Murder File of Dr. Sam Sheppard

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Dr. Sam Sheppard, 1923-1970.

Marilyn's bloodstained bed.

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Blog Created: 11-15-2025

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Samuel Holmes Sheppard (December 29, 1923 – April 6, 1970) was an American osteopath. He was convicted of the 1954 murder of his pregnant wife, Marilyn Reese Sheppard, but the conviction was eventually overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, which cited a "carnival atmosphere" at the trial. Sheppard was acquitted at a retrial in 1966. The public continued to doubt his innocence, until a 1997 DNA test absolved Sheppard of the murder.

Early life and education ~

Sheppard was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the youngest of three sons of Richard Allen Sheppard, D.O. He attended Cleveland Heights High School where he was an excellent student and was active in American football, basketball, and track; he was class president for three years. Sheppard met his future wife, Marilyn Reese, while in high school. Although several small Ohio colleges offered him athletic scholarships, Sheppard chose to follow the lead of his father and older brothers and pursued a career in osteopathic medicine. He enrolled at Hanover College in Indiana to study pre-osteopathic medical courses, then took supplementary courses at the Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland during the Summer of 1943. Sheppard finished his medical education at the Los Angeles Osteopathic School of Physicians and Surgeons (now University of California Irvine) and was awarded the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) medical degree.

Dr. Richard Sr. & Ethel Sheppard. Dr. Sam Sheppard's parents.

Dr. Sam, Marilyn and Sam Jr.

Sheppard completed his internship and a residency in neurosurgery at Los Angeles County General Hospital. He married Marilyn Reese on February 21, 1945, in Hollywood, California. A few years later he returned to Ohio and joined his father's growing medical practice at Bay View Hospital.

Bay View Hospital.

Murder of Marilyn Reese Sheppard ~

On the night of Saturday, July 3, 1954, Sheppard and Marilyn were entertaining neighbors at their home in Bay Village on Lake Erie. While they were watching the movie Strange Holiday, Sheppard fell asleep on the daybed in the living room. Marilyn walked the neighbors out.

Marilyn Sheppard's first and only Christmas party in her own home was recalled by testimony at the trial of her husband, Dr. Samuel Sheppard who is accused of bludgeoning Marilyn to death last 7/4. It was on December 25, 1953. The happy guests posed for this snapshot. They are (L-R) Worth Munn, an uncle; Marilyn; Grandmother Munn; Linda Weigle; Grandfather Munn; Dr. Sam; Mrs. Keith Weigle, Sr., an aunt; Mrs. Kenneth King, a cousin; Mrs. Keith Weigle, Jr.; and Keith Weigle, Sr.

This official police photograph shows Dr. Samuel Sheppard's jacket on a downstairs couch where he is said to have dozed off a few hours before his wife's murder in their Bay Village home. The youthful osteopath is on trial, accused of the brutal July 4th slaying. Mr. and Mrs. Don Ahern, Sheppard family friends, were to testify November 8th that "Sam" ws asleep on the couch, wearing the jacket and a white t-shirt when they left the house at 12:30 AM, July 4th. This photo was taken early Independence Day morning.

In the early morning hours of July 4, 1954, Marilyn Sheppard was bludgeoned to death in her bed with an unknown instrument. The bedroom was covered with blood spatter and drops of blood were found on floors throughout the house. Some items from the house, including Sam Sheppard's wristwatch, keychain and key, and fraternity ring, appeared to have been stolen. They were later found in a canvas bag in shrubbery behind the house. According to Sheppard, he was sleeping soundly on a daybed when he heard the cries from his wife. He ran upstairs where he saw a "white biped form" in the bedroom and then he was knocked unconscious. When he awoke, he saw the person downstairs, chased the intruder out of the house down to the beach where they tussled and Sheppard was knocked unconscious again.

At 5:40 am, a neighbor received an urgent phone call from Sheppard who pleaded for him to come to his home. When the neighbor and his wife arrived, Sheppard was found shirtless and his pants were wet with a bloodstain on the knee. Authorities arrived shortly thereafter. Sheppard seemed disoriented and in shock. The family dog was not heard barking to indicate an intruder, and their seven-year-old son, Sam Reese "Chip" Sheppard, was asleep in the adjacent bedroom throughout the incident.

Relatives of the murdered Marilyn Sheppard are trying to gain custody of Samuel R. "Chip" Sheppard, 8. The boy is being cared for by Dr. Stephen Sheppard, brother of Dr. Sam, who is serving a life sentence at the Ohio State Penitentiary for the murder of Chip's mother.

First trial

Media ~

Sheppard's trial began October 18, 1954, and lasted nine weeks. The murder investigation and the trial were notable for the extensive publicity. Some newspapers and other media in Ohio were accused of bias against Sheppard and inflammatory coverage of the case, and were criticized for immediately labeling him the only viable suspect. A federal judge later criticized the media, "If ever there was a trial by newspaper, this is a perfect example. And the most insidious example was the Cleveland Press. For some reason that newspaper took upon itself the role of accuser, judge, and jury."

It appeared that the local media influenced the investigators. On July 21, 1954, the Cleveland Press ran a front-page editorial titled "Do It Now, Dr. Gerber", which called for a public inquest. Hours later, Dr. Samuel Gerber, the coroner investigating the murder, announced that he would hold an inquest the next day. The Cleveland Press ran another front-page editorial titled "Why Isn't Sam Sheppard in Jail?" on July 30, which was titled in later editions, "Quit Stalling and Bring Him In!" That night, Sheppard was arrested for a police interrogation.

Dr. Samuel Gerber, Cuyahoga County Coroner at the Sam Sheppard murder trial.

The local media ran salacious front-page stories inflammatory to Sheppard that contained no supporting facts or were later disproved. During the trial, a popular radio show broadcast a report about a New York City woman who claimed to be his mistress and the mother of his illegitimate child. Since the jury was not sequestered, two of the jurors admitted to the judge that they heard the broadcast but the judge did not dismiss them. From interviews with some of the jurors years later, it is likely that jurors were contaminated by the press before the trial and perhaps during it. The U.S. Supreme Court later stated that the trial was surrounded by a "carnival atmosphere".

Susan Hayes ~

Susan Hayes was a 24-year-old laboratory technician at Bayview Hospital in Bay Village, who had an affair with Sheppard. The prosecution attempted to show that Hayes was the motive for murder.

Susan Hayes. Dec. 1954.

Defense strategy ~

Sheppard's attorney, William Corrigan, argued that Sheppard had severe injuries and that these injuries were inflicted by the intruder. Corrigan based his argument on the report made by neurosurgeon Charles Elkins who examined Sheppard and found he had suffered a cervical concussion, nerve injury, many absent or weak reflexes (most notably on the left side of his body), and injury in the region of the second cervical vertebra in the back of the neck. Elkins stated that it was impossible to fake or simulate the missing reflex responses.

Dr. Samuel Sheppard taken to Bayview Hospital with his head and neck partially paralyzed from a terrific blow on one side of his face.

