The Puzzling Case of Marilyn and Sam Sheppard

[Music] this week on BuzzFeed and soft we're taking a look at the murder of Marilyn Sheppard a homicide case that broke a quiet suburban town wide open and became the basis for a major Hollywood blockbuster Jurassic Park I don't know what's it move with the movie is it I can't can you tell I ain't too much away I know you know the movie so I can't tell you what it is because then you're just gonna know there's gonna be a point in this script where you're gonna be like oh that film that film starring hmm you put in the actors name and Tristan this is not gonna be come up is that this movie guessing came it may that aside I will say one thing interesting about this case is it's the first case we've ever covered where there's actually a conviction oh so that being said let's get into goodies on February 21st 1945 dr. Samuel Sheppard and Marilyn Reese were married and settled near Lake Erie Ohio two years later they had their first and only child affectionately nicknamed chip Revolutionary Road oh yes you're guessing two sentences in huh yeah there's anybody even died in that film yeah maybe I don't remember you don't even you just Sam was a respected neurosurgeon and the attractive couple was believed to have a happy marriage their small suburban community was the kind where all their neighbors were friends and maybe a little too friendly on July 3rd 1954 the Sheppard's hosted their neighbors for dinner drinks and a movie just after midnight Sam fell asleep on the couch and Marilyn said her goodbyes to the guests what transpired in the next few hours has been the source of an intense scrutiny and is still a mystery at about 5:40 a.m. on July 4th Mayor Spencer Hoke a close friend of the shepherds awoke to a phone call from Sam saying quote my god Spence get over here quick I think they have killed Marilyn end quote Hoke and his wife Esther raced to the house to find Sam shirtless in his study holding his neck seemingly in a state of shock they called the police and first responders arrived by 6 a.m. he falls asleep yes but then he's calling the cops doesn't call the cops cause the mayor that's kind of cool skip the cops call the mayor I mean I guess it's a small town what the hell's the mayor gonna do I'd love to know the mayor from the police report Marilyn's body was found lying upwards her face turned toward the door beaten beyond recognition she had over 20 gashes curved deep into her face and scalp blood covered the sheets and the walls were dripping with heavy spatter her pajamas were partially removed leaving her exposed eventually the autopsy determined Marilyn's time of death was quote about 4:30 a.m. and quote it also sadly revealed that Marilyn had been four months pregnant with her second child also a boy according to Sheppard he had been asleep downstairs when he heard Marilyn shout his name he ran up to the bedroom to find Marilyn being attacked by a quote white form end quote they fought but Sam was hit on the back of his neck and knocked out when he came to Marilyn was dead and the white form was gone worried for his son's safety Sam ran two chips room where he thankfully found him sleeping soundly he then hurried downstairs to see the form exiting through the back door he chased the tall and bushy-haired figure down to the shore of Lake Sam explained that he quote lunged or jumped and grasped and quote at the Forum on the beach and then quote I felt myself twisting or choking and this terminated my consciousness and quote when Sam woke he was nearly dawn and he was missing his shirt and wash it's weird I don't get it he wakes up from a nap hears commotion upstairs he sees a ghost no a white form I don't know why he keeps saying it's a form like it's Michael Myers a shape the shape he sees the shape truth or story that's far well I mean I don't really have a if you had to call it truth or story I guess I'd go truth I don't know the man well enough to really gauge his character yeah I'll give the benefit of doubt what makes you think this is more plausible then I don't know he seemed scared you know I guess I will say at this point it sounds like a story to me mainly because all the details seemed wildly convenient in terms of what's convenient about a white form though cuz if you were lying you'd be like yeah there's like a person if I'm fighting you and I've never seen you first things I'm saying big head weird mustache unkempt hair kind of gangly pale big nose kind of smelled like cottage cheese I don't smell like cottage cheese so throw that testimony out but you agree with all the other stuff yes okay in the early morning hours of July 4th 1954 the police arrived at the Sheppard house to find a gruesome crime scene where the only witness to the possible murderer was also the most likely suspect with that let's get in to some theories by the way do you know what film this is yet I don't know what film this is yet okay our first Theory the fugitive is it the fugitive maybe I mean yes or no I didn't kill my wife our first theory and the most popular one is that the entire story was made up in that Sam Sheppard murdered his wife in cold blood there was no sign of forced entry and no murder weapon