The Sam Sheppard Case

Unless you already consider yourself an expert on this case I would gander to guess as someone who likes stories on true crimes you know at least a few things about this case, or at least you think you do. One of the main things that people will say they know about this case is actually a misconception. It has been said the 1960's television show and the 1993 movie, The Fugitive is based on this story. In fact, the producers of both have said differently even though they can hardly argue the similarities. Both stories are about a doctor accused of murdering his wife but who proclaims his innocence. In the movie, the main character says a “one armed man” murdered his wife when in reality Sam Sheppard only described the alleged intruder as “busy haired.” That being said you also probably know that while he was convicted for the crime, his conviction was overturned and at a subsequent trial he was acquitted with the help of a young F. Lee Bailey. It is also a good guess that you know that more than sixty years later the guilt or innocence of Dr. Sam Sheppard is still being debated.

At about 5:40 am on the morning of July 4, 1954 Dr. Sam Sheppard called his neighbor, Spencer Houck, who was also the mayor of Bay Village Ohio. Sheppard only relayed to Houck “I think they killed Marilyn.” Houck and his wife rushed over to the Sheppard home, just three door down. They found a disoriented Sheppard who appeared to be soaking wet and they went upstairs to see the body of Sheppard's wife, Marilyn on her bed. Spence Houck immediately then called for the police. Now, in today's world our first question would be why did he call the neighbor and not the police or dial 911? Well, 911 was not available in 1954. In fact, the first 911 call in the United States would not be made for another fourteen years. So, to play devils advocate since apparently the Sheppard's and the Houck's were good friends, it is reasonable to believe that Sheppard likely knew their number by heart (something else we have lost touch with since technology). At any rate an officer would arrive at the home right around 6 am.

While they waited for the police to arrive Sheppard told his story for the first time to the Houck's. Sheppard would claim that he had fallen asleep the previous night on a daybed in the downstairs front room. This would be later confirmed by friends, Don and Nancy Ahern who had been in the home the previous evening for dinner. They stated they left the home at around midnight and was let out by Marilyn because Sam had fallen asleep after a long day working in the ER at Bay Village Hospital where he worked. Sam would say that he had been awaken when he heard Marilyn shout out his name from their upstairs bedroom. Sam said he ran upstairs and saw a “white form” that he struggled with but was hit on the head and he lost consciousness. He claimed that when he awoke he check Marilyn for a pulse, check to make sure their seven year old son Sam Reese “Chip” was ok, and went down the stairs where he saw the “form” again. The couple lived on a beach home on Lake Erie and Sam claimed he chased the intruded out the door and down the beach where again they struggled and once again he was knocked out. When he woke up this time he claimed his shirt and watch were missing and at least part of his lower body was laying in the water. Sam made his way back into the home and called Spencer Houck.

Just how much Sam was interrogated at the home by officers is unclear. Many reports state that he was very disoriented and was apparently injured so he was taken almost immediately to the hospital. This is important to remember because if this, and reports of his condition are true it could account for any minor changes he made in his story, which did apparently appear to be minor. It would be reported that one of the bones in his neck had been slightly fractured and the condition of his feet indicated that they had been in water for quite some time.

Meanwhile at the home for about the first hour or two at least it seems it was a “free for all.” Neighbors, friends, officers and even the press were allowed to enter the home and seemingly do as they pleased throughout, including the master bedroom where Marilyn's body still lay. It was reported that an officer recruited several teenage boys in the neighborhood to look around the home and the beach for any evidence they may find. Just after 8 am Sam Gerber, the coroner and and investigator got to the home.

We have to keep in mind of the times. We were not quite in the middle of the yellow journalism days where those working for newspapers not only wrote whatever they wanted to write, despite any facts, and the reporters would do their own independent investigations, but we were close. As I stated earlier, the media was allowed in very early on, before the coroner was even at the home. On top of this, this was an era in which the first investigation was really done by the coroner. It would often be the decision of the coroner to call an inquest to decide if someone should be arrested and taken to trial. The point is that it was not simply the coroner's job to go in, examine the body, conduct tests and leave the rest to police officers. Instead of the coroner reporting his findings to the police it was often the other way around.

