BY: HANNAH AUSTINBRITTANY GORDON

CHRISTELLE BANGSI

The Dr. Sam Sheppard Trials

Dr. Samuel Sheppard

Doctor at the Bay View Hospital

Husband of Marilyn Sheppard

Prime suspect in the murder

Dr. Samuel Gerber

Cuyahoga County Coroner

Conducted investigation of the scene and collected evidence

Held inquest of Dr. Sheppard

Prosecution’s star witness in the 1954 trial

William “Bill” Corrigan

Dr. Sheppard’s defense attorney for the 1954 trial

“Cleveland’s most famous criminal defense attorney”

Dies before Sheppard’s second trial

Louis B. Seltzer

The Cleveland Press editor

Editorialized for inquest and arrest of Sheppard

Published an autobiography praising himself for helping bring Sam Sheppard to justice

Judge Edward Blythin

Presided over the 1954 trial

Reportedly said Sheppard was “guilty as hell” prior to the trial

Denied defense motions to move the trial out of Cleveland and postpone it until press coverage died down

Susan Hayes

Lab technician in California

Sam Sheppard’s loverTestified to their

intimate relationship at the 1954 trial

Dr. Paul Kirk

A respected criminalist from California

Conducted a thorough investigation of the Sheppard home in 1955

His report concluded that the murderer was left handed and likely used a flashlight as the murder weapon

Richard Eberling

Window washer at the Sheppard home

Stole a ring belonging to Marilyn

Explained evidence of his blood in their home when no such evidence had been found

F. Lee Bailey

Sheppard’s attorney in the 1966 trial

Placed the blame on Esther Houk

Did not put Sam Sheppard on the stand to testify

The Crime

Marilyn Sheppard is brutally murdered in her Bay Village, Ohio home on July 4, 1954

Evidence of a robbery or staged robbery is also found

Investigation

Fred Drenkhan, first responding officer, conducts a preliminary investigation of the home

Coroner Sam Gerber conducts his own investigation highly suspecting the crime to be a domestic homicide

Less effort was given to collecting fingerprint and blood evidence due to the suspicion

“Why No Inquest? Do It Now, Dr. Gerber”

After pressure from the press, Dr. Gerber schedules an inquest of Sam Sheppard

Sheppard was questioned in a school gymnasium for 3 days

Sheppard’s attorney, Bill Corrigan, is forced by Gerber to watch the event from the stands

Questions of an affair with Susan Hayes are raised

1954 Trial

Jury of 7 men and 5 women, nearly all of whom admitted to having some prior knowledge of the case

Susan Hayes testified for the prosecution, hinting at a possible motive

Sheppard testified for the defenseThe jury finds Sheppard not guilty of first

degree murder, but guilty of second degree murder

The Story in 1954

The Prosecution’s Story: Sam Sheppard and his wife Marilyn were arguing over his infidelity and that is why he killed her

The Defense’s Story: Sam and Marilyn were happily married and expecting their second child. Sam’s injuries could not have been self-inflicted, supporting his claim of a third-person attacker

The Story in 1954 Cont’d

The Jury’s Story: Sam Sheppard, after arguing with Marilyn about his extramarital affair, brutally murders her in her bedroom with a claw-like surgical instrument. He then injures himself to throw suspicion to a “bushy-haired form” whom he addresses in his strangely cool and rather implausible testimony

Retrial

Bailey filed a petition of habeus corpus in federal court in April, 1963

Federal District Judge Carl Weinman overturned Sheppard’s conviction in 1964

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated Sheppard’s conviction

The U.S. Supreme Court, by an 8 to 1 vote, reversed Sheppard’s conviction in 1966

1966 Trial

Judge Francis Talty presidedThe Prosecution did not emphasize

Sheppard’s affair as they had previouslyDr. Sheppard’s bloody watch was a new point

of emphasis of his guiltThe defense focused on blood evidence that

they believed cleared Sheppard of the murder Dr. Sheppard did not testify The jury acquitted Sheppard of the charges

The Story in 1966

The Prosecution’s Story: Sam Sheppard murdered his wife after an argument about his adulterous behavior. The blood spatter on Dr. Sheppard’s watch could have only happened if Sheppard was the murderer

The Defense’s Story: Blood evidence proved Sheppard’s innocence. An angry Esther Houk killed Marilyn after finding out of her affair with her husband Spencer

The Story in 1966 Cont’d

The Jury’s Story: A large blood sample belonging to neither Marilyn nor Sam strongly supports Sam’s plea to innocence. It is likely that an unknown person committed the murder out of anger toward Marilyn, however the truth remains unknown.