present at the scene the desk drawers were neat which would not be normal in the case coroner Sam Gerber commented on the blood on Marilyn's pillow saying quote in this blood-stained I could make out the impression of a surgical instrument and what a weapon that would have been convenient for a neurosurgeon in a bush outside gerber found a canvas bag with Sam's wristwatch fraternity room and key all covered in blood oh he's a doctor Sam Sheppard is a doctor that was here that was also a fugitive that was also in the first emergency yeah I got that now when's Tommy Lee showing up I don't know I think you're getting a little bit away from what we're talking about here why does this not look good for Sam cuz all his [ __ ] is covered in blood in the days following Marilyn's murder investigators began honing in on Sam's rumoured infidelities as a possible motive evidence pointed them to a woman named Susan Hayes a lab technician at the hospital meanwhile media fervor escalated by July 20th headlines read quote someone is getting away with murder and quote calling for Sam's arrest and conviction on July 21st the Cleveland Press headline read quote why no inquest do it now dr. Gerber end quote sure enough later that day dr. Gerber called an inquest and subpoenaed Shepard to attend the three-day spectacle was a quote media circus and flow culminating with Gerber asking Sam quote did you ensue Hayes at any time sleep in the same bed end quote to which Sam replied quote absolutely hot and cold following the inquest on July 30th 1954 Sam Shepard was arrested and charged with the first-degree murder of Marilyn Sheppard well I got to that quick huh and honestly like investigating these things like we just sort of brush the fine details a little bit really don't dig too deep it seems like a huge pain in the ass just to rest somebody I'm not gonna even there's granted it's not our full-time jobs but if it were mine I'd be like how does one show at the station man I'm so glad you are not any kind of investigating authorities I mean I haven't ever claimed to want to be good I'm not saying that like we should just throw innocent people in jail kind of what you just said I can get this wrapped up before noon so I could open a chili black saying I can understand the impulse to be like no do your best god I mean if this guy's putting himself in the situation where Oh while your clothes are covered in blood that doesn't happen to nice people they don't do their job icky unbelievable the first trial began on October 18th the prosecution relied heavily on coroner Gerber's damning evidence at the scene along with the heavy media pressure to convict their last witness was Susan Hays he's confirmed the two year long affair and when Sam took the stand he finally admitted to the infidelity unfortunately in addition to revealing that he'd lied he also came off as arrogant and glib do you buy the the logic that they were clearly a peddling here which is he lied about that he could be lying about this murder no two different things right two different things yes yeah that's fair and it doesn't surprise me that he'd be arrogant and glib because doctors are well that part you can maybe not do that when you're on the stand probably hard to avoid you're you're playing God every day well I mean I'm also a doctor he's like I have fixed brains though every doctor does have to have bedside manner you can't put a little bit of that up on the stand I don't know if the surgeons have to do that though oh I guess you're knocked down there like little Beethoven mr. bidet I'm looking at your brain I've done mine I am brilliant I've done now are ya that's true I'm here on December 16th the jury found Sam Sheppard guilty of the second-degree murder of his wife Meryl Shepard received life in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years but the damage reverberate had far beyond his sentence Shepards mother died by suicide just a few weeks later his father passed away just days after that and several years later Maryland's father would also die by suicide in 1963 ok so there's you know consequences to locking up the wrong person for I get it I get it look I've learned my lesson that's kind of why I was going on to do your job well you have the luxury of knowing where this little weird garden path ends up I still think generally you should do your job within reason not within reason you do your job stop saying within reason I mean don't be working nights and weekends no I what I said was when you step in between work hours you do your ok now that I respect I thought I said in the beginning okay I thought you were saying like stay till 7:30 p.m. you know that's dinner time but this was only Shepherds first trial his brothers continued to support him even after the devastating toll the trial had on their family they hired a forensic scientist dr. Paul Leland Kirk to review the state's physical evidence because coroner Gerber had not introduced any fingerprint or blood evidence that could have exonerated their brother Gerber had decided shortly after he arrived at the scene that Sam was guilty telling another detective quote it's obvious that the doctor did it end quote in 1961 Sheppard's brothers