It has been said that early on the officers and Sam Gerber believed that the crime scene had been staged. No murder weapon had been found; there appeared to be no forced entry into the home. Sheppard's medical bag had been open and the contents were thrown around the upstairs hallway. In the downstairs den the drawers to the desk were all open but it did not look as if they had been rummaged through. Initially through the press there had been the suspicion that someone may have known the home belonged to a doctor and were looking for drugs, but privately it seems that rather quickly Sheppard was the only, and the prime suspect. Sometime later in the day Gerber made his way to the hospital to interview Sheppard, who had been given a lot of pain medication, and hear his story. It appears that the first, and really only, small change in his story occurred here. Instead of describing the assailant as simply a “white form” Sheppard would describe a “bushy-haired man.”

It has been said that while Gerber already suspected Sheppard as being the perpetrator before he had interviewed him, he was even more convinced after. Because of this it appears that Gerber gave less effort in ensuring that fingerprints and blood evidence was taken from the scene. He was investigating the crime “on the assumption” that it “was a domestic homicide.” Upon returned to the home after the interview it is said that Gerber stated “it's obvious that the doctor did it.” When he was interviewed at the hospital accusations were already flying which may have prompted Sheppard's wealthy family to procure an attorney for him within just a day or so.

It would be widely reported that once attorney Bill Corrigan was retained that Sam Sheppard non-cooperative with the investigators and Gerber. However, even in all of the stories about the case that I found it appears that while he did refuse things like a lie detector test (which you will learn later why thankfully he did) or confess to the crime like it seems many wanted, he did cooperate with the investigators. In the meantime a medical examination was done on Marilyn's body. When her body had been found in the home she was face up on the bed with her face looking towards the door. The top of her pajamas were pulled up above her breasts, exposing them. One of her legs had been removed from the bottom of the set and her genital area was also exposed. She had suffered from over twenty gashes to her face and scalp to the point that many said she was left unrecognizable. There was blood covering the bed, the walls and the closet door. As I stated earlier, no weapon was found but Gerber theorized that some “sort of surgical” tool had been used against Marilyn.

Another significant thing about the murder was the fact that Marilyn was four months pregnant at the time of her murder. This fact alone brought theories abound. One theory that was floated around came from a rumor that was started. A neighbor had supposedly reported to investigators (or the newspaper, at this point it is unclear) that Marilyn had told her that Sam was sterile from all the time spent near X-ray machines and if this was true then the baby that Marilyn was carrying could not have been Sam's. The motive theory at that point was that Sam had murdered Marilyn in retaliation for the pregnancy which would have obviously pointed to her infidelity. Some of my research indicates that this theory was soon dropped because it was proven that Sam was the father, but other research would say that it was never determined. Either way, it seems that motive was dropped fairly quickly and I have my own suspicions as to why. In the 1950's there was still an aura or I guess I should say a way of life that women did as they were told and would “obey” their husbands. There were likely still some of the mindset that had this been the case that it may have been justifiable murder. There also comes into play the idea of “victim bashing” which was more common in those days but surely the prosecutors and investigators would have recognized it would have been not only in bad taste but that could have left them losing a case.

They did not need to use this motive because Sam Sheppard would give them plenty more in their opinion. No, instead of accusing Marilyn of being unfaithful it would play better to a jury to show her as the loving, doting, wife and mother (and she very well could have been so do not take that wording as if I did not think she was), and Sam as the overbearing cheating husband. Rumors started flooding about Sam's “appetite” for extramarital sex and the fact that he had been known to have affairs. Even friend, Nancy Ahern would say that it was common knowledge that Sam was seeing a nurse from the hospital and had “showered her” with gifts. One such woman was named Susan Hayes.

Within a week of the murder investigators approached Sam about Susan Hayes. He would tell them that there had not been an affair and that the two were just good friends. Well, Susan Hayes and apparently other evidence would prove this to be false and this was a huge turning point in the case. It is not uncommon for suspects to lie about affairs they have had, especially when a murder involves their spouse, but this story made it to the media, not just that Sam had had an affair, but that he had lied about it. The tides of public opinion were already turning but this practically flipped it on it's side.