The defense further argued the crime scene was extremely bloody, yet the only blood evidence appearing on Sheppard was a bloodstain on his trousers. Corrigan also argued two of Marilyn's teeth had been broken and that the pieces had been pulled from her mouth, suggesting she had possibly bitten her assailant. He told the jury that Sheppard had no open wounds. Some[who?] observers have questioned the accuracy of claims that Marilyn Sheppard lost her teeth while biting her attacker, arguing that her missing teeth are more consistent with the severe beating she received to her face and skull. However, criminologist Paul L. Kirk later said that if the beating had broken Mrs. Sheppard's teeth, pieces would have been found inside her mouth, and her lips would have been severely damaged, which was not the case.

Sheppard took the stand in his own defense, testifying that he had been sleeping downstairs on a daybed when he awoke to his wife's screams.

"I think that she cried or screamed my name once or twice, during which time I ran upstairs, thinking that she might be having a reaction similar to convulsions that she had in the early days of her pregnancy. I charged into our room and saw a form with a light garment, I believe, at that time grappling with something or someone. During this short period I could hear loud moans or groaning sounds and noises. I was struck down. It seems like I was hit from behind somehow but had grappled this individual from in front or generally in front of me. I was apparently knocked out. The next thing I knew, I was gathering my senses while coming to a sitting position next to the bed, my feet toward the hallway. ... I looked at my wife, I believe I took her pulse and felt that she was gone. I believe that I thereafter instinctively or subconsciously ran into my youngster's room next door and somehow determined that he was all right, I am not sure how I determined this. After that, I thought that I heard a noise downstairs, seemingly in the front eastern portion of the house."

Sheppard ran back downstairs and chased what he described as a "bushy-haired intruder" or "form" down to the Lake Erie beach below his home, before being knocked out again. The defense called eighteen character witnesses for Sheppard, and two witnesses who said that they had seen a bushy-haired man near the Sheppard home on the day of the crime.

Verdict ~

On December 21, after deliberating for four days, the jury found Sheppard guilty of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Family deaths ~

On January 7, 1955, shortly after his conviction, the incarcerated Sheppard was told that his mother, Ethel Sheppard, had died from a self-inflicted gunshot. Eleven days later, Sheppard's father, Richard Sheppard, died of a bleeding gastric ulcer and stomach cancer. Sheppard was permitted to attend both funerals but was required to wear handcuffs.

On February 13, 1963, while F. Lee Bailey was pursuing the appeals process, Sheppard's former father-in-law, Thomas S. Reese, died by suicide in an East Cleveland, Ohio, motel. Reese's wife had died in 1929 when their daughter Marilyn was in grade school.

Incarceration ~

In 1959, Sheppard voluntarily took part in cancer studies by the Sloan Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, allowing live cancer cells to be injected into his body.

Appeals and retrial

Appeals ~

Sheppard's attorney William Corrigan spent six years making appeals but all were rejected. On July 30, 1961, Corrigan died and F. Lee Bailey took over as Sheppard's chief counsel. Bailey's petition for a writ of habeas corpus was granted on July 15, 1964, by a United States district court judge who called the 1954 trial a "mockery of justice" that shredded Sheppard's Fourteenth Amendment right to due process. The State of Ohio was ordered to release Sheppard on bond and gave the prosecutor 60 days to bring charges against him, otherwise the case would be dismissed permanently. The State of Ohio appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals Court for the Sixth Circuit, which on March 4, 1965, reversed the federal judge's ruling. Bailey appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case in Sheppard v. Maxwell. On June 6, 1966, the Supreme Court, by an 8-to-1 vote, struck down the murder conviction. The decision noted, among other factors, that a "carnival atmosphere" had permeated the trial, and that the trial judge, Edward J. Blythin, who had died in 1958, was biased against Sheppard because Blythin had refused to sequester the jury, did not order the jury to ignore and disregard media reports of the case, and when speaking to newspaper columnist Dorothy Kilgallen shortly before the trial started said, "Well, he's guilty as hell. There's no question about it."

Judge Edward Blythin and Dorothy Killgallen.

Sheppard served 10 years of his sentence. Three days after his 1964 release, he married Ariane Tebbenjohanns, a German divorcee who had corresponded with him during his imprisonment. The two had been engaged since January 1963. Tebbenjohanns endured her own bout of controversy shortly after the engagement had been announced, confirming that her half-sister was Magda Ritschel, the wife of Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels. Tebbenjohanns emphasized that she held no Nazi views. On October 7, 1969, Sheppard and Tebbenjohanns divorced.

American physician Dr Sam Sheppard (1923-1970) pictured with his second wife Ariane Tebbenjohanns outside Cuyahoga County Criminal Court in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966 during retrial proceedings over a charge of murdering his first wife, Marilyn Sheppard in 1954. (Photo by Rolls Press/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images).

Retrial ~

Jury selection began October 24, 1966, and opening statements began eight days later. Media interest in the trial remained high, but this jury was sequestered. The prosecutor presented essentially the same case as was presented twelve years earlier. Bailey aggressively sought to discredit each prosecution witness during cross-examination. When Coroner Samuel Gerber testified about a murder weapon that he described as a "surgical weapon", Bailey led Gerber to admit that they never found a murder weapon and had nothing to tie Sheppard to the murder. In his closing argument, Bailey scathingly dismissed the prosecution's case against Sheppard as "ten pounds of hogwash in a five-pound bag".

A surgical instrument made the impression on the blood stained pillow in the Marilyn Sheppard slaying, Coroner Samuel Gerber testified Nov. 16th in the trial of Dr. Sam Sheppard . This (above) is a standard surgical instrument known as a stille, or plaster caster cutter. It is about a foot long and weighs about four pounds.

Unlike the original trial, neither Sheppard nor Susan Hayes took the stand, a strategy that proved to be successful. After deliberating for 12 hours, the jury returned on November 16 with a "not guilty" verdict. The trial was important to Bailey's rise to prominence among American criminal defense lawyers. It was during this trial that Paul Kirk presented the putative blood spatter evidence he collected in Sheppard's home in 1955. Kirk used the blood evidence to suggest that the murderer was left-handed, unlike Sheppard, which proved crucial to his acquittal.

F. Lee Bailey and Paul Kirk.

Three weeks after the trial, Sheppard appeared as a guest on the December 7 episode of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

After his acquittal, Sheppard worked with ghostwriter Bill Levy to write the book Endure and Conquer, which presented his side of the case and discussed his years in prison. Levy felt conflicted about collaborating with Sheppard because of his belief that Sheppard had committed the crime.

Professional wrestling career ~

Sheppard's friend and soon-to-be father-in-law, professional wrestler George Strickland, introduced him to wrestling and trained him for it. He debuted in August 1969 at the age of 45 as "Killer" Sam Sheppard, wrestling Wild Bill Scholl.

Sheppard wrestled over 40 matches before his death in April 1970, including a number of tag team bouts with Strickland as his partner. His notoriety made him a strong draw.

Sam and Strickland.

During his wrestling career, Dr. Sheppard used his anatomical knowledge to develop a new submission hold, that he called the "Mandibular Nerve Pinch". The maneuver would go on to be renamed the "Mandible Claw" and utilized and popularized by professional wrestler Mankind in 1996.

Late medical practice, remarriage, and death ~

After his release from prison, Sheppard opened a medical office in the Columbus suburb of Gahanna, Ohio. On May 10, 1968, Sheppard was granted surgical privileges at the Youngstown Osteopathic Hospital, but "[his] skills as a surgeon had deteriorated, and much of the time he was impaired by alcohol". Five days after he was granted privileges, he performed a discectomy on a woman and accidentally cut an artery; the patient died the next day. On August 6, he nicked the right iliac artery on a 29-year-old patient who bled to death internally. Sheppard resigned from the hospital staff a few months later after wrongful death suits had been filed by the patients' families.

