Editing Sam Sheppard (section)

== Murder of Marilyn Reese Sheppard ==
On the night of Saturday, July 3, 1954, Sheppard and Marilyn were entertaining neighbors at their lakefront home (which was eventually demolished in 1993). While they were watching the movie ''[[Strange Holiday (1945 film)|Strange Holiday]]'', Sheppard fell asleep on the [[daybed]] in the living room. Marilyn walked the neighbors out.

In the early morning hours of July 4, 1954, Marilyn Sheppard was bludgeoned to death in her bed with an unknown instrument. The bedroom was covered with [[Blood squirt|blood spatter]] and drops of blood were found on floors throughout the house. Some items from the house, including Sam Sheppard's wristwatch, keychain and key, and fraternity ring, appeared to have been stolen.<ref name=QofEvidence/>  They were later found in a canvas bag in shrubbery behind the house.<ref name=QofEvidence>{{cite book |last1=Evans |first1=Colin |title=A Question of Evidence: The Casebook of Great Forensic Controversies, from Napoleon to O. J. |year=2003 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=9780471462682 |oclc=52371365 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/questionofeviden0000evan/page/106 106]–107 |url=https://archive.org/details/questionofeviden0000evan |url-access=registration |access-date=November 26, 2014}}</ref>  According to Sheppard, he was sleeping soundly on a daybed when he heard the cries from his wife. He ran upstairs where he saw a "white biped form" in the bedroom and then he was knocked unconscious. When he awoke, he saw the person downstairs, chased the intruder out of the house down to the beach where they tussled and Sheppard was knocked unconscious again.

At 5:40 am, a neighbor received an urgent phone call from Sheppard who pleaded for him to come to his home. When the neighbor and his wife arrived, Sheppard was found shirtless and his pants were wet with a bloodstain on the knee. Authorities arrived shortly thereafter. Sheppard seemed disoriented and in shock.{{sfn|Neff|2001|pp=[https://archive.org/details/wrongmanfinalver00neff/page/5 5–9]}} The family dog was not heard barking to indicate an intruder, and their seven-year-old son, Sam Reese "Chip" Sheppard, was asleep in the adjacent bedroom throughout the incident.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/26/us/after-life-of-notoriety-and-pain-son-tries-to-solve-his-mother-smurder.html|last=Butterfield|first=Fox|title=After Life of Notoriety and Pain, Son Tries to Solve His Mother's Murder|work=The New York Times|date=March 26, 1996|access-date=October 15, 2015}}</ref>