On July 21^st the Cleveland Press ran an article all but demanding that Gerber hold a corner's inquest. On that very day Gerber announced that the inquest would begin the following day. It was held in the local gymnasium and was a media frenzy. This was not a normal thing, even for 1954. Although he was represented by an attorney, Bill Corrigan had not been allowed to sit with his client and advise him as the inquest was conducted. Corrigan had advised Sam earlier to continue to deny the affair with Susan Hayes because he felt it would be inadmissible and irrelevant to the situation. Corrigan was delegated to the stands at the inquest but he had hired a court reporter to take notes throughout. At one point as Sam was being interrogated, presumably about Susan Hayes, the crowd in the gymnasium roared into cheers as they felt Gerber was apparently doing a good job. For his part Corrigan yelled down to the court reporter to ensure she recorded how the crowd had reacted. It seems at this point not only was Corrigan ordered out of the inquest, he was forcefully removed.

After the inquest Sam Gerber turned the case over to the local police who would order a grand jury investigation of their own. But, that was not enough for Cleveland Press editor, Louis Seltzer. It was clear that the tides were against Sam and Seltzer had no problem announcing it and why not? It had worked once when he admonished Gerber for not calling an inquest... why not try again. This time he was asking in his headline why Sam Sheppard had not been arrested for murder. At 10:30 pm on the day the newspaper asked this Sam Sheppard was arrested in his parents' home where he was staying. He made his $50,000 bail on August 16^th but the following day the grand jury indicted him on charges of first degree murder and he was arrested once again.

While doing my research I would find a comment here and there about just how prestigious the Sheppard family was but I do not think surprisingly this was harped on very much. The Sheppard family had founded Bay Village Hospital. Sam worked there along side his father and at least one other brother, if not both of them. A case that would later garner much national attention was “big time news” in Cleveland (just by Bay Village) right from the start. The Sheppard's had money; the Sheppard's had clout.

Sam Sheppard's trial began October 18, 1954 with Bill Corrigan by his side. From the start things did not look good for the defense. The judge, seventy year old Edward Blythin, denied any motions that suggested the trial be moved from the area or at least delayed until the publicity of the case had died down. It was said that not only did Blythin firmly already believe himself that Sam was guilty, he was not about to give the case up as it was likely the biggest in his long career. By the time jury selection had finished all but one of the selected jurors had admitted they had heard facts, and rumors of the case. The jury was never sequestered until their deliberations, and even then they had been allowed to make personal phone calls. They also were apparently never advised to not discuss the case or read anything else pertaining to it. The newspapers continued their stories and even several times published the names and pictures of the jurors.

Just a few weeks after the trial had begun the defense learned that at least two of the jurors had admitted hearing the false that had been reported about a woman who claimed she had had an affair with Sam and that she had bore him a child. The woman's claim had been investigated of course but was found to be false. Whether the newspaper clarified things is unclear. At any rate the defense approached the judge about this issue and was told that he was not going to question the jurors on this issue. The judge reportedly told the defense team that “it is a matter of free speech... we are not going to harass the jury every morning.”

The star prosecution witness at the trial was coroner Sam Gerber. He would testify that a blood stain on a pillowcase had convinced him that a “surgical instrument” was used. The defense asked the judge to strike this comment since obviously it could not be proven but the judge denied the motion. Instead the prosecutor not only moved on but presented Gerber, and the jury, a slide showing the pillowcase in question and using a pointer Gerber showed where he saw a “claw-like object” imprinted. My research then indicates that the pillowcase itself was passed among the jurors.

Remember Sam said that when he woke up on the beach his shirt and watch were gone? Do you also remember I mentioned that teenagers from the neighborhood were recruited to look for evidence? Well apparently the watch had been found behind a bush somewhere on the beach near where Sam had claimed the second assault by the “bushy-haired man.” Keep in mind and remember that in 1954 DNA was not even thought of and that the best one could do when it came to blood was to check for blood typing. It was determined that Sam had Type A blood while Marilyn had Type O. Even still considering the fact that Gerber and many concluded that Sam was the perpetrator early on, they did not feel the need to do a lot of testing on any blood found. So when the prosecution showed Gerber a picture of Sam's watch that had blood on it Gerber proclaimed that it had to be Marilyn's blood on the watch since it was her husband who had beat her to death.

A fingerprint expert testified that there had only been one fingerprint recovered from the bedroom, or apparently the house at all. It was found on the headboard of Marilyn's twin bed and it belonged to Sam. The defense was at least able to get the expert to admit they had no idea when the print got there.