Six months before his death, Sheppard married Colleen Strickland. Toward the end of his life, Sheppard was reportedly drinking "as much as two fifths of liquor a day" (1.5 liters). On April 6, 1970, Sheppard was found dead in his home in Columbus, Ohio. Early reports indicated that Sheppard died of liver failure. The official cause of death was Wernicke encephalopathy (a type of brain damage associated with advanced alcoholism). He was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens in Columbus.

1997 DNA test ~

Sheppard's body remained buried until September 1997 when he was exhumed for DNA testing as part of the lawsuit brought by his son to clear his father's name. His attorney stated that the DNA testing absolved Sheppard of the murder, because there was blood at the murder scene that belonged to neither him nor his wife. After the tests, the body was cremated, and the ashes were interred in a mausoleum at Knollwood Cemetery in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, along with those of his murdered wife, Marilyn.

Civil trial for wrongful imprisonment ~

Sheppard's son, Samuel Reese Sheppard, has devoted considerable time and effort towards attempting to clear his father's reputation.

Sam Sheppard Jr

In 1999, Alan Davis, a lifelong friend of Sheppard and administrator of his estate, sued the State of Ohio in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas for Sheppard's wrongful imprisonment. The case was heard before Judge Ron Suster.

By order of the court, Marilyn Sheppard's body was exhumed, in part to determine if the fetus she was carrying had been fathered by Sheppard. Terry Gilbert, an attorney retained by the Sheppard family, told the media that "the fetus in this case had previously been autopsied", a fact that had never previously been disclosed. This, Gilbert argued, raised questions about the coroner's office in the original case possibly concealing pertinent evidence. Due to the passage of time on the fetus's tissues, paternity could not be established.

Richard Eberling ~

During the civil trial, plaintiff attorney Terry Gilbert contended that Richard Eberling, an occasional handyman and window washer at the Sheppard home, was the likeliest suspect in Marilyn's murder. Eberling found Marilyn attractive and he was very familiar with the layout of the Sheppard home.

In 1959, detectives were questioning Richard Eberling about various burglaries in the area. Eberling confessed to the burglaries and showed the detectives his loot, which included two rings that belonged to Marilyn Sheppard. Eberling stole the rings in 1958, a few years after the murder, from Sam Sheppard's brother's house, taken from a box marked "Personal Property of Marilyn Sheppard". In subsequent questioning, Eberling admitted his blood was at the crime scene of Marilyn Sheppard. He stated that he cut his finger while washing windows just prior to the murder and bled while on the premises. As part of the investigation, Eberling took a polygraph test with questions about the murder of Marilyn. The polygraph examiner concluded that Eberling did not show deception in his answers, although the polygraph results were evaluated by other experts years later who found that it was either inconclusive or Eberling was deceptive.

In his testimony in the 2000 civil lawsuit, Bailey stated that he rejected Eberling as a suspect in 1966 because "I thought he passed a good polygraph test." When it was presented to Bailey that an independent polygraph expert said Eberling either murdered Marilyn or had knowledge of who did, Bailey stated that he probably would have presented Eberling as a suspect in the 1966 retrial.

DNA evidence, which was not available in the two murder trials, played an important role in the civil trial. DNA analysis of blood at the crime scene showed that there was presence of blood from a third person, other than Marilyn and Dr. Sam Sheppard.

The crime scene_ Marilyn Sheppard’s bloodied outline.

With regard to tying the blood to Eberling, the DNA analysis that was allowed to be admitted to the trial was inconclusive. A plaintiff DNA expert was 90% confident that one of the blood spots belonged to Richard Eberling but, according to the rules of the court, this was not admissible. The defense argued that the blood evidence had been tainted in the years since it was collected, and that an important blood spot on the closet door in Marilyn Sheppard's room potentially included 83% of the adult white population. The defense also pointed out that the results in 1955 from the older blood typing technique, that the blood collected from the closet door was Type O, while Eberling's blood type was Type A.

Throughout his life, Richard Eberling was associated with women who had suspicious deaths and he was convicted of murdering Ethel May Durkin, a wealthy, elderly widow who died without any immediate family. Durkin's 1984 murder in Lakewood, Ohio, was uncovered when a court-appointed review of the woman's estate revealed that Eberling, Durkin's guardian and executor, had failed to execute her final wishes, which included stipulations on her burial.

Durkin's body was exhumed and additional injuries were discovered in the autopsy that did not match Eberling's previous claims of in-house accidents, including a fall down a staircase in her home. In subsequent legal action, both Eberling and his partner, Obie Henderson, were found guilty in Durkin's death. Coincidentally, both of Durkin's sisters, Myrtle Fray and Sarah Belle Farrow, had died under suspicious circumstances as well. Fray was killed after being "savagely" beaten about the head and face and then strangled; Farrow died following a fall down the basement steps in the home she shared with Durkin in 1970, a fall in which she broke both legs and both arms.

Although Eberling denied any criminal involvement in the murder of Marilyn Sheppard, Kathy Wagner Dyal, who worked alongside Eberling in caring for Ethel May Durkin, also testified that Eberling had confessed to her in 1983. A fellow convict also reported that Eberling confessed to the crime. The defense called into question the credibility of both witnesses during the 2000 civil trial. Eberling died in an Ohio prison in 1998, where he was serving a life sentence for the 1984 murder of Ethel May Durkin.

Verdict ~

After twelve weeks of trial, 76 witnesses, and hundreds of exhibits, the case went to the eight-person civil jury. The jury deliberated just three hours on April 12, 2000, before returning a unanimous verdict that Samuel Holmes Sheppard had failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that his father had been wrongfully imprisoned.

Invalidation of wrongful imprisonment claim ~

On February 22, 2002, the Eighth District Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the civil case should not have gone to the jury, on the grounds that the statute of limitations had expired, and that a claim for wrongful imprisonment abated with Sam Sheppard's death. In August 2002, the Supreme Court of Ohio declined to review the appeals court's decision.

Additional suspect ~

A 2002 book theorizes that Marilyn Sheppard was murdered by James Call, an Air Force deserter who passed through Cleveland on a multi-state crime spree at the relevant time. Pages 444-451 show multiple, comparative photographs of Major Call's Luger pistol with the blood-stained pillowcase of Marilyn Sheppard. During the original trial, the blood stain patterns were suspected of having been made by a surgical instrument, which F. Lee Bailey disproved during the 1966 retrial.

German Luger pistol and Marilyn's pillowcase.

Records from the case ~

In 2012, William Mason, then Cuyahoga County Prosecutor, designated the Cleveland–Marshall College of Law Library at Cleveland State University as the repository for records and other materials relating to the Sheppard case. The law school has digitized the material, consisting of over 60 boxes of photographs, recordings, and trial exhibits, and posted portions of it online through the school's institutional repository.

In popular culture

In literature ~

The 2010 novel Mr. Peanut by Adam Ross features Sam Sheppard as a New York City detective investigating a woman's death and recounting the details of his wife's murder.

Edward D. Hoch created his famous detective Dr. Sam Hawthorne after him.

