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The Wrong Man Lib/E: The Final Verdict on the Dr. Sam Sheppard Murder Case
MP3 CD Format " My God . . . I think they've killed Marilyn! "
At 5:40 a.m. on July 4, 1954, the mayor of Bay Village, a small suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, received a frantic phone call from his neighbor Dr. Sam Sheppard. The news was too terrible to Marilyn, Sam's lovely wife, was dead, her face and torso beaten beyond recognition by an unknown assailant who had knocked Sam unconscious and escaped just before dawn. In the adjacent bedroom, Chip, the Sheppards' seven-year-old son, had slept through the entire ordeal.
Almost immediately, the police began to suspect Sam Sheppard. The local press rushed to cast judgment on the handsome, prosperous doctor. After a misguided investigation, Sheppard was arrested and charged with murder. Sentenced to life in prison, he served for nearly a decade before he was acquitted in a retrial. Until his death, he maintained his innocence.
Culled from DNA evidence, testimony that was never heard in court, prison diaries, and interviews with the Sheppard family and other key players, The Wrong Man makes a convincing case for Sheppard's innocence and reveals the identity of the real killer.
At 5:40 a.m. on July 4, 1954, the mayor of Bay Village, a small suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, received a frantic phone call from his neighbor Dr. Sam Sheppard. The news was too terrible to Marilyn, Sam's lovely wife, was dead, her face and torso beaten beyond recognition by an unknown assailant who had knocked Sam unconscious and escaped just before dawn. In the adjacent bedroom, Chip, the Sheppards' seven-year-old son, had slept through the entire ordeal.
Almost immediately, the police began to suspect Sam Sheppard. The local press rushed to cast judgment on the handsome, prosperous doctor. After a misguided investigation, Sheppard was arrested and charged with murder. Sentenced to life in prison, he served for nearly a decade before he was acquitted in a retrial. Until his death, he maintained his innocence.
Culled from DNA evidence, testimony that was never heard in court, prison diaries, and interviews with the Sheppard family and other key players, The Wrong Man makes a convincing case for Sheppard's innocence and reveals the identity of the real killer.
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First published October 1, 2001
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May 14, 2016
Contrary to popular legend, The Fugitive’s Dr. Richard Kimball is not based on the real-life Dr. Sam Sheppard. But it’s easy to see why the myth persists. Sheppard’s journey through the legal system is filled with enough twists and turns to satisfy any screenwriter.
The swerving plot of Sheppard’s life should have been an animating feature in James Neff’s The Wrong Man. Sheppard was a young, wealthy doctor, married to a pretty young wife, with one young son and another child on the way. The Sheppard family lived in Bay Village, Ohio, on the shores of Lake Erie. On July 4, 1954, Sheppard’s wife Marylyn was bludgeoned to death in her bedroom. Sheppard was arrested, convicted, and sent to prison. A fledgling attorney named F. Lee Bailey took Sheppard’s case, got the conviction overturned, and then won a retrial. Sheppard was released from prison, remarried, divorced, became a wrestler, remarried again, and died a broken figure. His estate later filed a civil lawsuit for his wrongful conviction. The Sheppard estate lost when a jury decided that Sam hadn’t been wrongfully imprisoned in the first place.
That’s an eventful story! In the right hands, it might have been a rollercoaster.
It’s not a rollercoaster.
Before I begin the complaining aspect of this program, I should try to say something positive. Well, okay. The Wrong Man is thorough. It is exceptionally researched, to the point that the State of Ohio attempted to subpoena Neff’s research during the pendency of the civil trial. In other words, Neff spent more time investigating the case than the people paid to investigate the case. He is the oracle, the undisputed master of this small corner of history.
Sometimes, however, too much research can have unintended consequences. One of those consequences being word-vomit – the understandable inclination to put everything you learned on the page. The Wrong Man is a shade less than 400 pages of text, but it felt much longer. There is a lot of extraneous detail. Normally, I’m the type of person who believes in over-sharing rather than under-sharing (this is especially true when I’m drunk). Here, though, a lot of information served only as a hiccup to the natural trajectory of the story. Neff clearly interviewed just about every living participant, who he dutifully quotes. Much of the time, though, these participant observations add little value other than a higher word count.
Nevertheless, things open quickly. The first three chapters briskly set up Marylyn’s final night, reconstructs the crime, and narrates the opening stages of what might charitably be called a botched investigation. Then, for no good (literary) reason, Neff slams on the breaks for a rather lengthy flashback chapter about Sam and Marylyn’s courtship. This chapter not only breaks the book’s flow, but it’s a drag. Sam is an asshole, Marylyn is a cipher, and nothing we learn sheds any light on the crime. Also, in a criminal case as procedurally complicated as this, I’m not sure the decision to employ a nonlinear narrative is the best choice. Why needlessly confuse an issue that is already quite confusing?
Pacing is a big issue in this book. True crime is typically a genre I associate with page-turners, something you consume effortlessly. This took a bit of effort.
The Wrong Man gets back on track in time for the trial. We learn a bit about Sam’s accusers – namely newsman Louis Seltzer and coroner Samuel Gerber – who were quite willing to convict Sheppard on the basis of their own certainty. The first trial was a proto-O.J. Simpson-type circus with a celebrity-obsessed judge telling one reporter “Well, he’s guilty as hell. There’s no question about it”. With that kind of impartiality, it’s perhaps not surprising that Sheppard was convicted and sent to prison. Despite numerous and glaring errors by the trial court judge, the Ohio State appellate courts denied Sam’s request for a retrial. It took F. Lee Bailey and a writ of habeas corpus to the federal court system to change things around. Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the conviction and ordered Ohio to start over.