Since when Sam went to the hospital the only article of clothing he had on were his pants they were held as evidence. At the trial it was said that the blood on the pants “appeared” to be from “Group O” “but was not conclusive” but that was not the only argument that would come up about the blood on the pants. Whether the debate on if it was blood splatter or transferred blood was made at the 1954 trial or at some point later throughout the years is unknown. One could argue that regardless if Sam had committed the murder, or he had checked on her as he had stated he had, there would likely be blood on his pants.

Then Susan Hayes testified for the prosecution who after getting the opinion of Gerber and apparently other officials with little solid evidence to testify their next step was to attack Sam's character and accusations of “womanizing.” Sam would later testify in his own defense and it would be the first time that he would admit that he had had an affair with Hayes but that did not matter much, he had already lied, at least twice about. Now public opinion had turned on him.

Then it was the defense's turn to tell their side. First they would claim that the injuries that Sam sustained were consistent with his story. A hospital report showed that he had neck spasms, there was swelling at the base of his skull and even showed that his feet were “shriveled” up as if they had been in water for quite some time. Gerber had already called the time of death as occurring around 4:30 in the morning and the call to the Houck home occurred at about 5:50. When someone is “knocked unconscious” as Sam had claimed unless there is a witness there is no way of knowing how long they were out. There were questions as to if his story of being knocked out on the beach were not true then what reason would he have to have been in the water for so long.

Sam testified in his own defense but he did not do well in front of the jury. Many felt that he came off as being arrogant and that even some of the words he used were odd, as if he was trying to impress the jury with his education. He testified three days but much of his cross examination revolved around his character and lifestyle and not so much about the crime.

In their closing arguments the defense pointed out that there prosecution had not proven how for sure Marilyn had died considering they found no weapon, or even why Sam would have committed the crime. Sure, they had their theories as to why, the biggest supposedly being that Sam wanted a divorce but Marilyn would not give him one but they had nothing to back this theory up. In my opinion, especially considering there was no evidence to prove this motive theory is extremely weak. This was a man who came from a family of money and was making excellent money of his own. He had a house on a beach in the mid-west. This was not New York or California. This was Ohio, and he had prestige. I would gander to guess that image was a lot not just for Sam but for his family. To have a divorce would have meant not just giving up much of his belongings, and maybe even his house and lifestyle, but the fact that he would divorce a pregnant woman seemingly out of the blue would not likely play well in the community. Now, had the prosecution said that Marilyn wanted the divorce I could have been a little more on board with that theory, but not the other way around.

It took the jury four days to come to a verdict when it was announced on December 21, 1954. The prosecution was asking for the death penalty for first degree murder but after taking several votes the jury decided to find Sam guilty of second degree murder. In my opinion it sounds as if the jury made a compromising vote. I say this because it was said that 18 ballots were taken with the jury and with it taking four days to come to a verdict it makes me believe that in the beginning there may have been some that did not believe he was guilty, let alone willing to send him to Death Row. In the end Sam was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in ten years.

Newspaper editor, Louis Seltzer, published an article tooting his own horn about the role he played in moving the investigation along and ultimately having a conviction in the case.

The month after his conviction Sam's mother would commit suicide and his father would die of cancer some eleven days later. Sam was allowed to go to the funerals but of course under guard and handcuffed.

Throughout the next few years there were several developments in the case, all while Sam continued to maintain his innocence. The first came just a few months after the conviction when a California criminologist named Paul Kirk, who had been given access to the crime scene, published a report that he believed the perpetrator to be left handed (Sam was right handed), that the probable weapon used was a flashlight and that some of the blood found reportedly did not belong to either Sam or Marilyn. A few months after this a neighbor of the Sheppard's found a dented flashlight in shallow water along the beach near the home. It appears that little attention was given to this initially.

Then in 1959 a man by the name of Richard Eberling was arrested on charges of larceny. Eberling had been at the Sheppard home within days of the murder as a window washer. When Eberling's home was search there were many stolen items found. One of those items was a ring belonging to Marilyn Sheppard. Now, there are conflicting reports as to where this ring had come from. Some of course say Eberling obtained it when he committed the murder (not proven); others say he obtained in while doing the work at the home and simply took it then. Still even more reports claim that Eberling had been involved in a robbery at one of Sam's brother's home where the ring was taken after Marilyn's murder.

