Did Sam Do It?

 Yes, Sam Did It

1. "Sam's confession": the big "Yes"

Sam Sheppard autographed a copy of his book, Endure and Conquer, for Phyllis Moretti, a beauty salon owner. In addition to his autograph on the cover page, Sam scrawled a big "YES" under the heading "DID SAM DO IT?" on the teaser page. A handwriting expert concluded that the "Yes" was Sam's. This seems to be a bold admission of guilt to a good friend.

BUT: THE WORD "YES" APPEARS ABOVE THE WORDS "EVEN THE MOST ANTI-SHEPPARD READER WILL FIND SOME DOUBTS." WHY WOULD SHEPPARD SUDDENLY REVEAL HIS GUILT TO SOMEONE HE DIDN'T KNOW THAT WELL? IT'S ALSO SUSPICIOUS THAT MORETTI CONSIDERED WRITING HER OWN BOOK ON THE SHEPPARD CASE.

2.The dog that didn't bark

The Sheppards had a dog, Koko, that one might have expected to have barked at the sight of a nighttime intruder. The barking presumably would have woken Sam in time to prevent the attack on Marilyn. But Sam said he never heard the dog bark.

BUT: EBERLING SAID THE DOG DIDN'T BARK AT HIM WHEN HE WENT TO THE SHEPPARDS' HOME TO WASH WINDOWS.

3. Lack of forced entry

Police discovered no sign of forced entry into the Sheppard home, making the intruder theory implausible.

BUT: THE AHERNS, WHO SPENT THE PREVIOUS NIGHT WITH THE SHEPPARDS, COULD NOT REMEMBER WHETHER OR NOT MARILYN LOCKED THE KITCHEN DOOR. ALSO, DEFENDERS OF SHEPPARD SUGGEST THAT THE INTRUDER ENTERED THROUGH THE BASEMENT, POINTING TO A TOOL MARK NEAR THE BASEMENT DOOR.

4. Where's Sam's T-shirt?

Sam said he wore a T-shirt on the night of the murder. Presumably, if he was the killer, the T-shirt would contain many blood spots from the brutal murder. Asked by police about the shirt, Sam said, "Maybe the man I saw needed one. I don't know." His explanation was weak at best.

BUT: A TORN T-SHIRT THAT MATCHED SAM'S SIZE WAS EVENTUALLY FOUND A FEW YARDS FROM THE SHEPPARD PROPERTY LINE. THE T-SHIRT WAS NOT FOUND TO HAVE BLOOD ON IT.

5. The delay in reporting the murder and inconsistencies in story

Sam's first call after the murder, at 5:40 A.M., was to his friend, Spencer Houk, not the police. Autopsy results put the time of the murder at between 3:00 and 4:00 A.M., and Sam's watch stopped at 4:15. Why the delay in reporting the crime? Sam says he was knocked out by the killer, but the couple of hours between the murder and reporting the crime also could have allowed Sam to clean off blood and fingerprints, hide or destroy his T-shirt, and make the home look like it had been burglarized.

Several comments made by Sheppard on the morning of the murder are, at best, odd and most likely deceitful. For example, after the Houks arrived, Sheppard remarked, "Someone should do something for Marilyn" even though he had to have known she was dead....He also added details to his story in each of his first few re-tellings.

6. Signs of a staged sex crime and robbery

There is evidence that steps were taken to make the crime look like a murder-burglary, when in fact it was only a murder. For example, police found desk drawers pulled open, but evenly and without missing items. Sam's doctor's bag was overturned, but nothing was missing.

Also, Marilyn's top was pulled up, exposing her breast, and her pajama bottom pulled down, exposing pubic hair. Yet, there was no sign of forcible rape.

7. 27 blows: a sign of passion?

"Twenty-seven times. Is it a burglar or an enraged husband? That's the question...before you."--William Mason, Attorney for the county in civil suit.

The murder scene suggested overkill--not the act of a burglar.

