Robert Spears (naturopath)
Robert Vernon Spears was a naturopath who is alleged to have placed a bomb aboard National Airlines Flight 967, an aircraft that went missing over the Gulf of Mexico on November 16, 1959, killing 42 people.
History
Spears had a long history of crime, having been arrested 17 times under 14 different aliases. He had become financially successful in Texas as a naturopath, even becoming president of the Texas Naturopath Association in 1954. But in 1957 he was expelled from the organization in a bribery scandal. He moved to California and took up hypnotism, his business was with a doctor performing abortions. He was charged with three felony accounts and was set to stand trial in Los Angeles on December 3, 1959.Investigators learned that William Taylor, a fellow felon and longtime criminal accomplice of Spears, had boarded Flight 967 using a ticket made out to "Dr. Spears." The theory arose that Spears, desperate to avoid trial and wanting a fresh start, had tricked Taylor into boarding the aircraft with a piece of luggage containing a bomb; when the aircraft crashed, it would be assumed that Spears was on board. His wife would then cash in an insurance policy for $100,000 on Spears' life. However, Taylor himself purchased $37,500.00 worth of life insurance at the airport; when his ex-wife attempted to collect on that policy, authorities were notified. It was determined that Taylor had boarded the flight using a ticket issued for Spears.
Spears was eventually arrested in Phoenix after being turned in by the ex-wife of a fellow naturopath in Arizona. In February 1960, Spears was convicted of interstate transportation of a stolen car. He was sentenced to the maximum term of 5 years. Spears also received a 2-to-5 year sentence in California after pleading guilty to performing illegal abortions. While in prison, Spears confessed to having knowledge of the "probability of a bomb aboard the airplane." Due to a lack of evidence, however, he was never charged with any offense in relation to the Flight 967 crash.
Spears died in Dallas, Texas on May 2, 1969, of coronary thrombosis.