The novel Crooked River Burning by Mark Winegardner features the Sheppard murder trial and ends with an epilogue of Sheppard's wrestling days and death.

Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi with Curt Gentry several times compares the media fanaticism of the Manson Family murders trial to that of the Sheppard case.

Max Allan Collins's 2020 novel Do No Harm is a fictional account of a private investigator investigating the Sheppard case at the request of Eliot Ness and Erle Stanley Gardner.

Eliot Ness and Earl Stanley Gardner.

In film ~

The 1970 movie The Lawyer is a courtroom drama based on the Sheppard murder trial.

The 1993 film The Fugitive, an adaptation of the 1964 television series, is sometimes said to be loosely inspired by the Sam Sheppard case, but series creator Roy Huggins consistently, adamantly and unequivocally denied that there was any creative connection between Sheppard's case and The Fugitive.

The 2021 Hallmark Movies & Mysteries movie Reunited and It Feels So Deadly features the Sheppard Murder trial in the Real Murders Club group.

Television ~

The television series The Fugitive and the 1993 film of the same name have been cited as being loosely based on Sheppard's story. This claim has always been denied by their creators.

Guilty or Innocent: The Sam Sheppard Murder Case (1975), starring George Peppard, is a television movie about this case.

My Father's Shadow: The Sam Sheppard Story (1998), starring Peter Strauss, is a television movie about this case.

The Nova television series episode "NOVA: The Killer's Trail – The Story of Dr. Sam Sheppard" includes a reconstruction of the Sheppard house, examines previously ignored evidence, and offers the opinions of forensic experts.

The educational television series Our Living Bill of Rights, produced by Encyclopædia Britannica Films, covers the Sheppard trial in the episode "Free Press vs. Trial By Jury: The Sheppard Case" (also called "Free Press vs Fair Trial By Jury"). The program contains documentary film footage, interviews with Sheppard and Bailey and a dramatization of the activity in the Sheppard home at the time of the murder. The program may be viewed on this site: http://www.historicfilms.com/tapes/15618 (the opening and closing title sequences are omitted, and is entirely in black and white – the original contained some color footage).

The BBC Four documentary series Catching History's Criminals: The Forensics Story episode (S01E02; 2015) "Traces of Guilt" examined the case, with particular regard to bloodstain evidence and bloodstain pattern analysis.

The Investigation Discovery series A Crime to Remember details the evidence and Sam Sheppard's story in the Season 3 episode "The Wrong Man", first aired December 15, 2015.

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Sam Sheppard In neck brace at trial.

Dr. Sam Sheppard outside his home, December 1966.

(Original Caption) Dr. Sam Sheppard, found innocent in the 1954 slaying of his first wife, has been working on the last chapter of his book, Endure and Conquer. The final pages, covering his second trial, are scheduled to be set in type. Sheppard was acquitted on November 16th, in a second trial ordered by the U. S. Supreme Court.

Dr. Sam Sheppard, Whose Story Inspired The Popular Television Series And Movie "The Fugitive," Is Seen In This Undated File Photo. Proceedings Begin January 31, 2000 In The Wrongful Imprisonment Suit Against The State Of Ohio Filed By Sheppard's Son, Samuel Reese Sheppard, Jr. (Photo By Getty Images).

1954.

(Original Caption) Portrait of Dr. Richard Sheppard, brother of Dr. Sam Sheppard.

(Original Caption) Dr. Richard A. Sheppard, Father of Dr. Samuel H. Sheppard accused of the murder of his wife, Marilyn, is shown as he made his first appearance at Dr. Sam's murder trial yesterday. He is shown with his daughter-in- law Mrs. Richard Sheppard Jr. A new defense move to halt the trial was rejected and the slow process of selecting a jury continues. (Photo by © Bettmann/CORBIS/Bettmann Archive).

(Original Caption) Dr. Sam Sheppard (L); his second wife, Ariane; and his son, Sam Jr., are all smiles after hearing June 6 that the Supreme Court had ordered that Dr. Sheppard either be given a new trial, on charges of murdering his first wife, or be permanently freed. The Supreme Court decision called for the new trial, if any is held, to be undertaken in 60 days.

(Original Caption) Dr. Sam Sheppard, just released from prison July 16th, embraces his brother, Dr. Stephan Sheppard and his sister in law, Dorothy. Sheppard's freedom may be extended, according to his attorney and the State of Ohio, through some legal maneuvering. The restraining order which threatened to put him back in prison hours after his release is considered to be invalid because it was not issued until after the doctor's freedom was already in effect.

(Original Caption) Dr. Samuel H. Sheppard (2nd from right), flanked by the two deputies, leads his family from the graveside after burial services for his father, Dr. Richard Sheppard, Sr., who died Jan. 17th. Walking alone behind Dr. Sam is his brother, Dr. Richard Sheppard, Jr. behind Dr. Richard are (from left): Betty Sheppard, her husband Dr. Stephen Sheppard, and Dorothy Sheppard, wife of Dr. Richard.

(Original Caption) Marilyn Sheppard, former wife of Dr. Sam Sheppard, at age of five, with pet dog at a family gathering. (Photo by © Bettmann/CORBIS/Bettmann Archive).

Marilyn Sheppard.

(Original Caption) Dr. and Mrs. Richard Sheppard are shown in their home here after getting word that a Federal District judge at Dayton has ordered Sam Sheppard freed on bond, pending a new trial. Sam, brother of Richard, was found guilty of murdering his pregnant wife in a 1954 trial in Cleveland.

(Original Caption) 7/1/66-Lorain, Ohio: Samuel "Chip" Sheppard, 19, son of Dr. Sam Sheppard is pictured with his lawyer Russell Sherman (left), at hearing in Lorain Municipal Court here 7/1. Young Sheppard was charged with failing to obey a police officer after he refused to provide identification June 21, 1966.

(Original Caption) Boston University freshman Samuel "Chip" Sheppard Jr., son of Cleveland osteopath Dr. Samuel Sheppard, said "there never was any doubt in my mind that my father was innocent." His father was acquitted of the 1954 murder of his first wife (11/16). The son is shown here in the office of Atty. F. Lee Bailey who represented Sheppard.

(Original Caption) Richard Sheppard, (R), brother of Dr. Samuel Sheppard, who is sitting on the porch talking with his wife Ariane, talks with reporters during a news conference here November 15th. The US Supreme Court agreed to review Dr. Sheppard's murder case conviction.

(Original Caption) Dr. Sam Sheppard (L) shakes hands with his brother, Dr. Richard Sheppard (R) as another brother, Dr. Stephen Sheppard, offers words of encouragement. The photo was made in courtroom where Dr. Sam is on trial for the July 4 murder of his wife, Marilyn. The sixth woman and 10th juror was seated yesterday. When direct reference was made to the murder of his wife during questioning of a prospective juror, Dr. Sheppard wept. (Photo by © Bettmann/CORBIS/Bettmann Archive).

(Original Caption) Dr. Samuel Sheppard holds on his lap, Sam "Chip" Sheppard Jr., during a family excursion to California in 1948. Dr. Sam wanted to stay on the West Coast, but his father talked him into returning to Cleveland.

Brother Dr Stephen Allen Sheppard at Sam's murder trial.

Dr Richard Allen Sheppard. Sam's father.