Various theories have been offered as a motive for the murder. For example, it was suggested that Sam went to Marilyn's bed seeking sex, and when she resisted, he flew into a rage and killed her.

8. Sam's infidelity and troubled marriage

Sam Sheppard had more than one affair during his marriage to Marilyn, including his relationship with Susan Hayes, a California lab technician, which he originally denied at Coroner Gerber's 1954 inquest. He also had an affair with Bay Village resident Julie Lossman shortly before the murder. At least some of his relationships were known to Marilyn, who clearly resented them.

BUT GUESTS WHO VISITED THE SHEPPARD HOME THE EVENING BEFORE THE MURDER REPORTED THE SHEPPARDS SEEMED TO BE GETTING ALONG JUST SWELL.

9. Sam's thumbprint on the headboard

Sam's thumbprint was discovered on the headboard of his wife's single bed. The thumbprint is in a place one might expect to find it if Sam were there murdering, or getting ready to murder, his wife. No fingerprints of anyone other than Sam or Marilyn were found in the bedroom.

BUT: THERE IS NOTHING TERRIBLY SUSPICIOUS ABOUT FINDING A HUSBAND'S FINGERPRINTS ON HIS WIFE'S HEADBOARD. THERE ARE MANY INNOCENT EXPLANATIONS FOR ITS BEING THERE.

10. Sam's bloody watch

Sam Sheppard's bloody watch (above) was found in a green bag on a bluff above Lake Erie. The watch had stopped at 4:15 (suggesting that it had become waterlogged at that time) and later went forward another 45 minutes before stopping at 5:00. Sam said the water under the crystal got there when he golfed in the rain or "inadvertantly water-skied" with the watch on. He claimed the blood got on his watch when he took his wife's pulse. Sheppard suggested that the murderer took the watch off his wrist when he lay unconscious on the beach, then put it in a bag with a couple of other items (class ring, key chain) and then dropped it or threw it away. Oddly (if the murderer was also a burglar), Sam's wallet was still in his pants pocket. Prosecutors suggest that the blood on the watch came from blood spray at the time of the murder.

BUT: DEFENSE EXPERTS CONTEND THE BLOOD SPOTS ON THE WATCH WERE NOT MADE BY FLYING BLOOD.

11. The missing table lamp?

A witness testified he repaired a metal lamp for the Sheppards and place in on the table next to Marilyn's bed. After the murder, there was no lamp on the table--an obvious place for a lamp. At the civil trial, lawyers for the county argued that the pillow stain is consistent with the U-shaped bow that surrounded the bulb and supported the shade, suggesting that the table lamp might have been the murder weapon. (At the first trial, the coroner described the bloody imprint as resembling "a surgical instrument.")

BUT: THE STAIN COULD SIMPLY HAVE COME FROM THE PILLOW FOLDING OVER ON CLOTTED BLOOD. ALSO, A BADLY DENTED FLASHLIGHT WAS DISCOVERED IN LAKE ERIE NEAR THE SHEPPARD HOME, AND MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE MURDER WEAPON.

12. No type A blood

Richard Eberling was found to have type A blood. No type A blood was discovered in any testing of blood stains coming from the Sheppard bedroom.

Marilyn had type O blood, the same type found on Sheppard's trousers.

No, Sam Was Innocent

1. Sam's hard to self-inflict wounds

Dr. William Fallon, the director of a trauma center, described Sheppard's neck and other injuries as serious "and almost impossible to self-inflict."

BUT: IT'S CONCEIVABLE THAT MARILYN, UNDER ATTACK FROM SAM, CAUSED SAM'S INJURIES.

2. Marilyn on his lap

On the evening before the murder, Sam and Marilyn seemed to be getting along fine. They had a meal with friends, and then watched the movie Strange Holiday on television. As they watched the movie, Marilyn sat on Sam's lap. This affectionate behavior doesn't suggest that of someone seriously thinking about killing his wife.

