| Gates of Greystone, 1995 | Gates of Greystone, 1929 |
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| Gates of Greystone, 1995 | Gates of Greystone, 1929 |
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The Crime:
February 16, 1929: Hugh Plunkett shoots and kills Edward L. Doheny Jr., only son and heir of the fabulously wealthy oilman Edward L. Doheny Sr. Plunkett then turns the gun on himself, committing suicide.
The Scene:
The Scene: 906 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills.The Greystone Mansion, home of Edward (Ned L. Doheny Jr., his wife and five children. Doheny was the son of oilman Edward L. Doheny Sr. In 1910, the elder Doheny bought 429 acres in the Beverly Hills area after striking oil in the 1890s. He gave the 22-acre plot to his son Ned as a wedding present in 1914, but the younger Doheny and his wife left the land alone until 1925. The house, sitting on 22 acres of choice real estate, took three years to build and cost 3.1 million dollars. The family moved into the newly completed house in September 1928.
On the night of February 16, 1929, only six months after the family moved in, Ned Doheny was found by his wife, shot dead, the apparent victim of a murder/suicide.
The Victim:
Edward (Ned) L. Doheny Jr. , born 1894 to Edward L. Doheny Sr. and his first wife. He attended Stanford and USC, and married Lucy Smith in 1913. After serving in the Navy during WWI, Doheny joined his father's oil business. Doheny was active in the USC Alumni Association, and in November 1928 made an endowment of $200,000 to the university.
The Assailant:
Hugh Plunkett, born in Kansas, moved to L.A. in 1912. He met the Doheny family while working at a service station owned by the father of Lucy Smith, who later married Ned Doheny. After the younger Doheny's marriage in 1913, Plunkett became the family chauffeur. He served in the Navy during WWI, and after the war became an incrasingly close confidante to Ned Doheny, eventually serving as personal secretary. In the months prior to February 1929, Plunkett had divorced his wife and had been exhibiting signs of a nervous disorder. He had been taking medication, but there was talk among his doctor and the Dohenys of sending him to a sanatorium.
The Facts:
On the night of February 16, 1929, Hugh Plunkett arrived at the Greystone mansion. He called the house from the gates, and was told by Lucy Doheny that he should not come in. Ignoring her words, he apparently used his pass key to enter the grounds and the house, going to the guest bedroom on the first floor where he often stayed. Ned Doheny found him there around 10PM. At 10:30, the Doheny family physician. E.C. Fishbaugh, who was in Hollywood attending a theater performance, received a call from his maid, who told him that he was needed urgently at the Doheny home. Fishbaugh arrived a little before 11PM, and was greeted by Lucy Doheny, who told him that Plunkett and her husband were in the guest bedroom. As they proceeded down the hallway to the bedroom, they saw the door standing ajar, and Plunkett standing by it. He warned them to come no closer, then shut the door. Immediately after a shot rang out. When the doctor entered the room, he found Plunkett lying on the floor by the door, shot through the head, the gun lying by his side. Doheny lay on the floor by the beds, next to an overturned chair, barely alive with a gunshot wound to the head.
The Official Investigation's Findings:
Homicide and suicide. Investigators determined that Plunkett had taken a .45 caliber revolver from the Doheny garage and had shot Doheny, then had turned the gun on himself. Testimony about Plunkett's unstable behavior over the previous six months, and Dr. Fishbaugh's testimony about the family's concern for Plunkett's sanity, reinforced this finding. No formal inquest was held.
Unofficial Rumors and Alternate Scenarios:
Over the years, questions have arisen about the events of that February night. Various rumors surfaced: that Plunkett and Doheny were more than just good friends, and that Lucy killed them in a fit of jealousy; that Plunkett shot Doheny in a quarrel over his salary. Questions were raised about the timing of the killings: was there a delay between the time of the deaths and the arrival of the police? Were the bodies moved to better suit the story told to the police? Was there an effort made to make Plunkett look crazy, to make the murder/suicice story more plausible? The undeniable wealth and influence of the Dohenys added to the public's fascination with the tragedy.
References:
- "Doheny Murder Inquiry Discloses Controversy," Los Angeles Times. 17 February 1929.
- "Investigators Seek to Reconstruct Death Tragedy at Palatial Home to Dispel Mystery," Los Angeles Times. 18 February 1929.
- Lockwood, Charles and Jeff Hyland. The Estates of Beverly Hills, Holmby Hills, Bel-Air, Beverly Park. Beverly Hills : Margrant Publishing, 1984.
- Stolley, Anna Marie. "Haunted House," Los Angeles Times. 17 November 1995, Westside Weekly supplement.
The Greystone Mansion,
home of Edward (Ned L. Doheny Jr., his wife and five children. Doheny was the son of
oilman Edward L. Doheny Sr. In 1910, the
elder Doheny bought 429 acres in the Beverly Hills area after striking oil in the 1890s. He gave the
22-acre plot to his son Ned as a wedding present in 1914, but the younger Doheny and his wife left
the land alone until 1925. The house, sitting on 22 acres of choice real estate, took three years to
build and cost 3.1 million dollars. The family moved into the newly completed house
in September 1928.