It appears that little was made public about this arrest until a Chicago reporter, Paul Holmes, published a book about the Sheppard case in 1961. The book claims that officers obviously knew or came to know that the ring belonged to Marilyn Sheppard so they lied to Eberling claiming they had found his blood in the home and asked him why. To their surprise Eberling told them that he had cut himself while removing a storm window a few days before the murder and had dropped blood throughout the home. Keep in mind things like luminal were not available in 1954, nor does it seem likely that a trail of blood would have been left untreated in the home for a few days. Eberling was given a lie detector test about the Sheppard case and he reportedly passed and was released.

Corrigan fought hard for the next few years trying to free Sam and had often mentioned all of the publicity that had surrounded the case but his efforts failed and in essence “died trying.” This is when a young F. Lee Bailey came into the picture and began representing Sam. Now, most of us know Bailey from the infamous O.J Simpson trial in 1996 and recognize him as a member of the “Dream Team.” But, in the early 1960's Bailey was a fresh faced attorney. In April of 1963 filed an appeal in federal court claiming that the prejudicial publicity surrounding the case before and during the trial in 1954 had violated Sam Sheppard's rights. I am sure that there were those in the legal community snickering at the effort given. Never had a case been reversed back on the idea of publicity and they had no reason to believe it would ever happen. It took over a year to be heard but in July of 1964 Sam Sheppard's conviction was overturned by the courts calling the trial a “mockery of justice” with a “carnival atmosphere.”

On July 16, 1964 Sam Sheppard was released on a $10,000 bail. Many had said it was his demeanor, attitude and character that had ultimately convicted him and his actions just out of jail did not help. While he had been in prison he had began corresponding with a German native named Ariane Tebbenjohanns. Two days after his release on bail he and Ariane were married. This action did not bode well for him.

The state decided to fight the appeal decision and at that point the 6^th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the conviction but allowed Sam to remain released until the United States Supreme Court could make a ruling. That ruling came in May of 1966 when with a vote of 8-1 the USSC again overturned the conviction based on pretrial publicity. This was the first case in which this had ever happened.

Sam's second trial began in October of 1966. It was much different than the first trial. The prosecution really had less this time. First they mentioned the idea of Sam's “womanizing” but not to the degree it had been brought up and hounded upon in the first trial. Coroner Sam Gerber, who had been the star witness in the first trial still testified but the prosecution did not seem to find his testimony quite as important. Gerber still testified that he believed a “surgical instrument” had been used in the crime but Bailey got him to admit on cross examination that despite his effort to “search all over the United States” he had been unable to find such an instrument to match the impression on the pillowcase. A medical technician testified for the prosecution that the blood found on Sam's watch was “splatter” meaning it could have only gotten there if Sam had been the perpetrator. The problem with this is that it appears that the blood was never tested in any way. While I cannot tell you if the blood on the watch belonged to Marilyn, I also cannot tell you that it did not belong to Sam and collaborate his story of having a struggle.

Paul Kirk, the man who had published reports just after Sam's conviction was the star witness for the defense. Not only did he testify his results had concluded that the perpetrator was left handed, he claimed that blood was in the room that did not belong to either Sam or Marilyn. There was a cursory mention in one of the articles that I read that indicated this other blood, while still typed as Type O, the same as Marilyn's, had different components that in some way distinguished it from Marilyn's.

For his part Bailey made an effort to attempt to show there were other suspects. While he mentioned the idea of Richard Eberling it appears that he did not harp on him as suspect very much because he had apparently passed a lie detector test. Instead Bailey seemed to have other suspects in mind and it surprised many. Bailey indicated that the possible perpetrator could have been Esther Houck, the wife of Mayor Spencer Houck, and the first people that Sam called after the attack. Now, I am unsure that Bailey directly accused her of being the murderer herself considering Sam had, and apparently was still, claiming the bushy-haired man but he attempted to put a shred of doubt in the mind of the jurors. Bailey mentioned the Houck's saying that it was possible that Marilyn and Spencer had had an affair and pointed out that Esther Houck stated she had made a fire the morning of the murder even though it was 69 degrees outside. The implication was that he fire was made to burn clothing or other evidence. Now, to be fair, just as the prosecution in the first trial had no proof to back any of their supposed theories, neither does it seem Bailey had in his theory. I personally do not believe this theory. When more information would be found after the trial Bailey would say he would have likely spent more time pointing at Eberling, but I will get to that in a bit.