Ethel Edythe Niles Sheppard. Sam's mother.

Dr Stephen Allen Sheppard. Brother.

Richard Jr. Brother.

Marilyn, Sam ''Chip'' Jr., and Sam Sheppard.

The Frederick Post (Frederick, Maryland)28 Oct 1954.

Sam and Marilyn shortly after wedding.

Murder victim, Marilyn Sheppard.

Dr. Sam Sheppard, who served almost 10 years in prison but was freed and acquitted in a second trial on charges of murdering his wife, does some Christmas shopping with his German-born second wife, Ariane, Dec. 21. Sheppard, visiting his in-laws in Germany.

(Original Caption) Dr. Sam Sheppard and his wife, Ariane, look over books and plastic models of various parts of the body. Sheppard has hopes of resuming his medical career, with Ariane as his assistant, if the court decision , expected next week, allows him to remain free. He was originally convicted of killing his first wife.

(Original Caption) Close ups, Dr. Sam Sheppard with wife Ariane, December 8th, at the overseas press club where he said he would not have returned to prison if he had been convicted a second time of murdering his first wife. Sheppard said he planned to invite death by shooting himself in the courtroom if a guilty verdict had been delivered on November 11th.

(Original Caption) Close ups, Dr. Sam Sheppard and wife Ariane pose outside the Cuyahoga County Court building recently, where he is on retrial for the 1954 murder of his first wife, Marilyn.

(Original Caption) Dr. Samuel Sheppard, and his wife, the former Ariane Iebbenjohanns, go through "Dr. Sam's" record collection, which reveals him as a Sinatra fan. They are in the living room of their home in Bay City, where Dr. Sheppard is building a new life for himself after ten years in prison.

This photo was used as evidence to show Sam as being left-handed. It was said at trial that the murderer must have been right-handed.

(Original Caption) Dr. Sam Sheppard and wife Ariane, look through a program as they attend a heart disease seminar sponsored by the Cleveland Academy of Osteopathic Medicine. Back from their Riveria sojourn, Dr. Sheppard will hang out his shingle and resume the practice of osteopathy for the first time alone since the slaying of his first wife, Marilyn, in 1954. Sheppard was convicted of the slaying, then acquitted during a second trial. Sheppard said his reinstatement to practice in Ohio, granted December 14, 1967, persuaded him to return to Bay Village.

(Original Caption) Close ups, Dr. Sam Sheppard with wife Ariane, December 8th, at the overseas press club where he said he would not have returned to prison if he had been convicted a second time of the murdering his first wife. Sheppard said he planned to invite death by shooting himself in the courtroom if a guilty verdict had been delivered on November 11th. F. Lee Bailey, decide to keep Sam off the stand because his condition had deteriorated due to booze and pills.

(Original Caption) Ariane Sheppard, former wife of the late Dr. Sam Sheppard, ponders questions by reporters after she viewed a NBC movie of the Sam Sheppard Murder Case. Ariane arrived in the US from her home in France 11/14 expressly to see the three hour televised dramatization of the much publicized case. Ariane said she thought the presentation was favorable to Dr. Sheppard.

(Original Caption) It was learned late 10/31 that Dr. Sam Sheppard, 45 who served 10 years in prison on conviction of slaying his 1st wife but was acquitted in 1966 and who just two weeks ago was finally divorced from his second wife, married 20 year old Colleen Strickland 10/21 in Mexico. Colleen (2nd from left) is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Strickland (R). Strickland, a veteran of the pro circuit in wrestling, is the close friend and tag team partner of Sheppard (L). The four talk in Strickland's home 11/1 about next week's upcoming wrestling matches.

(Original Caption) The mother of Dr. Samuel Sheppard was found dead January 7th in the house of another of her sons, Dr. Stephen Sheppard. Police say Mrs. Richard Sheppard, Sr. took her own life by shooting herself. Officers said she left a suicide note, but its contents were not disclosed. She is shown here last July 27th during the inquest into the murder of Dr. Sam Sheppard's wife, Marilyn. (Photo by © Bettmann/CORBIS/Bettmann Archive).

(Original Caption) Attendants take the body of Mrs. Ethel Sheppard, mother of convicted wife slayer, Dr. Samuel Sheppard, from the home of another son, Dr. Stephen A. Sheppard, after the woman's suicide January 7th. The 64 year old woman is said by police to have locked the door of her bedroom and shot herself with a pistol. There was no mention of her son, Dr. Sam, in the woman's note. Dr. Sam received the news in jail. (Photo by © Bettmann/CORBIS/Bettmann Archive).

(Original Caption) Dr. Sam Sheppard convicted of the 2nd degree murder of his wife was given permission to attend the funeral of his mother, Mrs. Ethel Sheppard who took her life Friday. Dr. Sam Sheppard is shown leaving County Jail with chief jailor Mike Uccello for the funeral home.

(Original Caption) Dr. Sam Sheppard was given permission to attend the funeral and burial of his mother, Mrs. Ethel Sheppard who took her life last Friday. Sam is shown handcuffed to jailor Mick Uccello as they leave the Saxton Funeral Home. (Photo by © Bettmann/CORBIS/Bettmann Archive).

(Original Caption) Curious onlookers gather in front of the Saxton Funeral Home hoping to get a glimpse of convicted wife murderer Dr. Sam Sheppard. He was given permission to attend the funeral of his mother who took her own life last Friday. (Photo by © Bettmann/CORBIS/Bettmann Archive).

Dr. Sam's mugshot.

Dr. Samuel Sheppard (right) is led away to the Ohio Penitentiary in 1955 after being convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Sam Sheppard is questioned by coroner Sam Gerber.

Jurors from the Sam Sheppard murder trial walk down the snowy steps from the courthouse. Jurors were selected in October 1954, and had their names, photos, and addresses printed in the local newspapers. Luella Williams, Beatrice Orenstein, an unidentified juror, and Anne Foote appear from left to right.

This photograph shows the spectator side of the courtroom during the Sam Sheppard trial. The trial was widely publicized. Journalists came from across the country to cover the case.— The Cleveland Memory Project.

Television reporters report a news segment outside the courthouse during the Sam Sheppard murder trial.— The Cleveland Memory Project.

(Original Caption) Dr. Sam Sheppard, accused of the July 4th murder of his wife, Marilyn, is ringed by photographers in common pleas court. his ace attorney, William J. Corrigan, is leaning over his brief in center.

(Original Caption) Dr. Samuel Sheppard, handcuffed to a deputy, smiles as he is led from jail cell to court December 30th where attorney William J. Corrigan, in an appeal for a new trial for the 31-year-old osteopath, argued that Dr. Sam's conviction of 2nd degree murder should be "set aside, vacated, and held for naught" because of 41 alleged judicial errors during his trial.

(Original Caption) Dr. Samuel Sheppard, accused of the July 4th murder of his wife, Marilyn, is shown in the barred elevator that brought him down to the court room from his jail cell for the opening of his trial yesterday. Deputy Sheriff Jim Kilroy is in charge of the prisoner at left. Dr. Sam lost the first round in his battle for life when a defense motion to delay the trial was turned down.

(Original Caption) Dr. Samuel H. Sheppards Attorney Chief Defense Counsel William J. Corrigan (R), Fred W. Garmone (left with glasses), William R. Corrigan (back), son of William J. Corrigan and Arthur B. Petersiloge (Right Back).