hired a new attorney f lee Bailey who got the trial reopened on grounds that it was poorly managed by the presiding judge Edward Blyth in Bailey argued that judge Blanton denied Shepards defense motion to move the trial out of Cleveland where there was no chance of a fair trial due to the biased press coverage because he was seeking re-election and used the spectacle for his own game your this man I am this man you're a doctor Ryan Bergara is a doctor look at me Ryan be a doctor you've murdered your wife Oh would your brother Jake nice guy we go back to the doctor participant you're a doctor what does my diploma look like I don't know but it's spattered with blood is it framed nicely where's it in my my yeah it's in your den sick okay go back to go with Google next to your wife's bleeding body okay okay because you've murdered her Jesus Christ I didn't murder her though didn't you I didn't I don't care I got him we got him they're popular syndicated columnist Dorothy Kilgallen who covered the original trial confessed years later that she had an unethical private conversation with the judge bleiben in which he told her he saw the case as quote open-and-shut and quote and quote he's guilty as hell and quote had she reported this at the time blyton would have been removed from the case sounds like a person who should be presiding over this murder case yeah very unbiased judge the most unjustly thing I've ever heard the most honorable thing I've ever heard that's crazy you shouldn't be doing that as a judge yeah I think you should go in there and hear him out at the very least the he's the guy that's like we gotta get out of here guilty as hell I got ya that's Shane my day as a judge by July 15th 1964 Bailey's petitioned that Judge Blanton failed to shield the jury from media making them biased was granted the court called Sheppard's trial a quote mockery of justice end quote and ordered his release Sheppard's retrial began on October 24th 1966 once on the stand forensic scientist dr. Kirk analyzed that the blood splatter would have covered the murderer in the victim's blood but Sam only had one spot on his pants Kirk also determined that much of the splatter came from the backswing of the weapon indicating the murderer had used their left hand but Sam was right-handed he also noted that Maryland's teeth were found underneath her body meaning that she had likely broken them while biting her attacker Sam had no bite marks or open wounds when he was examined at the hospital but the most damning evidence was when Kirk revealed the largest blood spot found on the closet door didn't match Marilyn or say so was likely from a third party entirely forensic science is crazy to me yeah also not fun I know people have a passion for these things but gosh imagine going home and being like well how was your day how was my day I don't know it was great I found some teeth under a lady or I covered a knife in fake blood and I went like this to see where would fly it actually sounds pretty fun you know they leave bodies decomposing out in a field that's how they know this is it's fascinating stuff they leave bodies out and they just let them decompose and based on how those look after a certain that's how they like date how long bodies have been decomposing is that incredible didn't you say you wanted your body to be left in a fuel when you die it's a call to sky burial and I want the vultures to eat me I still think dropping you out of a plane and seeing where you land is funnier it's funny to do whatever the hell you want just me at a red light trying to change the radio station just holy [ __ ] it's a noodle lamp which leads us to our second theory our second theory is that Sam Sheppard was telling the truth and his wife was murdered by a quote bushy-haired white form end quote beyond Sam's statement as many as three witnesses testified to seeing someone matching that description Richard and Betty knitter told the police they saw such a man near the Sheppard's home around 3:30 to 4:00 o'clock a.m. on the morning of the murder which lines up with Marilyn's time of death at around 4:30 a.m. just really quickly I don't know why I didn't occur to me until now what a richard and betty knit are doing up at 3:30 and 4:00 o'clock in the morning they have the presence of mind while doing that to look out the window maybe they're freaks man it looks like a bushy here wife or maybe they're like lures there like the window who's that guy no no yes right back to sweat I'm talking about six I just know from my own personal experience when I hear a bump in the night my immediate reaction is not to go to them you go oh no what happened the phantom has entered my house exactly what I had talked exactly like a boo boo hello is his dad one one I have a cartoon phone do devil is here send GOG they described him as quote white between 32 and 42 years of age wide nose bushy crew-cut hair light auburn in color bushy eyebrows long sideburns end quote this was enough detail to provide a forensic sketch sounds like Kramer no no no that's the last face I saw before leaving this earthly coil I wouldn't like it the presence of the bushy-haired man was substantiated in Sheppard's first trial by