In the second trial Sam did not testify in his own defense likely because it had worked against him in his first trial. When it was all said and done on November 16, 1966 Sam Sheppard was acquitted in the murder of his wife and was officially set free.

Sam went back to work at Bay Village Hospital as a surgeon but he had developed a problem with alcohol while out on bail and in the midst of everything had botched at least two surgeries in which the patients died. Whether his license was suspended or he simply stopped working as a doctor is unclear.

In 1968 Sam and Ariane would divorce. It appears that while Sam had spent twelve years in prison his son, Sam Reese “Chip” was raised by his brother and sister-in-law. By the time he was released Chip was a grown man. In August of 1969 Sam because a professional wrestler and his chosen name turned heads..... “Killer Sheppard.” Not long before his death on April 6, 1970 Sam had married again. He was forty-six years old and his new bride was barely twenty and the daughter of his wrestling manager. Most reports say that Sam was found in the kitchen of his home after he had apparently collapsed and that his cause of death was liver disease brought on by the alcoholism. There are a few reports that dispute this as his cause of death and it seems to be a bit of a controversy. Reality is that regardless to the cause of death he did die at a young age and the end result was his death. I gander to guess that supporters of Sam tend to use the liver disease cause of death to bolster the idea of how being unjustly imprisoned had ruined his life and had been the cause of the alcoholism. Who is to say they are wrong?

In 1989 Richard Eberling was back in the news. He was convicted of murder. Apparently he and a friend had been involved in a scheme in which they convinced elderly women to make them beneficiaries on their insurance and then mysteriously the people would die. While he was only convicted in one murder he is suspected in the deaths of at least two others. It was then that Eberling apparently told the media that he knew more about the murder of Marilyn Sheppard than he was telling and it seems that he never told. Eberling died in prison in 1998. But it does appear that there was some investigating done into his claims. It seems that at least a few people came out saying that Eberling had confessed to the crime. At some point someone had reviewed the lie detector test that Eberling took in 1959 in which authorities had said he passed. It seems that at least one, if not more, “experts” in the field have looked at those results and claim that he did not in fact pass the test. Bailey has since said that had he known this revelation he would have focused more on Eberling at the second trial.

In 1997 this case in essence went to trial one more time when Sam Reese “Chip” Sheppard filed a civil lawsuit on behalf of his father's estate claiming wrongful imprisonment. The bodies of both Sam and Marilyn were exhumed in the process and DNA samples were taken. Attorney's for Chip would claim that the DNA proved that there was another person in the room who had bled on the night of the murder and while it had been compared to Eberlings blood and an expert would say he was 90% sure the other blood was his, his deduction was not enough for the courts to accept. The defense, which in this case remember is The State, claimed that the blood was too tainted for any conclusion to be made whatsoever. Keep in mind that DNA was not even thought of in 1954 and the idea of blood not only being stored correctly (for today's testing) or even kept from this case for nearly fifty years is highly problematic. The trial consisted of more than 600 exhibits, 76 witnesses and 19 experts. In the end however it did not take the jury long (some reports say three hours) to make a decision and they ruled for the State.

Many have stated that since the jury took so little time to decide in this case when it went to trial in 2000 shows that all of the evidence continued to point to Sam Sheppard as the murderer of his wife. But, that has not prevented the continued argument over his guilt or innocence. Chip appealed the verdict in February of 2002 the courts ruled that the case should have never been able to go to a jury in the first place because Sam Sheppard had already died. According to the ruling the lawsuit itself was to be to the benefit of Sam and since he was no longer alive he could not have a) made the decision to sue or b) reaped any benefit it may have rendered. So basically the case was thrown out regardless of whatever verdict had been made.