The jury in the Samuel Sheppard trial is on their way to visit the scene of the crime, the home of Dr. Sheppard, where his pregnant wife, Marilyn, was found murdered. Sheppard is at the center of the staircase. | Location: Bay Village, Ohio, USA.

(Original Caption) Doctor Samuel H. Sheppard points out to authorities the location on the beach of his Bay Village, Ohio, home where he says he was left unconscious by his wife's slayer after a fierce predawn struggle on July 4th. Dr. Sheppard has told authorities he was badly beaten when he came to the aid of his wife, Marilyn, who was brutally beaten to death by the alleged intruders. Three mystery men near the Sheppard lakeside home were being sought on July 10th. A deputy sheriff said that Sheppard, despite his tearful denials, "is the number one suspect." However, he added, "Everyone connected with the case is a suspect."

(Original Caption) The seven men and five women who comprise the jury at the trial of Dr. Samuel Sheppard are shown as they arrived at court this morning to begin their second day of deliberations. The jury spent the night in a Cleveland hotel. Judge Edward Blythin, who presided at the trial, indicated that the jury may take considerable time to reach a verdict, pointing out that they must sift through more than a million words of testimony taken during the nine-week trial. Form left above are Mrs. Louise Feutcher; Frank Moravec; Howard Barrish; Mrs. Elizabeth Borke; William Lamb; Frank Kolarits; Jack Hansen; Edmund Verlinger; A Bailiff; James C. Bird; Mrs. Anna Foote; Mrs. Luella William and Mrs. Beatrice Orenstein.

(Original Caption) Dr. Samuel Sheppard is flanked by police officials as he was escorted on a visit to his house, where his wife Marilyn was killed July 4th. The seven-man, five-woman jury that will decide his fate were all on the scene at the suburban Bay Village home.

(Original Caption) With head in hand, chief Defense Attorney William J. Corrigan seems to reflect some of the strain produced by the trial of Dr. Samuel Sheppard, who is shown pausing to meditate before the trial was resumed Oct. 26th.

(Original Caption) Dr. Sam Sheppard was in court this morning to listen to eight more witnesses testify before Common Pleas Judge Edward Blyth into July 4th murder of his wife, Marilyn. Sheppard's attorneys are trying to free him, contending that there is insufficient evidence to keep him in jail. This is the first time Dr. Sam has been allowed to listen to witnesses' testimony. Dr. Sam (L) confers with one of his attorneys, Arthur Petersilge.

(Original Caption) Press Room at the Cleveland Criminal Courts Building after the nine page signed statement by Dr. Sam Sheppard was released to the press.

(Original Caption) The prosecution team continued piling up evidence against Dr. Sam Sheppard. From left: Chief Prosecutor John Mahon, Assistant Prosecutors Saul Danaceau and Thomas Parrino, and Detective Chief James MacArthur prepare their brief this morning. Judge Blythin banned photographers from taking photos of the defense in courtroom before trial goes into session.

(Original Caption) Members of the "Court of Last Resort" discuss a new clue in the Sam Sheppard murder case. The famous mystery writer, Erle Stanley Gardner (seated, right), who heads the group, talks it over with (left to right), Dr. L.M. Snyder, Park Street, Harry Steeger, and Alex Gregory.

(Original Caption) Common pleas Judge Edward Blythin, assigned to the trial of Dr. Sam Sheppard, walks briskly from one courtroom to another in Cleveland's Criminal Courts Building December 20th. Judge Blythin, awaiting the jury's decision on Sheppard, leaves his own courtroom to aid two other judges in another first degree murder case directly across the hall from the Sheppard courtroom. He then returns to his own bench to dismiss the Sheppard jury for meals. After conferring with the opposing counsel December 20th, the judge announced that he was "going to let the jury go on deliberating." The jury has been out four days.

(Original Caption) Dr. Samuel Sheppard, 30 year old osteopath who is accused of the fourth of July slaying of his wife, Marilyn, is shown (second from left) with his brother, Dr. Richard Sheppard, Jr., as he left the county jail in Cleveland today after his release on $50,000 bond. Dr. Sheppard, who has been in jail for the past 18 days, was granted bond this morning by common pleas Judge William K. Thomas. A professional bondsman posted the bail for him. (Photo by © Bettmann/CORBIS/Bettmann Archive).

(Original Caption) Dr. Sam Sheppard at his arraignment wherein he pleaded "not guilty". He is sitting with his attorneys, William J. Corrigan, left, and Fred Garmone.

(Original Caption) "Deliberation Room" it says in golden letters on the heavy door. Early Friday, December 17th, the five woman, seven man jury who heard the trial of Dr. Samuel Sheppard, accused wife killer, will file into this room to debate Sam's future. There is nothing special about the room. It is about 22 feet by 12, with a long, narrow table dominating the floor. On the wall near the door is a small white button, set in a brass plate. That's the buzzer. Sooner or later the jury will buzz it to announce - what?

(Original Caption) Attorney F. Lee Bailey walks with wife and assistant Attorney Russell Sherman (wearing dark raincoat) outside the Cuyahoga County Criminal Court Building, recently,where Bailey's client, Dr. Sam Sheppard is on trial again for the 1954 murder of his first wife, Marilyn.

(Original Caption) Former Cleveland Police Detective, Fred Schottke, will probably be called to give testimony 11/4 in the Dr. Sam Sheppard murder trial. Schottke, is pictured at court 11/3. (Bottom) Dr. Sam Sheppard and his wife Afiane present a contrast in facial expressions as they leave court here 11/3 for lunch. Dr. Sheppard, is on trial for the 1954 murder of his first wife.

(Original Caption) Dr. Samuel H. Sheppard (R), his wife, Ariane, and son Sam Jr., arrive at US Supreme Court 2/28 for a hearing on his conviction for the murder of his first wife, Marilyn. The court is being asked to hold for the first time that press coverage can be prejudicial enough to void a conviction even without proof that jurors were influenced by it. At far left is F. Lee Bailey, Sheppard's attorney. US Capitol can be seen at right.

(Original Caption) Attorney Lee Bailey (R) talks with Dr. Sam Sheppard on Sheppard's possible return to prison while Sam's wife Ariane looks on.

(Original Caption) while his wife Ariane waits for him, Doctor Sam Sheppard leaps down the steps three at a time. Dr. Sheppard and his wife are on their way to meet with attorney Lee Bailey to discuss Sheppard's possible return to prison.

(Original Caption) Dr. Sam Sheppard and his second wife Ariane check through his trial records in a recent file photo. The attorneys for Sheppard have filed a petition with the US Supreme court that his life sentence should be set aside.

(Original Caption) Dr. Sam Sheppard walks with his Assistant Attorney Russell Sherman (wearing dark raincoat), outside the Cuyahoga County Criminal Court Building, recently where Sheppard is on trial again for the 1954 murder of his first wife, Marilyn.

F. Lee Bailey and Sam Sheppard (behind) at the 1966 trial.

Sam Sheppard stands with his wife Arian and his attorney F. Lee Bailey after his second trial for the murder of his first Wife, Marilyn.

