Part two of our program on The Sheppard Murder case which spawned the American “Trial of The Century” before OJ. A physician is suspected of murdering his wife in a quiet, affluent 1950s Midwestern bedroom community.

Did Sam Sheppard kill Marilyn Sheppard? That is the topic of this week’s edition of Unpleasant Dreams.

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Cassandra Harold is your host. EM Hilker is our principal writer and researcher with additional writing by Cassandra Harold. Jim Harold is our Executive Producer.

Unpleasant Dreams is a production of Jim Harold Media.

A copy of EM Hilker’s original article can be found HERE

-PODCAST TRANSCRIPT-

Perhaps the most thorough and well-balanced of the Sheppard trials was the one held long, long after Marilyn Reese Sheppard’s death. In the first installment of this saga, we discussed the first trial of her husband and accused killer, Sam, some of the questionable decisions made by the trial judge, and the media circus that surrounded it; we also explored briefly his retrial in the 1960s where the evidence intended to prove Sam’s motive was kept from the jury and where the science of the time, much of which has been debunked over the roughly 40 years since the retrial, favoured Sam’s innocence. This was the opportunity, in many ways, to finally reach the truth; a sequestered jury untainted by a riotous media, the benefits of the 50 years of advancement in both biological and behavioral sciences , and all the evidence on the table,  

At last, the chance to accurately assess whether or not Sam H. Sheppard murdered his wife. FOR THE REST OF THE TRANSCRIPT CLICK HERE

– FURTHER READING AND SOURCES –

Affleck, John. “Bailey Testifies in Sheppard Case.” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 16 Feb. 2000. Retrieved 9 October 2021. 

“AMSEC 04 — Richard Eberling Background Investigation.” EngagedScholarship@CSU, 9 Mar. 1995. Retrieved 9 October 2021.

“Blood 5: Transfer Bloodstains – Crime Scene.” Google Sites. Retrieved 9 October 2021.

Butterfield, Fox. “New Clues in an Old Murder Case.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 5 Feb. 1997. Retrieved 9 October 2021. 

DeSario, Jack and William D. Mason. Dr. Sam Sheppard on Trial. Kent State University Press, 2003. 

“Did Ancient Teeth Decay?” ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 28 May 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2021.

Drenkhan, Patrolman Fred. “Statement given to BVPD by Esther Houk.” EngagedScholarship@CSU. Retrieved 9 October 2021.

“Fetus DNA Tests Inconclusive in ‘The Fugitive’ Murder Case.” Deseret News, Deseret News, 18 Jan. 2000. Retrieved 9 October 2021.

Finn, Peter. “Loudoun Firm Made Sam Sheppard Case Its Own.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 9 Feb. 1997. Retrieved 9 October 2021.

“Forensic Anthropology.” Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 9 October 2021.

Gilbert, Terry H., and George H. Carr. “Motion in Limine to Limit Testimony of Dr. Roger Marsters.” EngagedScholarship@CSU, 13 Mar. 2000. Retrieved 9 October 2021.

Linder, Douglas O. “Sam Sheppard.” Famous Trials, UMKC School of Law. Retrieved 9 October 2021.

Neff, James. The Wrong Man: The Final Verdict on the Dr. Sam Sheppard Murder Case. Open Road Media: 2015.

“Richard Eberling Dies; Inmate Denied Killing Wife of Sam Sheppard.” The Buffalo News, 27 July 1998. Retrieved 9 October 2021.

Simon, Scott. “Son of the ‘Fugitive’ Defends His Father.” NPR, NPR, 12 Sept. 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2021.

“Testimony Reveals That Sheppard Sought Out-of-Court Settlement.” CNN, Cable News Network, February 23, 2000. Retrieved 9 October 2021.  

Wendling, Mike. “Marilyn Sheppard Body to Be Exhumed.” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 20 Aug. 1999. Retrieved 9 October 2021.

“William D. Mason.” Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias. Retrieved 9 October 2021.

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