The fight over whether Sam Sheppard was guilty or innocent continued. In 2001 a book was written that was adamant about his innocence. Two years later another book was published that was just as certain that he was guilty. So which is it? For me honestly I cannot say. I believe this case comes down to the issue of proper investigation and fair trials. The crime scene was trampled upon very early on and even the idea that teenagers were recruited to find evidence is hard for me to understand. There were apparently at least more than a few neighbors who claimed to have seen a “bushy-haired” man as Sheppard described in the area at the time. But, because the description was so vague there was little credence given to it. There was also evidence that while there were insurance policies they had not been changes made to them since 1951 so in my opinion if he were guilty that would not have been a motive. But, playing devil's advocate a motive can involve money, without involving insurance. Sheppard was wealthy on his own and gaining money can be as much of a motive as losing money could, such as through a divorce. Between the rumors and the stories in the media it became hard to determine just what was true and what was not. One person said Marilyn was unhappy and described Sam as a Jekyll and Hyde but then there is the one that claimed Marilyn said Sam was sterile implying the baby she was carrying could not have been his. The latter was proven untrue as well as the report of the woman who claimed to have a child with him. So was Marilyn unhappy and wanted a divorce or if she really made the comments that were claimed were they legitimate complaints? We all get frustrated with significant others in our life from time to time but that does not always mean anything. She may very well have been unhappy that he was not often home; she may have known about affairs, but no one knows for sure. There seemed to be no legitimate claim that could be proven that she in any way wanted a divorce. No one ever seemed to claim to see them having an argument, but again we do not always know what goes on behind closed doors.

Much was made about the fact that neither the dog the Sheppard's owned seemed to bark or that Chip, who's room was next to his parents, had awoke during the murder. There was testimony that the dog was not a very good watch dog and did little barking, so there is that. To the issue of Chip not waking up, who knows. Sam claimed he was awakened by Marilyn yelling his name from upstairs. Sam had been asleep for several hours and being a doctor was likely used to being awoken at different hours so it is possible that he woke up easier than some. Secondly, regardless if we believe Sam committed the crime or it was committed by someone else, there was a huge struggle in that room so there was likely a large amount of noise during that time and Chip did not awaken, or at least that is what he has maintained for more than fifty years. It seems unlikely that had he awoken and he knew that his father had committed the crime the 1998 lawsuit would not have been filed. Instead it indicates that he did not awaken during the murder and truly believed in the innocence of his father.

Was Sam Sheppard an upstanding individual? Well who knows, by most accounts he was a very good father, but maybe not a very good husband. His job kept him gone from home a lot and then there is the evidence of affairs, but as most of us realize an affair is not murder. Was he as arrogant as he appeared to be or was he just “over” being accused of being a murderer and answering the same questions over and over? Did he think his wealth and prestige would let him get away with whatever he wanted? Again, these are all questions that will never be answered.

I do have the opinion that he was quickly zeroed in on and that the investigation was not as good as it should have been because of this. It appears that all of those initially involved had determined he was guilty and so they did not take blood samples, fingerprints or truly listen to things and examine things properly. Once they knew that Sam had been unfaithful to his wife, and then knew he lied about it, they made their minds up even more.

I do believe that Eberling (who was a bushy-haired man at the time) should have been looked into more, and much earlier than some five years later. There had been reports both before and after the murder of burglaries in the area which alone should have had investigators looking for more things like fingerprints. In the same respect it appears it was these burglaries that prompted the idea the first day that it may have been drug related.

One can hardly argue that the 1954 trial was fair. Aside all of the publicity of the case and the jurors that were ultimately picked knowing so much information there were many other issues. Not only was the judge clearly bias against Sam Sheppard the way he handled the jurors as far as being at the very least advised not to listen to more publicity or question them when it was apparent they had heard things alone should have been enough for a mistrial. I personally always take issues when a motive theory or even a defense theory is presented in a court without any evidence to support this. This was apparently done by the prosecution in 1954 and then by the defense in 1966 it seems. One also has to wonder if the popular television show The Fugitive, which premiered in 1963 and although denied, was said to be loosely based on this case played any role in the acquittal.

Despite the fact that it has been over sixty years since this crime was committed, there has been a modern trial, and the fact that much of the evidence from the civil trial is now available online for amateur sleuths to review, I cannot say one way or another how I feel about Sam Sheppard's guilt or innocence. Could he have done it? Sure. Could Richard Eberling done it? Sure. So could have any number of other people. I just do not feel that the crime scene was analyzed and collected properly, nor was the investigation done without bias. That alone prevented there from ever being a full resolution to this case.