This collection features newspaper articles about the murder of Marilyn Sheppard and the subsequent trial of Dr. Sam Sheppard. The articles appearing here are taken from scrapbooks kept by Coroner Samuel Gerber.
The media coverage of Sam Sheppard’s trial was questioned for bias and whether or not the media impacted Sam’s right to receive a fair trial. Ultimately, Sam was awarded a retrial via the Sheppard v. Maxwell decision in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that Sam had not received a fair trial in 1954 for a number of reasons including the State of Ohio’s failure of “duty to protect Sheppard from the inherently prejudicial publicity which saturated the community.”
The newspaper articles in this collection come from the Cleveland Press, the Cleveland News, and The Plain Dealer. The Cleveland Press went out of business in 1982 but was a major player in local news around the time Marilyn was murdered. The Cleveland News was purchased by the Cleveland Press in 1960. Cleveland State University has a copyright agreement with The Plain Dealer to post articles related to the Sheppard case.
(Cleveland State University was donated the archives of the Cleveland Press in 1984. Details about the donation and how to access articles and photos from the Cleveland Press can be found here.)
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57/07/22 Marilyn Was Desperate in Final Days of Her Life
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Article reports on documents that contradict repeated assertions by defense that the Sheppards lived happily together to the end. Article also claims that Marilyn sought out allies, and was far from reticent about her shaky marriage, as had been widely supposed.
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57/07/23 'Court' Drops Sheppard Case
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Earle Stanley Gardner, a mystery writer, and a group sponsored by Argosy magazine clashed with James E. McArthur, and two others, at Port Columbus airport. McArthur was on his way to Florida to question a possible suspect named Donald Joseph Wedler. The group refers to themselves as the 'court of last resort' and eventually said they will be dropping their pursuit of wanting to give Dr. Sam a lie detector test, unless readers of their magazine create pressure on them to do so.
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57/07/23 Coverup Was Tried in Sheppard Probe
Cleveland Plain Dealer
3rd in a series, article discusses Mayor Houk's early attempt to cover up Dr. Sam Sheppard's affair with Miss Susan Hayes.
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57/07/23 Gerber & Co. in Florida to Quiz Suspect
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Coroner Samuel R. Gerber, James E. McArthur, and David Yettra arrive in Florida today to question a now 23 year old man named Earle Stanley Gardner. While a prisoner in Florida, Gardner confessed to a Sheriff there that he was in a Cleveland, Ohio Suburb the night of July 4, 1954, and that he attacked a woman in a robbery attempt.
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57/07/24 Court Fight on Sheppard Reward Seen
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Court battle over $10,000.00 reward money appears likely.
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57/07/24 Dr. Sam in Jail Said Marilyn 'Understood'
Cleveland Plain Dealer
4th in a series, this article discusses the affair with Susan Hayes. It also analyzes Sam Sheppard's reactions when he was asked questions, while in jail, about the events of July 4, 1954.
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65/05/06 'Terribly Disapointed' Dr. Sam Ordered Back to Prison
Associated Press
In a 2-1 Ruling, the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals holds that Sheppard's rights to a fair trial had not been violated as previously ruled by Judge Carl Wienman. If no appeal to that ruling is filed within 20 days, Sheppard will be returned to prison. Article describes what happened after Sheppard heard the news.
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66/06/06 Supreme Court Sets Aside Sheppard Murder Conviction
Cleveland Press
Reports on the Supreme Court's decision to set aside Sam's 1954 conviction, holding that the trial judge, the late Edward Blythin, "did not fulfill his duty to protect Sheppard from inherently prejudicial publicity which saturated the county." The court also held that Judge Blythin had failed "to control disruptive influences in the courtroom."
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70/04/06 Ariane Had Hint of Trouble
Cleveland Press
In this article, Ariane Sheppard, Sam's second wife, states that she felt something bad would soon happen to Sam. She also stated "He wasn't really himself. He was in another world from taking drugs." She would not comment on if Sam every admitted to killing Marilyn.
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70/04/06 Dr. Sheppard is Dead
Cleveland Press
Reports Sam's death at age 46. His wife of six months, Christine, daughter of Sam's professional wrestling partner, reports that Sam thought he had the flu and became violently ill before he died at home.
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70/04/06 Marilyn's Aunt Shocked by News
Cleveland Press
Marilyn Sheppard's aunt, Mrs. Helen Weigle, expressed shock and sadness over Sam's death but states that she and her husband always believed that he killed Marilyn "in a fit of temper."
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70/04/06 Two Sheppard Trials Were Landmarks
Cleveland Press
This article reports that the murder trials of Sam Sheppard brought about changes in the press coverage of trials. The article notes that for the 1966 trial, "Judge Talty ran a tight courtroom ship" in contrast to the "courtroom circus" over which Judge Blythin presided in 1954.