medical professionals who attested to the seriousness of the injuries he sustained fighting Maryland's attacker a nurse testified that Samms quote feet were all shriveled up as if they had been in water a long time end quote consistent with Sam's story that he got knocked out on the shore a radiologist said Sam's x-ray revealed a probable fracture of his second cervical vertebra two other doctors said there was no way to fake his neck spasms or the swelling at the base of his skull yeah it's not like he could have committed to the craft knocked himself out in the back of the head and then put his feet in a bucket of water or something like that I mean it could have knocked himself out by the lake but that feels like an insane amount to watch but it was Sam Shepard's son chip who would provide a name to a bushy-haired face he had spent years trying to solve his mother's murder and he believed that the blood belonged to Richard Eberling Richard Eberling had been the Shepherds handyman for a time and had intimate knowledge of the houses layout including an obscure basement entrance additionally he had been found in possession of two stolen cocktail rings that had belonged to Marilyn Sheppard however when questioned about the murder he passed a polygraph test where he denied killing Maryland which cleared him of being investigated further stupid baloney yeah do we need to say any more about that another [ __ ] also he had two rings that were stolen I'm not saying every time somebody in the house steals something they're a murderer but doesn't look great no I stole a little lego man from one of my friends growing up didn't murder him yeah despite being cleared in 1989 Everland was convicted of the aggravated murder of Ethel Mae Durkin nine years into his sentence Evelyn gave a deathbed confession that he had also killed Marilyn Sheppard one witness testified quote a Burling told me that he had killed her and that he hid her husband on the head with a pail and that in a burling's words the [ __ ] but the hell out of me end quote as much as like infidelity and petty theft don't necessarily you know equate well this person is morally bankrupt enough to commit a murder I would argue that committing a different murder probably equates to committing another murder I think you have it in you at that point too maybe murder someone else I agree with that analysis case closed lock him up so I guess he's dead he's dead put a skeleton in jail okay like a special graveyard for for murderers I don't think they do that's an interesting type they're like what do you it's cool idea start a go fund me skeleton jail but was Richard Eberling telling the truth besides the main theories there were two other suspects that raised some questions the first one was Esther Hoke F lee Bailey believed that the murder of Marilyn Sheppard could have only been perpetuated by another woman there were rumors that Marilyn was having an affair with Esther's husband Spencer the mayor and the first person Sam called that fateful morning Bailey said of hoax motive and means quote one possible motive is feminine jealous hatred sparked to action by some event disturbing to the killer a jealous killing requires a woman killer end quote well everyone knows that Jeff Skilling requires a woman killer everybody knows that trust me I'm a doctor trust me I'm a man during the retrial Bailey got Esther to admit she had ignited her coal fireplace the morning of the murder despite the fact that it had been a warm summer evening he implied she might have been trying to burn bloody clothes and other evidence and also that she was left-handed like the killer however there was no evidence to prove Spencer and Marilyn had an intimate sexual relation Jib and seemingly no further legal action was ever taken and against the hoax I'm tired of this what is this guy talking about this seems like Oh a flailing yeah especially when it's preceded by the handyman this seems kind of out of left field the second suspect was Major James comm ex-fbi agent Bernard Connors believed that Maryland was murdered by Major James call an Air Force pilot who went AWOL in 1954 to embark on a murderous crime spree Conner said the Sheppard murder fits with calls MO in which he would break into a house of sleeping people and used violence against anyone he came across a small crowbar found in calls possession could have been used to cause Maryland's injuries even more compelling Maryland likely bit her attacker and call had his scar that seemed to be from a deep bite mark on his left index finger when they captured calm they questioned him about Maryland's murder but never pursued the link where does this guy coming for I don't know about this man this is this man I mean I think this is kind of a common in most of these kill of these murder cases where they try to link it to a notorious serial killer it just seems like if not for the sensationalize aspect of it yeah it's an easy theory deposit can I be honest with you this man sounds scary obviously this man's a murderer I don't know if he's the murderer for this case maybe not our murderer but a murderer this sounds kind of like when you're asked to give like a quarterly report to your business