3. Sam's lack of previous violence

Most husbands that kill their wives have assaulted them at previous times in their marriages. There is no evidence that Sam previously assaulted Marilyn--nor had Sam ever been charged with any other act of violence.

Also, Marilyn's body was found by police spread-eagled with nipples and pubic hair exposed. Defenders of Sheppard suggest that exposing a wife in that way for others to see is "not something husbands do."

4. The damaged trophies

The police search turned up trophies that seemed to have been scratched or in other ways damaged. There is no reason why Sheppard, proud of his athletic prowess, would have damaged his own trophies. The damage would more plausibly have been caused by a killer who hated the Sheppards and was jealous of Sam's accomplishments.

BUT: IT IS NOT CLEAR THAT THE TROPHIES WERE DAMAGED ON THE DAY OF THE MURDER. THE DAMAGE MIGHT HAVE BEEN INFLICTED BEFORE THEN.

5. Where's all the blood on his pants?

The pants worn by Sheppard on the morning of July 4, 1954 (above).

The blood spattered on the walls of the bedroom suggests that Marilyn's blood was flying in all directions when she was killed. If Sam was the killer, one would expect to find Marilyn's blood spots in numerous places on Sam's pants. Sam's pants, except for one significant stain, were blood free. Also, his shoes, socks, and belt were without blood stains--and blood stains are hard to wash off.

Moreover, according to DNA expert Dr. Mohammed Tahir, the blood stain on Sam's pants did not come from either himself or Marilyn--but, presumably, from the killer.

BUT: IF SHEPPARD FOUGHT THE KILLER, WHY DIDN'T HE HAVE MORE BLOOD ON HIS PANTS? ALSO, THE BLOOD STAIN FOUND ON THE PANTS WAS TYPE O (AS WAS MARILYN'S) AND EBERLING HAD TYPE A BLOOD.

6. DNA analysis of the closet blood stain

According to DNA expert Dr. Mohammed Tahir, only 1 of out of 42 people have a DNA profile consistent with a large blood stain found on a closet door near Marilyn's bed--and Richard Eberling is one of those rare persons.

BUT: THE DNA TESTED WAS OLD AND BADLY DETERIORATED. THE RESULTS AREN'T RELIABLE.

7. Sam's apparent lack of motive

The prosecution never really offered a clear motive for the murder. There isn't any. Marilyn knew about Sam's affairs (and seemed resigned to the situation), they had a pleasant evening the night before with friends, they had a young son sleeping in a nearby room, and talk of divorce was sometime in the past. Why would Sam, suddenly in the middle of the night, trot up the stairs from the daybed on which he was sleeping and brutally murder his wife? It doesn't make sense.

BUT: SOME MURDERS DON'T SEEM TO MAKE SENSE. WE HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING WHAT MIGHT HAVE TRANSPIRED IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF JULY 4. SAM, FOR EXAMPLE, MIGHT HAVE DEMANDED SEX AND BEEN REFUSED BY MARILYN, SENDING HIM INTO A RAGE. AT THE VERY LEAST, WE KNOW THAT SAM'S AND MARILYN'S MARRIAGE WAS TROUBLED. HE HAD REASONS FOR WANTING HER OUT OF THE WAY.

8. If he did it, he'd have a better story

Sam was a reasonably smart guy with sometime to come up with a story. Why couldn't he have a more plausible story than the one he gave? Possibly, the very implausiblity of the story--getting knocked out by the killer TWICE, the murderer taking his wallet from his pants and then leaving it in the living room, wrestling with the murderer on the beach, Sam's description of the killer as a "bushy-haired" man--makes it more likely to be true.

BUT: COME ON!--GETTING KNOCKED OUT TWICE?

9. A forensic expert, after examining blood spatter evidence, concluded the killer was left-handed.

Sam Sheppard is right-handed.

BUT HE COULD HAVE USED IS LEFT HAND TO BATTER MARILYN WHILE HOLDING HER DOWN WITH HIS RIGHT....OR THE FORENSIC EXPERT COULD JUST BE WRONG.

