Dummar’s Quest to Get a Share of the Howard Hughes Estate

Back in 1978, Melvin Dummar’s assertion that he was the beneficiary ($156 million) of Howard Hughes’s holographic will was rejected by a Las Vegas jury which determined that the alleged will was a fake.

Although it is now twenty-eight years later, Dummar has not yet given up his quest.

On June 12, 2006, Dummar filed suit in federal district court in Salt Lake City claiming to have new evidence including a witness.  This witness is supposedly the pilot who flew Howard Hughes to a brothel near where Dummar claims he met Hughes.  This witness can then substantiate Dummar’s claim that he found Hughes in a dazed and confused condition and then drove him to Las Vegas for which he received the bequest as a reward.

Note that Dummar is not asking the court to relitigate the validity of the holographic will.  Instead, Dummar claims that Hughes’s heirs prevented him from having a fair trial by concealing evidence of Hughes’s travels.

According to Judge to rule on Hughes estate claims, USA Today, Nov. 5, 2006:

U.S. District Judge Bruce Jenkins suggested in a hearing Thursday [November 2, 2006] in Salt Lake City that he’ll rule this week on motions to dismiss Dummar’s suit because he waited too long to return to court.