Disgruntled Husband Converts Life Savings To Gold, Dumps It In Landfill

A man going through a divorce claims he trashed $500,000 worth of gold to prevent his wife from getting any of his assets.

The husband, Earl Ray Jones, 52, maintains that he tossed the gold bars in a dumpster outside his motel in Colorado Spring, Colo., which in turn was transported to a local landfill. “Damn right I did,” he claimed. There were not witnesses, however. Jones was staying at the motel after his wife filed for divorce.

This revelation emerged in deposition testimony as part of the divorce proceeding to end the couple’s 25-year marriage.

Jones claims that he used a Phoenix-based gold company to convert his retirement and investment savings into gold coins and bars, and then dumped the bling in several trips to the dumpster near where was staying.. According to The Gazette, the husband is currently in jail “for menacing after he beat up his wife and held her captive in their…. home during a March fight over finances. He is due to be sentenced on November 4.” Jones, who worked for a defense contractor, reportedly quit his job because his security clearance was likely to be pulled as a result of the fracas.

According to the wife’s divorce attorney, she is unable to work because of her injuries from the March assault and is penniless.

The company, CMI Gold and Silver, would not confirm the transaction (as it maintains confidentiality for all of its customers) but indicated that amount of money would buy about 22 pounds of gold.

The landfill operator, which accepts 30,000 tons of trash per month and compacts and covers with dirt each load, hasn’t reported any drivers abruptly walking off the job as if they’ve won the lottery.

Dumping the gold at the landfill wouldn’t necessarily mean that the wife is out of luck, however. “While anything dumped at the landfill is technically the property of the landfill’s owner, Jones disposed of his wife’s share of the gold unlawfully, so she should still be entitled to it if it were ever recovered.”

A local attorney in Colorado Springs expressed skepticism about the story. “Based on normal human conduct, one would believe that it’s out there somewhere, and that he knows where it is.”

Do you accept the premise that a bitter spouse would dump his life savings converted to gold in a dumpster/landfill or does the story “stink”?

[image credit: Realterm]