10. The sperm in Marilyn

Dr. Mohammed Tahir, a DNA expert, determined that one small sample of sperm found in Marilyn did not come from Sam.

BUT: SO LITTLE SPERM WAS FOUND THAT IT SUGGESTS CONTAMINATION OF THE SAMPLE WAS THE SOURCE.

11. The murder weapon was not, as first alleged, a surgical instrument.

Coroner Gerber, who claimed the bloody imprint on the pillow was made by a "surgical instrument" searched high and low for a surgical instrument that could produce such an imprint. He never found one.

BUT A MORE LIKELY MURDER WEAPON WAS A FLASHLIGHT AND A DENTED FLASHLIGHT WAS FOUND IN LAKE ERIE IN FRONT OF THE SHEPPARD HOME. SAM MIGHT HAVE TOSSED IT INTO THE LAKE AFTER USING IT TO KILL MARILYN..

12. A forensic expert concluded the murderer bled from a cut hand.

Dr. Paul Kirk said blood on a blood trail seemed to come from a cut hand and Sam had no cut on his hand when examined after the murder.

BUT: THERE IS NO WAY OF PROVING THE BLOOD CAME FROM A CUT HAND. IT COULD HAVE HAD A DIFFERENT SOURCE.

13. Sam's refusal to confess

Most criminals, subjected to the gruelling hour-after-hour interrogation that Sam Sheppard faced, might be expected to confess. Sheppard never did. Publicly at least, he maintained his innocence until his death. Even his own lawyers, to whom he might have been expected to confide his guilt, were never told by Sam that he was guilty.

BUT: SHEPPARD, LIKE ANY MURDERER, HAD A STRONG REASON NOT TO CONFESS. IN ADDITION TO TRYING TO AVOID PRISON, HE MIGHT HAVE HAD AN INTEREST IN PROTECTING HIS SON FROM HAVING TO LIVE WITH THE ADDITIONAL BURDEN THAT HIS FATHER WAS A MURDERER. ALSO, HIS "YES" (SEE 1 TO LEFT) MIGHT BE SEEN AS A CONFESSION.

14. Eberling stole Marilyn's ring and admitted bleeding in the Sheppard home

Arrested in 1959 for larceny, Richard Eberling, a former window washer for the Sheppards, was found to be in possession of a cocktail ring owned by Marilyn Sheppard. Questioned about the Sheppard murder by police, Eberling said that he had bled in the house just days before the murder after he accidentally cut himself. He also knew of an obscure basement entrance to the Sheppard home.

BUT: F. LEE BAILEY CONCLUDED THAT EBERLING WAS NOT THE MURDERER, BASED ON EBERLING APPARENTLY PASSING A LIE DETECTOR TEST. HE ACTUALLY CALLED EBERLING AS A DEFENSE WITNESS IN THE 1966 TRIAL--SAM SHEPPARD, A FEW FEET FROM HIM AS HE TESTIFIED, NEVER SUGGESTED "THAT'S THE GUY I SAW THAT NIGHT!"

15. Eberling's alleged "confessions"

Kathy (Wagner) Dyal, a former nurse's aide to Ethel Durkin, who was murdered by Eberling, testified at the civil trial that Eberling revealed to her that he killed Marilyn Sheppard: "He told me that he had killed her and that he hit her husband on the head with a pail and that 'the bitch bit the hell out of me.'"

In 1998, shortly before his death, Eberling in an interview with James Neff, the author of a book on the Sheppard murder mystery, described finding himself in the bloody Sheppard bedroom. "My God," Neff reports him saying, "I had never seen anything like it. I got out of there."

BUT: EBERLING APPARENTLY PASSED A LIE DETECTOR TEST SHOWING THAT HE DID NOT KILL SHEPPARD. MOREOVER, EBERLING HAS GIVEN MANY IMPLAUSIBLE ACCOUNTS OF THE SHEPPARD MURDER, SOME OF THEM DEMONSTRABLY FALSE.