Dr. Sam Sheppard

[bkohatl]

I was wondering if anyone here had any information about a piece of evidence suppressed by the Bay City Ohio Police investigation of the murder of Marilyn Sheppard. In a recent civil trial seeking to exonerate his Dad, Reese Sheppard requested all relevant documents concerning the original police investigation documents. Though the original conviction was overturned, this civil trial was decided for the state/police.
A short time ago a story appeared that the police, DA and Medical Examiner suppressed an initial report by the first police officers on the scene that the storm door in the basement had been broken into.

For those of us convinced that Dr. Sam Sheppard was framed for the murder of his wife, this would be the penultimate evidence of his innocence.
The total mishandling of Richard Eberling, who would, without prodding, tell police that his blood was at the crime scene because he had injured himself doing handyman work at the house earlier that week. The fact that he was to murder someone else, certainly makes him a more likely suspect than the unlikeable adulterer, Dr. Sam Sheppard.

It bothers me that officials suppress incredibly important evidence, which might have led to a different course and actually convicted the guilty party in 1954.

[sdreid]

Since the theory was that Sheppard staged the crime, I don't see why that information would have helped him. That could have just been part of his ruse.

My own opinion is the Sheppard probably did it (or paid some one to do it or knew who did it and was protecting them for some unknown reason). To me, it's the scenario(s) that, by far, makes the most sense.

At any rate, a very interesting case that I remember when I was kid.

[sdreid]

R.I.P. Marilyn - 59 years ago today

[RavenDarkendale]

I have always believed that Sam Sheppard was telling the truth. The story he told was so so illogical that you just can't make it up as a serious defense. He had to know how thin the story sounded and in fact served 10 years for the murder, yet he never backed down on his story. No murder weapon was ever found and the outline of the murder weapon in blood on the pillowcase was identified as a surgical tool, but nothing specific, and at any rate, Dr. Sheppard was never known to have one.

I'm not sure about the storm-door as suppressed evidence, but his son has claimed several incidents of prosecution non-disclosure of facts they were required to release to the defense. One was a reported sighting of the person Sheppard described by eyewitnesses that were never called to testify. Then too there was the fact that Sheppard was treated in the hospital for bruises, chipped teeth, and a reported cracked neck vertebra.

The truth about what happened died with Doctor Sam Sheppard, unfortunately. It is interesting that the tv series and the movie The Fugitive which was based on the Sheppard case went with the premise that Doctor Richard Krimble (the Sam Sheppard character) is totally innocent.

God Bless

Darkendale

[Cogidubnus]

Starring David Janssen as Dr Richard Kimble...

Gosh Dale...that's one of the earliest and best US crime imports to our TV screens - don't I recall he eventually tracked down the one-armed man?

All the best

Dave

[RavenDarkendale]

Gosh Dale...that's one of the earliest and best US crime imports to our TV screens - don't I recall he eventually tracked down the one-armed man?

All the best

Dave

I think so, yes. Harrison Ford starred in the movie version, which was excellent. Like I said, based on the Sam Shepard case. Sam Jr. thinks the police know more than they are willing to tell. Probably, but it doesn't necessarily follow that they have evidence that he is innocent. To the police involved, the case was solved, Doctor Sheppard did time, got out and on with his life (as a professional wrestler) and died. End of story. They don't want to try tackling the case after so much time has passed.

God bless

Darkendale

[sdreid]

Sheppard also married Joseph Goebbels' sister-in-law.

[Hatchett]

This is certainly an intriguing case.

The original court case was certainly poorly handled, and it could be argued that Sheppard was convicted by the media and by 1950's morality.

I am not too sure about the suppression of material evidence that could have exonorated him.

After spending years of reading and thinking about the case, my view is that he was probably guilty.

Not just for this, but because of the whole scenario, remember what Sherlock Holmes once said .... "Why didnt the dog bark?"

Best wishes.

[sdreid]

I've gone back and forth on some cases like William Wallace but in this crime I have always thought that Sheppard did it.

[Hatchett]

I have gone back and forth on this one too, but I always, sometimes reluctantly,come back to thinking that Sheppard did it.

[RivkahChaya]

For those of us convinced that Dr. Sam Sheppard was framed for the murder of his wife, this would be the penultimate evidence of his innocence.

The next-to-last evidence?

[bkohatl]

Eberling

He volunteered about his blood being in the house, the question why would he admit it was on the stairway going up to the second floor. Police never asked and never gave him a physical examination. He already had a criminal record. And he would commit murder later. But he also had one of the rings Marilyn wore, which if Sam is to be believed was on her finger when she was murdered.

[kensei]

I haven't studied this case but there is one sound byte about it that stuck in my head, from a Geraldo Rivera tv special on murder in America in the late 80s. I have it on VHS and have watched it several times. Rivera was talking to attorney F. Lee Bailey about "crimes of passion" and these quotes are approximate from memory:

RIVERA: What about Sam Sheppard, the famous case you beat?
BAILEY: Well, Sam Sheppard didn't 'beat' any case. The woman who killed Sam Sheppard's wife was indeed passionately upset since she'd caught her husband in bed with Sam Sheppard's wife. Sam Sheppard was asleep.
RIVERA: So you say he was innocent.
BAILEY: Absolutely.

Then again, Bailey went on to defend O.J. Simpson so who knows?

[sdreid]

Yes, I believe that was Bailey's theory. If I recall, Sheppard's attorney at his first trial tried to cast suspicion on a different woman - one who supposedly had a romantic interest in the doctor.