(Original Caption) Dr. Sam Sheppard, shown in a 1966 file photo, flashes a big smile after hearing he will be granted a new trial for the 1954 slaying of his first wife. When he goes on trial Oct 18th, it will be as if the past 12 years of his life never existed.

(Original Caption) Cleveland, Ohio:Dr. Sam Sheppard and his wife, Arianne, are followed by newsmen as they arrive at court in Cleveland Sept. 8th. Dr. Sheppard was facing arraignment for his retrial in the death of his former wife. 9/8/1966.

(Original Caption) A happy Dr. Sam Sheppard (L), leads wife Ariane from Cuyahoga Criminal Courts Building here after hearing he was found innocent in the slaying of his first wife.

(Original Caption) A happy Dr. Sam Sheppard (L), leads wife Ariane from Cuyahoga Criminal Courts Building here after hearing he was found innocent in the slaying of his first wife.

People, Crime, Murder, pic: 1966, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, Dr, Sam Sheppard with his wife after hearing he had been found innocent of killing his first wife, Dr, Sam Sheppard was acquitted in a new trial after serving nearly 10 years in prison after a 1954 conviction when he was then found guilty in a controversial case (Photo by Rolls Press/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images).

Original Caption) (L-R) Attorney's F. Lee Bailey, Russell Sherman, and Dr. Sam Sheppard and wife Ariane hold press conference here late 11/16. Dr. Sam Sheppard was found innocent in the 1954 slaying of his first wife.

Sam Sheppard with his son Chip (left) and second wife upon his acquittal.

(Original Caption) Defense attorneys in the murder trial of Dr. Sam Sheppard made a futile effort to block the showing of color slides of the blood stained pillow on which Marilyn Sheppard was murdered. Coroner Samuel R. Gerber testified that the "impression of a surgical instrument" was found on the pillow. The combo photo shows both sides of the pillow introduced as evidence.

(Original Caption) Marilyn Sheppard's wrist watch, presented as states evidence in the trial of Dr. Sam Sheppard. It is inside a small glass bottle which usually holds pills. It was supposed to have been worn by Marilyn at the time of her murder, but was found blood stained , downstairs. (Photo by © Bettmann/CORBIS/Bettmann Archive).

(Original Caption) Dr. Lester Adelson, deputy county coroner of Cuyahoga County, examines x-rays of the hands, feet, and head of Mrs. Marilyn Sheppard who was found bludgeoned to death in Bay Village early July 4th. Her husband, Dr. Samuel Sheppard, will face trial for her murder.

(Original Caption) Detective Chief James McArthur today brought out two photographs which he says dispute the defense claim that Dr. Sam Sheppard could not have killed his wife because the killer was left handed. Dr. Sam admitted an affidavit that he is right handed. McArthur says he can show that Dr. Sam is ambidextrous. (Photo by © Bettmann/CORBIS/Bettmann Archive).

(Original Caption) This is an artist's drawing of the Bay Ridge Summer Home of Dr. Samuel Sheppard, which has figured prominently in the testimony of the Sheppard Murder Trial during the last few days. The physician is on trial for the slaying of his wife.

Illustrations of the fatal headwounds and bruised hands sustained by Marilyn Sheppard as described to the jury during the murder trial of her husband Dr. Sam Sheppard, 1954. Sketches from Cleveland Press. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images).

(Original Caption) The couch on which Dr. Samuel Sheppard said he was sleeping while his wife, Marilyn, 31, was being beaten to death in an upstairs bedroom, July 4th, is removed from their Bay Village, Ohio, home, August 9th, on orders of Coroner Samuel R. Gerber. The blood spattered bed on which Mrs. Sheppard died was also removed for possible use at the trial of Dr. Sheppard, who is now being held on a first degree murder charge. The 30 year old osteopath contends that he was awakened from his sleep on the couch by his wife's screams. he said he was himself injured by her unknown assailant when he ran to her aid.

(Original Caption) Dr. Sam H. Sheppard (right), his neck in a special collar, leaves a Cleveland funeral home, July 7th, after attending the funeral of his wife who was beaten to death early July 4th. Police are searching for the man who delivered about 25 fatal blows to Mrs. Sheppard's head and inflicted neck injuries to the doctor. Assisting Sheppard is Edward Saxton, Jr.

Crime scene. Marilyn's legs hang over the foot end of the death bed.

(Original Caption) Donald J. Wedler, 23, (above) is being held by the police of Deland, Florida, after confessing to the slaying of Mrs. Marilyn Sheppard in Cleveland, Ohio. Under intense interrogation Welder has repeatedly asserted that he is certain a woman he beat to death on that date was Marilyn Sheppard. The victims husband, Dr. Sam Sheppard, is serving a life sentence for his wife's death. A re-opening of the murder case is now possible. (Photo by © Bettmann/CORBIS/Bettmann Archive).

Trash from the Fourth of July picnic at the Sheppard residence. The Sheppards had a picnic the day that Marilyn was murdered.

These are the stairs on the beach outside of the Sheppard home. Sam Sheppard claimed he fought a bushy haired man in this area. Sheppard said that the bushy haired man killed his wife, Marilyn.

The jury visits the crime scene.

The jury in the Sam Sheppard trial at the home of Dr. Sheppard, where his pregnant wife, Marilyn, was found brutally murdered. | Location: Bay Village, Ohio, USA.

July 4, 2020 marked the 66th anniversary of Bay Village’s most notorious crime – the murder of Marilyn Sheppard. Much has been written on the murder of Dr. Sam Sheppard’s wife and the lifelong controversy over Dr. Sam’s guilt or innocence that followed. The house where the murder took place stood at 28944 Lake Road in Bay Village. It was torn down in 1993 to make way for a newer home built by another family. The Villager was there the day the Sheppard house was demolished. Here is a photo from our archives of this now-vanished scene of Bay Village history. Villager Newspaper.

Exterior View of Sam Sheppard's Home. (Original Caption) Dr. Sam Sheppard, found innocent in the 1954 slaying of his first wife, has been working on the last chapter of his book, Endure and Conquer. The final pages, covering his second trial, are scheduled to be set in type. Sheppard was acquitted on November 16th, in a second trial ordered by the U. S. Supreme Court.

American physician Dr Sam Sheppard (1923-1970) and his second wife Ariane Tebbenjohanns celebrate their first wedding anniversary at a swimming pool near their home in Ohio, United States in 1965. (Photo by Rolls Press/Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images).

(Original Caption) Dr. Sam Sheppard, and his wife of one year, Ariane, celebrates their first wedding anniversary at a pool near their home. Dr. Sheppard is still appealing his return to prison in the death of his first wife.

(Original Caption) Thirteen years after the murder trial for slaying his wife, Marilyn, Sam Sheppard still attracts television and newspaper reporters. Dr. Sam Sheppard, whose medical license was revoked in 1954 after he was convicted of his wife's murder, arrives to ask that his certificate be restored at a hearing 5/25. Sheppard's murder conviction was reversed by a retrial earlier this year. The California Board of Osteopathic Examiners heard the request and will act on it later.

(Original Caption) Dr. Sam Sheppard, whose medical license was revoked in 1954 after he was convicted of his wife's murder, arrives to ask that his certificate be restored at a hearing 5/25. Sheppard's murder conviction was reversed by a retrial earlier this year. The California Board of Osteopathic Examiners heard the request and will act on it later.

