed a new blog on your site. I suppose it is not too surprising given the new developments. Just thought I would comment on the points you brought up in the latest installment.
As to #1- Mutually exclusive ways to put Hughes on the road--
The outing to the Mizpah and subsequent search was a completely separate occasion of Hughes leaving (with employees and aides- thereby making their assertions in court that Hughes never left his penthouse perjury, and the destroying of the records from that time period evidence tampering). The event when Melvin picked Hughes up was when Deiro flew Hughes to the Cottontail Ranch- a completely separate event (also proving there were witnesses to him leaving). Deiro has also said that he took Hughes out flying on other occasions, not only to brothels, but on practice approaches in scouting locations for a supersonic airport Hughes was thinking of building in Southern Nevada.
#2- Deiro's story
Deiro was like most other people in thinking that Dummar's story was comical at best. It was not until the Las Vegas Review Journal published an article mentioning the connection between the Dummar-Hughes incident and the proximity to the Cottontail Ranch that he started to realize his own role in the events. He was told that Hughes left with someone, so he flew a few circles in his plane, and went home. Whether or not taking his boss to a brothel is appropriate is beside the point. When Hughes said jump, his employees lept with all they were worth or would find themselves in a much less lucrative position. (Just a quick example- Employees found out Baskin Robbins was discontinuing Banana Nut Ice Cream- Hughes favorite at the time- so they bought up as much as they could out of fear of the repercussions, only to have him change his favorite to vanilla shortly thereafter). You did not question Mr. Hughes if you were in his employ. He was weird, and did whatever he wanted. Why did Deiro circle? Since Hughes did not come with anyone but him, he may have thought they were mistaken and Hughes did not leave with someone else. He did not see him anywhere nearby in the desert, so headed home- thinking maybe he did leave with someone else.#3- '67 incident=validity of will
As I stated in a previous email- the '67 incident only adds to the evidence supporting the validity of the will. In his investigation, my dad spoke with one of the living jurors who did not remember tesitimony from an aide about Hughes actually leaving. The foreman of the jury had typewritten notes each night and handed them out the next day, and this testimony was left out of the typed notes as far as he could remember. This juror said the jury's decision was based almost entirely on whether or not Melvin could actually have picked the old man up in the desert. As the notes from the foreman were what they were working from, and the notes said the aides were all lock-step on the fact that Hughes never left, they found the will to be a forgery. He said that if the jury had heard enough evidence that Hughes was out of the Desert Inn at any time, they would have found in favor of the will. That is the reason the '67 incident was so crucial to the case. As far as the will itself being legitimate standing on its own, Stein says they are prepared with evidence to argue that as well. Stay tuned--And now- you state that: "The article ends by stating that, if Mr. Dummar is successful with his lawsuit, Mr. Magnesen will collect 10% of the court award. That fact raises a significant question about Mr. Magnesen's motives in writing his book -- is he uncovering The Truth, or a moneymaking endeavor?" The original intent of this book was to help a man suffering from cancer and years of vilification as a liar to be able to have his story told after so many years, and before he dies. My dad was interested in trying out his "sea legs" in the investigative field again, and the story interested him. He is a born investigator. We as a family have seen his endeavors and the excitement when he came up with new findings. Seriously, you should have heard how almost giddy he was when he found out Hughes owned the mines at the end of the road Melvin picked him up on and many others in the area after pouring through tomes of lists of claims. When he finally did get a publisher to take a chance on a brand new writer, he has never wanted to talk about money. He did not even want to know from the publisher how many books he has sold. I still do not know, as he does not want to find out. He has said on multiple occasions that, and I quote, "I just hope I get back enough in book sales to cover my expenses." Up until recently, his only thought about the legal ramifications of his findings were that the statute of limitations on the estate ran out long ago. Then he contacted Stuart Stein after the radio show, and they got to talking. They contacted Melvin, and he was initially hesitant to get back into the legal course of things, as it did not go well for him the first time. Finally he decided he had little to lose, and the show got on the road. It has always been about the justice that Melvin had stolen from him 30 years ago. Call it karma or the universe realigning or whatever. This stolen justice would have originally entitled Melvin to a fortune, and justice still does. My father did not ask for anything, but Melvin said that it was all because of his investigation that any of this was even occurring, so he offered the 10%. I don't know a person who would turn that down. If you worked hard to build someone else a house on your own dime, then found out later there was possibly a large cache of oil under it, and the new owner offered to share with you, I think we all know we would accept it. I know I would.
Anyway- thanks again for the attention you have given the book (which sales are the only sure money in this whole thing anyway), and for the healthy skepticism.
Sincerely-
Greg Magnesen
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