Sam Sheppard—The Fugitive

The Sheppard Case sparked the nation. A well received, attractive medical professional was seemingly guilty of the heinous crime of killing his wife. It even sparked the interest of Hollywood creating the series The Fugitive, which would later become a movie starring Harrison Ford.

SHEPPARD v. MAXWELL, WARDEN. The Supreme Court Weighs in Sheppard filed a Writ of habeas

corpus petition as to how fair the trial actually was

The Court decides in Sheppard’s favor

Everybody weighs In on Guilt

Including the famous… Dorothy Kilgallen Otto Graham Joseph GoebbelsAnd the Newspapers even call an inquest!

'STATE PREPARES CHARGE AGAINST BAY MURDERER'

'NEW SEARCH IS ORDERED FOR CLEWS' 'TESTIFY NOW IN DEATH, BAY DOCTOR

IS ORDERED' 'DOCTOR RE-ENACTS STORY OF MURDER;

REJECTS LIE TEST' 'QUIZ DOCTOR FOR 7 HOURS' 'THE FINGER OF SUSPICION' 'SHEPPARD SET FOR NEW QUIZ' 'GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER' 'AN EDITORIAL' 'WHY NO INQUEST? DO IT NOW, DR.

GERBER' 'AN EDITORIAL' 'TIME TO BRING BAY SLAYING INTO

OPEN' 'GET THAT KILLER‘ 'QUIT STALLING-- BRING HIM IN' 'AN EDITORIAL' 'BUT WHO WILL SPEAK FOR MARILYN?'

Is He Guilty? Several books and papers have been

written on this topic and to this day, there is no definite answer.

Became a helpful Supreme Court Case

The bias of Law Enforcement and judge called into question

The Media was the prosecutor

Similarity to other trials studied. Media Influence:

Its theorized that the media attention on the O.J. Simpson case warned the California courts that the world was watching for any discrepancies and that was an advantage for O.J.’s acquittal.

Lack or not enough evidence: The blood on the watch was proven not to be

from flying blood, no clear motive offered by prosecution, blood tests on the crime scene that didn’t match Sam’s. these are a few of the evidences introduced by prosecution at the beginning of the trial that were later disproved.

The Scottborough boys were convicted of rape even though both of the girls stories were false and the sperms found in their bodies did not match any of the boys.

Ethel Rosenberg was arrested only as a means of making Julius talk. Her eventual execution was based on the rumor that she transcribed secret documents to the Russians and even that was not true.

Challenges to Trial TheoriesChallenges the theory of fair jury

The Judge did not prevent the names, faces and home addresses of the jurors to be printed on newspapers or ask them not to listen to trial rumors so they probably were biased and felt pressured by the public, to convict Dr. Sam.

Challenges theory of neutrality (innocent until proven guilty)

Almost everyone involved in this case thought Sam was the murderer from the start. Detective Robert Schottke directly accused Sam of his wife’s murder, Coroner Gerber assumed it was a domestic homicide and therefore devoted less effort to recovering fingerprint and blood evidence than might have been expected in a neutral investigation. Judge Blythin was also biased from the start, which is probably why he didn’t sequester the jury or instruct them not to believe all the rumors and innuendo from the media coverage and also why from the start of the 1954 trial, rejected efforts of the defense team to make the trial fair (inquest hearing, delay trial until publicity decreases etc).

Evidence of trial

Dr. Sam Sheppard shortly after the murder. Notice his neck brace and swollen right eye—consequences, he told police, of his battle with his wife's bushy-haired killer

Coroner Gerber conducted his own investigation on the assumption that the crime was a domestic homicide. As a result, he devoted less effort to recovering fingerprint and blood evidence than might have been expected in a neutral investigation. In the years since the murder, Ohioan police officers who collected evidence at the crime scene have repeatedly come under attack for purportedly shoddy work.

A week after the killing, a Cuyahoga County official filled out this evidence tag.

Evidence from blood stains in the Sheppard's bedroom helped convince Dr. Paul Leland Kirk that a third person was involved.

Marilyn’s bloody pillow with mysterious “surgical” imprint.