(Original Caption) Dr. Sam Sheppard, whose medical license was revoked in 1954 after he was convicted of his wife's murder, arrives to ask that his certificate be restored at a hearing 5/25. Sheppard's murder conviction was reversed by a retrial earlier this year. The California Board of Osteopathic Examiners heard the request and will act on it later.

Coroner Samuel Gerber. He felt that Sheppard was guilty early on in the case. He held an inquest at Normandy Elementary School, where Sheppard lied about having an affair.

Mrs. Nancy Ahern, a friend and neighbor of Dr. and Mrs. Samuel Sheppard, took the witness stand Nov. 9th. Mrs. Ahern, the third state witness, testified that Marilyn had told her that Dr. Samuel Sheppard had given a watch to a "young lady in California" and had been thinking of a divorce. Nancy Ahern was also a guest at the party the night of Marilyn's death.

(Original Caption) Assistant Prosecutor John J. Mahon (left) opened the State's case against Dr. Samuel Sheppard by accusing the 30-year old brain surgeon of the deliberate and premeditated slaying of his pretty wife, Marilyn, after an argument about his affairs with "other women." Associate Defense Counsel Fred W. Garmone (right) answered for Dr. Sam by replying that the handsome young defendant had dedicated his career to saving lives, and was incapable of killing anyone.

Original Caption) Dr. Paul L. Kirk, a noted criminologist, examines the bloodstained pillow upon which Marilyn Sheppard met her death last July 4th. The pillow was part of the exhibits in the murder trial of Dr. Samuel Sheppard, who was convicted of 2nd degree murder in the slaying of his wife. Kirk was engaged by the family of Dr. Sam Sheppard to hunt for the killer of Marilyn.

(Original Caption) Francis Talty presiding judge of the Dr. Sam Sheppard retrial walks outside the Cuyahoga County Criminal Court Building. Sheppard is accused of the 1954 murder of his first wife.

(Original Caption) Dr. Paul Kirk, California criminologist, makes some notes concerning Dr. Samuel Sheppard's new trial plea, shortly after his arrival here April 25th. Kirk claims data shows that Dr. Sam did not kill his wife, Marilyn.

(Original Caption) Common Pleas Judge Edward Blythin who was presiding over the murder trial of Dr. Sam Sheppard is shown at the bench.

(Original Caption) Common Pleas Judge Edward Blythin reads over legal data following the court adjournment for the weekend of the trial of Dr. Samuel Sheppard, accused of murdering his wife. The hearing was thrown into confusion October 29th when it was learned that one of the seated jurors was previously convicted of a morals charge.

(Original Caption) Robert Schottke, one of the Cleveland homicide detectives who investigated the Marilyn Sheppard murder and pin pointed Dr. Sam as the most likely suspect.

Original Caption) 12/9/1966-Marshfield, Massachusetts-One of today's most publicized defense lawyers, F. Lee Bailey, relaxes in his home library with a book about one of his clients, who is presently in a mental institution. Bailey, 33, gained international notoriety recently for his success in getting a Cleveland jury to acquite Dr. Sam Sheppard of killing his first wife. Now he is tackling the defense of the sex-tinged trial of Dr. Carl Goppolino in New Jersey.

(Original Caption) Prosecutor John J. Mahon took over cross-examination of Dr. Samuel Sheppard, accused wife-killer, December 13th, as the trial for Dr. Sam went into it's 9th week. On the witness stand for the third day, Dr. Sam ended direct testimony with his admission that he had succumbed to "human frailties" during his life.

JUL 11 1966, JUL 17 1966; DISTRICT ATTY. REX SCOTT EXPLAINS STAND; Says Dr. Sam Sheppard case ruling will remain guideline.; (Photo By Ira Gay Sealy/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

Dorothy Kilgallen.

Eliot Ness.

Erle Stanley Gardner.

Mayor and Mrs. J. Spencer Houk, next door neighbors of Dr. Sam Sheppard.

Paul L. Kirk.

Sheppard (left) wrestled over 40 matches before he died in 1970.

(Original Caption) Dr.Samuel Sheppard (left) puts a headlock on his trainer, George Strickland, while preparing for his first public appearance in a wrestling match. Sheppard is scheduled to wrestle Wild Bill Scholl in a match for the benefit of the Pike County Cancer Society at Waverly, Ohio, August 9.

(Original Caption) Dr.Samuel Sheppard holds up a poster announcing his debut in professional wrestling, to be held August 9. The match will be held in Waverly, Ohio, and proceeds will go to the Pike County Cancer Society. Sheppard (whose name is misspelled in the poster) was released from the Ohio Penitentiary in 1964 after serving 10 years for the slaying of his first wife, Marilyn, on the basis that his first trial was unfair. Sheppard now works as a general practitioner in Gahanna, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, and says his wrestling career will not interfere with his medical practice.

Dr Stephen Allen Sheppard's book.

CLEVELAND, : This 05 October, 1999 photo shows Knollwood cemetery in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, the setting for the exhumation of the remains of Marilyn Sheppard to collect DNA evidence to be used in the trial of a wrongful imprisonment lawsuit filed by Sam Reese Sheppard, son of Marilyn and Dr. Sam Sheppard, to clear his father's name. Dr. Sam Sheppard was convicted and then acquitted of killing his wife 45 years ago. AFP PHOTO David MAXWELL (Photo credit should read DAVID MAXWELL/AFP via Getty Images).

Main sign at Knollwood Cemetery in Mayfield Heights, Ohio,

Knollwood Cemetery mausoleum.

The hearse carrying the exhumed remains of Marilyn Sheppard emerges from the mausoleum at Knollwood cemetery 05 October 1999 in Mayfield Heights, Ohio en route to the Cuyahoga County coroner's office. The remains of Marilyn Sheppard are being exhumed to collect DNA evidence to be used in the trial of a wrongful imprisonment lawsuit filed by Sam Reese Sheppard to clear his father, Dr. Sam Sheppard, who was convicted and later acquitted of murdering his wife 45 years ago. AFP PHOTO/David MAXWELL (Photo by DAVID MAXWELL / AFP) (Photo by DAVID MAXWELL/AFP via Getty Images).

The hearse carrying the exhumed remains of Marilyn Sheppard emerges from the mausoleum at Knollwood cemetery 05 October 1999 in Mayfield Heights, Ohio en route to the Cuyahoga County coroner's office. The remains of Marilyn Sheppard are being exhumed to collect DNA evidence to be used in the trial of a wrongful imprisonment lawsuit filed by Sam Reese Sheppard to clear his father, Dr. Sam Sheppard, who was convicted and later acquitted of murdering his wife 45 years ago. AFP PHOTO/David MAXWELL (Photo by DAVID MAXWELL / AFP) (Photo by DAVID MAXWELL/AFP via Getty Images).

CLEVELAND, : Family members of Dr. Sam Sheppard, who was convicted and then acquitted of killing his wife Marilyn 45 years ago, arrive at the mausoleum at Knollwood cemetery to witness the exhumation of her remains 05 October 1999 in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. The remains of Marilyn Sheppard are being exhumed to collect DNA evidence to be used in the trial of a wrongful imprisonment lawsuit filed by son Sam Reese Sheppard to clear his father's name. AFP PHOTO/David MAXWELL (Photo credit should read DAVID MAXWELL/AFP via Getty Images).