Editing Sam Sheppard (section)

== Late medical practice, remarriage, and death ==
After his release from prison, Sheppard opened a medical office in the Columbus suburb of [[Gahanna, Ohio]].  On May 10, 1968, Sheppard was granted surgical privileges at the Youngstown Osteopathic Hospital,<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=djft3U1LymYC&dat=19680426&printsec=frontpage&hl=en "Youngstown Hospital Hires Dr. Sheppard"], ''Pittsburgh Press'', April 26, 1968, p5</ref> but "[his] skills as a surgeon had deteriorated, and much of the time he was impaired by alcohol".<ref name=Neff/> Five days after he was granted privileges, he performed a [[discectomy]] on a woman and accidentally cut an artery; the patient died the next day.  On August 6, he nicked the right [[Common iliac artery|iliac artery]] on a 29-year-old patient who bled to death internally.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=djft3U1LymYC&dat=19680917&printsec=frontpage&hl=en "'Dr. Sam' Sued In 2nd Death"], ''Pittsburgh Press'', September 17, 1968, p46</ref>  Sheppard resigned from the hospital staff a few months later after wrongful death suits had been filed by the patients' families.<ref>"Dr. Sam Sheppard Quits Youngstown Hospital Staff", ''Akron (OH) Beacon Journal'', December 3, 1968, pA10</ref><ref name=Neff>James Neff, ''American Justice: A True Crime Collection'' (Open Road Media, 2017)</ref>

Six months before his death, Sheppard married Colleen Strickland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oldschool-wrestling.com/wwow/WWOW_SamSheppard.htm|title=oldschool-wrestling.com}}</ref> Toward the end of his life, Sheppard was reportedly drinking "as much as two fifths of liquor a day" (1.5 liters).<ref>[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/sheppard/SamandMarilynSheppardBios.htm Sam and Marilyn Sheppard<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> On  April 6, 1970, Sheppard was found dead in his home in Columbus, Ohio.<ref>{{cite news|title=Dr. Sheppard Is Dead|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1978&dat=19700406&id=HkciAAAAIBAJ&pg=952,3444897|access-date=May 12, 2014|newspaper=The Owosso Argus-Press|page=7|date=April 6, 1970}}</ref> Early reports indicated that Sheppard died of [[liver failure]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Sam Sheppard Died of Natural Causes |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19700415&id=RYEsAAAAIBAJ&pg=5064,3183216|access-date=May 12, 2014|newspaper=Herald-Journal|page=30|date=April 15, 1970}}</ref> The official cause of death was [[Wernicke encephalopathy]] (a type of brain damage associated with advanced alcoholism).{{sfn|Neff|2001|page=366}}<ref>{{cite news|last=Sheppard|first=Stephen A.|title=Sam Sheppard|work=The Plain Dealer|date=March 31, 1991|page=5}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Simonich|first=Milan|title=Beyond the Grave|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=September 17, 1997|page=15|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/90224988/ |access-date=July 10, 2017}}</ref> He was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens in Columbus.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sam Sheppard's son to talk about exhumation|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=799&dat=19970916&id=-L1OAAAAIBAJ&pg=1855,4538682|access-date=May 12, 2014|newspaper=The Bryan Times|page=8|date=September 16, 1997}}</ref>

===1997 DNA test===
Sheppard's body remained buried until September 1997 when he was exhumed for [[DNA testing]] as part of the lawsuit brought by his son to clear his father's name.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/US/9709/17/sheppard/index.html ''Sam Sheppard's remains exhumed for DNA testing''], CNN, September 17, 1997</ref>  His attorney stated that the DNA testing absolved Sheppard of the murder.<ref>{{cite news |title=DNA Test Absolves Sam Sheppard of Murder, Lawyer Says |date=March 5, 1998 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/05/us/dna-test-absolves-sam-sheppard-of-murder-lawyer-says.html |accessdate=March 3, 2022}}</ref>  After the tests, the body was cremated, and the ashes were interred in a mausoleum at [[Knollwood Cemetery]] in [[Mayfield Heights, Ohio]], along with those of his murdered wife, Marilyn.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sheppard's son inters ashes, begins death-penalty march|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=799&dat=19970919&id=-71OAAAAIBAJ&pg=5784,4927446|access-date=May 12, 2014|newspaper=The Bryan Times|page=2|date=September 19, 1997}}</ref>