and you have to have a certain amount of figures to make it look like you were doing a good job so as a detective you need a certain amount of theories and you just Pat it with this yeah yeah yeah you've had your stats a little bit yeah you're just you're making your your essay look a little more exactly I've done the font-size you're up you're up in the font-size of periods yes that's what this person's deal with some people do the periods I used to do all in time just fat circles in the middle that he would never know it was enough it was enough and now he solves crimes but whether it was heuk call a Burling or simply just not shepherd reasonable doubt was all they had to prove I would say case closed in that aspect reasonable doubt has been proven in my mind yeah that he did not do it I agree and he spent roughly a decade in jail so so thought had to sneeze I thought you were getting choked up per se no I was like this is what does it all because some lazy lazy judge also I mean like even without the judge your spouse gets murdered you're suspect number one that's just how the game goes I wasn't for that just keep an eye on your spouse's make sure they don't go form that shame the days disclaimer make sure your spouse does not get murdered at all costs you should part of the deal and in June 1966 the Supreme Court ruled that Sheppard did not get a fair trial in an 8 to 1 vote Sheppard was acquitted his innocence however remains in question the last year's of Sheppard's life were not necessarily happy ones following his release he married a German woman who he had exchanged letters with while in prison it was later discovered that her half-sister was the wife of Joseph Goebbels Adolf Hitler's propaganda minister wait what yeah that's crazy not good I mean you know half-sister so maybe maybe fine you know we've all got weird cousins and I mean it doesn't mean that she's been a bad / that's right like we got bad apples and our families I'm sure yeah they're out there like if my brother went on a murder spree I'm not a murderer no you're a nice guy thanks man yeah I think you're a nice guy also for the record I don't think Jake would go on a murder I don't think Scott would go on a murder spree we have great brothers what about us would you go no I wouldn't go on a nurse neither would i okay so we're good Shepard had his medical license reinstated then soon revoked after two patients died in surgery his German bride divorced him and he became a professional wrestler working under the name killer I'm happy for him I will normally not cool that he became a wrestler he kind of makes up for it you think that's a normal pivot UC neurosurgeon to wrestler how many neuro stairs no small that's why I kind of applauded you don't become a wrestler because you don't love wrestling I suppose but to me it's as weird as if you became a pro wrestler after we do this now I kind of want to see a sequel to the fugitive holy [ __ ] he also ended up marrying the 19 year old daughter of his wrestling manager at 46 years old he died from liver failure after many years of alcohol abuse and depression it's certainly one of the stranger 6-year arcs I've ever seen it's a sad arc that has weird interesting details in it while not guilty Sam Shepard was never really proven innocent the court of public opinion bolstered by the ongoing media frenzy surrounding his wife's murder made finding the truth impossible Shepards release was more about the mismanagement of the trial rather than the actual evidence in his defense but one thing is for certain in the early morning hours of the fourth of July 1954 Marilyn Sheppard was brutally murdered and the truth of who killed her will remain unsolved what a doozy good one Ryan it's crazy you know that is an important thing to note as crazy as the circus was that surrounded Sam Shepard Boston it sometimes is the fact that Marilyn Sheppard was murdered obviously that's a tragedy and it's tacking on to that it's a tragedy what happened to Sam Shepard even if he in fact did not do it yeah so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna cling on to the memory of him being a pro wrestler I was gonna say he makes me happy all of these stories are awful and miserable and I walk away from them feeling sad and I don't enjoy hearing them but the one thing we can hang on to is that maybe he loved being a wrestler maybe in his last days he enjoyed giving a nice elbow yeah so hey I'm walking away with that and no one can take it away from me I'm fine with that [Music]

Channel: BuzzFeed Unsolved Network

Views: 6,084,613

Rating: 4.962513 out of 5

Keywords: PL-Unsolved, PL-UnsolvedTrueCrime, PL-UnsolvedTrueCrime-S6, SffZ, The Puzzling Case of Marilyn and Sam Sheppard, bun, buzzfeed, buzzfeed true crime, buzzfeed unsolved, buzzfeed unsolved network, buzzfeedunsolvednetwork, cold case, creepy, detective, disappearances, eerie, investigate, investigation, mini doc, mystery, ryan bergara, shane madej, spooky, strange, theories, true crime, unexplained, unexplained mysteries, unsolved crimes, unsolved mysteries, unsolved network, unsolved true crime

Id: yRFPjBuRRCg

Length: 27min 5sec (1625 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 10 2020