Marilyn Sheppard, July 4, 1954

In the early morning hours of July 4, 1954, Marilyn Sheppard was bludgeoned to death in her bed. Her husband Sam, a prominent Bay Village doctor, maintained that Marilyn was murdered by a bushy-haired intruder. He stood trial and was convicted for his wife’s murder amidst a media storm. Harrison Ford's character in The Fugitive is roughly based on Sam Sheppard. The media frenzy so tainted the case that the United States Supreme Court released him and ordered a retrial in the decision Sheppard v. Maxwell. At the 1966 retrial, Sheppard was acquitted. He died just a few years later. SOURCES: https://famous-trials.com/sam-sheppard/2-sheppard law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/sheppard/sheppardchonology.html https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/sheppard/#browse Cleveland Plain Dealer Cleveland Press Associated Press NY Times https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/sheppard_timeline/ https://case.edu/ech/articles/s/sheppard-murder-case https://www.thoughtco.com/the-sam-sheppard-murder-case-972179 http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/sheppard/sheppardreports.html https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/sam-sheppard-dies Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices