Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason is giving the case files for the notorious Marilyn Sheppard murder case to Cleveland State University - Marshall College of Law.
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/09/sam_sheppards_murder_case_file.html#incart_hbx
Over fifty boxes of files, photos, recordings and exhibits from the famous murder case will be catalogued, digitized and eventually made available to the public and researchers.
Dr. Sam Sheppard was accused of killing his wife, Marilyn, in Bay Village, OH on July 4, 1954. She was brutally bludgeoned to death in the upstairs bedroom of their lakeside home while her husband, Dr. Sam, slept downstairs on a daybed in the living room. Their young son, Chip, asleep in a room down the hall, was unharmed and didn't awaken.
Like the Jeffrey MacDonald case, Dr. Sam awoke to hear his wife screaming, ran upstairs in the dark and encountered a "bushy-headed" stranger who beat him and knocked him unconscious.
Dr. Sheppard was convicted of murder in a high profile trial in Cleveland. In 1966, attorney F. Lee Bailey was successful in overturning the conviction on the grounds that Sheppard didn't receive a fair trial due to massive pre-trial publicity. The verdict was the first of its kind, making F. Lee Bailey famous and setting a precedent that led to controls on media coverage prior to trials.
Years later, Bay Village neighbors of the Sheppards claimed the media frenzy was a "circus" during the first trial.
Sheppard was released from prison, but his professional life was over. He remarried, wrote a book, and even performed for a short time as a professional wrestler. He died in 1970.
Sam Sheppard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sheppard's son, Chip, (who now goes by the name Sam Reese Sheppard, using his mother's maiden name), collaborated on a book that pointed out problems in the original investigation and raised the suspicion that Marilyn had been killed by a window-washer/handyman they employed named Richard Eberling. Eberling's blood was found in the home, but he claimed it was due to a cut to his finger. He was later convicted and imprisoned for the murder of another woman.
Sam Reese Sheppard eventually went to trial in Cuyahoga County asking the court to declare his father innocent of his mother's murder. At this trial, Prosecutor Bill Mason and Asst. Prosecutor Steve Dever presented a compelling case that proved Sam had murdered his wife. The jury ruled in their favor.
I used to live in Bay Village, not far from the house where the murder took place. I had the opportunity to meet Sam Reese Sheppard at a book signing. He's a very kind, intelligent man who has had to live with the loss of his family at an early age.
I'm also acquainted with both Bill Mason and Steve Dever, good prosecutors who are convinced Sam murdered his wife. It will be interesting to review the evidence and files when they are made available to the public.
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/09/sam_sheppards_murder_case_file.html#incart_hbx
Over fifty boxes of files, photos, recordings and exhibits from the famous murder case will be catalogued, digitized and eventually made available to the public and researchers.
Dr. Sam Sheppard was accused of killing his wife, Marilyn, in Bay Village, OH on July 4, 1954. She was brutally bludgeoned to death in the upstairs bedroom of their lakeside home while her husband, Dr. Sam, slept downstairs on a daybed in the living room. Their young son, Chip, asleep in a room down the hall, was unharmed and didn't awaken.
Like the Jeffrey MacDonald case, Dr. Sam awoke to hear his wife screaming, ran upstairs in the dark and encountered a "bushy-headed" stranger who beat him and knocked him unconscious.
Dr. Sheppard was convicted of murder in a high profile trial in Cleveland. In 1966, attorney F. Lee Bailey was successful in overturning the conviction on the grounds that Sheppard didn't receive a fair trial due to massive pre-trial publicity. The verdict was the first of its kind, making F. Lee Bailey famous and setting a precedent that led to controls on media coverage prior to trials.
Years later, Bay Village neighbors of the Sheppards claimed the media frenzy was a "circus" during the first trial.
Sheppard was released from prison, but his professional life was over. He remarried, wrote a book, and even performed for a short time as a professional wrestler. He died in 1970.
Sam Sheppard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sheppard's son, Chip, (who now goes by the name Sam Reese Sheppard, using his mother's maiden name), collaborated on a book that pointed out problems in the original investigation and raised the suspicion that Marilyn had been killed by a window-washer/handyman they employed named Richard Eberling. Eberling's blood was found in the home, but he claimed it was due to a cut to his finger. He was later convicted and imprisoned for the murder of another woman.
Sam Reese Sheppard eventually went to trial in Cuyahoga County asking the court to declare his father innocent of his mother's murder. At this trial, Prosecutor Bill Mason and Asst. Prosecutor Steve Dever presented a compelling case that proved Sam had murdered his wife. The jury ruled in their favor.
I used to live in Bay Village, not far from the house where the murder took place. I had the opportunity to meet Sam Reese Sheppard at a book signing. He's a very kind, intelligent man who has had to live with the loss of his family at an early age.
I'm also acquainted with both Bill Mason and Steve Dever, good prosecutors who are convinced Sam murdered his wife. It will be interesting to review the evidence and files when they are made available to the public.