At this point, the book sort of starts over too, and we go through another trial. And then, after that – even though Sam is dead – there’s another trial.
Part of me can’t find fault in Neff’s approach. It is, after all, methodical. After awhile, however, you cross the line from detailed and meticulous to belabored and repetitive. The Wrong Man began to remind me of Theodore Dreiser’s classic crime novel An American Tragedy. Like An American Tragedy, Neff plods through each and every tortuous step of the justice system. Dreiser eventually built to a powerful climactic scene. Neff’s book sort of just trails off into an ellipse.
This is a book in need of better structuring. True crime is built on a foundation of moral clarity. That may sound like a strange statement, but bear me out. When you read true crime, you are likely going to hear about one of two things: either the hunt for a terrible person, or the exoneration of an innocent one. These books are, in a way, like crusades. The righting of a wrong. Crusades are fed by passion. The Wrong Man lacks that. Instead of taking a strong position (Sam Sheppard is guilty as hell! Sam Sheppard is innocent as a newborn guinea pig!), Neff is pedantic. He never steps back from the mass of detail he has assembled to simply state his case in a well-argued and forceful manner.
The subtitle states that this book is “the final verdict” on Sheppard’s case. If that’s so, I’m still struggling to interpret the finding. Neff clearly believes that Sheppard is innocent, but that conclusion is undercut by ending the book with the civil trial. So we are left with a muddle. Three different trials with differing results. A man who probably didn't kill his wife but – in the realm of possibility – might have done just that.
Restructuring this book might have helped a lot. Rather than dutifully pushing through each trial, Neff might have focused instead on his theory of the case. He definitely has one. He proposes a likely suspect and spends a lot of time developing him as the real murderer. Separating Neff’s “verdict” from the historical reportage might have made for a cleaner, more compelling reading experience.
Life is filled with ambiguities and uncertainties. Things do not fall neatly on the side of right or wrong, black and white. The true crime genre exists, I think, as a way to order the chaos of lives disrupted by violence. It gives us a form of justice – that of a moral judgment – that is otherwise elusive. This is a thorny kind of case that does not easily conform to those standards. Still, I think a different author might have embraced the messiness of this case and leveraged that particular reality into a more-satisfying literary experience. That said, if you simply want to know all there is to know about the Sam Sheppard murder case, this is the obvious choice.
The swerving plot of Sheppard’s life should have been an animating feature in James Neff’s The Wrong Man. Sheppard was a young, wealthy doctor, married to a pretty young wife, with one young son and another child on the way. The Sheppard family lived in Bay Village, Ohio, on the shores of Lake Erie. On July 4, 1954, Sheppard’s wife Marylyn was bludgeoned to death in her bedroom. Sheppard was arrested, convicted, and sent to prison. A fledgling attorney named F. Lee Bailey took Sheppard’s case, got the conviction overturned, and then won a retrial. Sheppard was released from prison, remarried, divorced, became a wrestler, remarried again, and died a broken figure. His estate later filed a civil lawsuit for his wrongful conviction. The Sheppard estate lost when a jury decided that Sam hadn’t been wrongfully imprisoned in the first place.
That’s an eventful story! In the right hands, it might have been a rollercoaster.
It’s not a rollercoaster.
Before I begin the complaining aspect of this program, I should try to say something positive. Well, okay. The Wrong Man is thorough. It is exceptionally researched, to the point that the State of Ohio attempted to subpoena Neff’s research during the pendency of the civil trial. In other words, Neff spent more time investigating the case than the people paid to investigate the case. He is the oracle, the undisputed master of this small corner of history.
Sometimes, however, too much research can have unintended consequences. One of those consequences being word-vomit – the understandable inclination to put everything you learned on the page. The Wrong Man is a shade less than 400 pages of text, but it felt much longer. There is a lot of extraneous detail. Normally, I’m the type of person who believes in over-sharing rather than under-sharing (this is especially true when I’m drunk). Here, though, a lot of information served only as a hiccup to the natural trajectory of the story. Neff clearly interviewed just about every living participant, who he dutifully quotes. Much of the time, though, these participant observations add little value other than a higher word count.
Nevertheless, things open quickly. The first three chapters briskly set up Marylyn’s final night, reconstructs the crime, and narrates the opening stages of what might charitably be called a botched investigation. Then, for no good (literary) reason, Neff slams on the breaks for a rather lengthy flashback chapter about Sam and Marylyn’s courtship. This chapter not only breaks the book’s flow, but it’s a drag. Sam is an asshole, Marylyn is a cipher, and nothing we learn sheds any light on the crime. Also, in a criminal case as procedurally complicated as this, I’m not sure the decision to employ a nonlinear narrative is the best choice. Why needlessly confuse an issue that is already quite confusing?
Pacing is a big issue in this book. True crime is typically a genre I associate with page-turners, something you consume effortlessly. This took a bit of effort.
The Wrong Man gets back on track in time for the trial. We learn a bit about Sam’s accusers – namely newsman Louis Seltzer and coroner Samuel Gerber – who were quite willing to convict Sheppard on the basis of their own certainty. The first trial was a proto-O.J. Simpson-type circus with a celebrity-obsessed judge telling one reporter “Well, he’s guilty as hell. There’s no question about it”. With that kind of impartiality, it’s perhaps not surprising that Sheppard was convicted and sent to prison. Despite numerous and glaring errors by the trial court judge, the Ohio State appellate courts denied Sam’s request for a retrial. It took F. Lee Bailey and a writ of habeas corpus to the federal court system to change things around. Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the conviction and ordered Ohio to start over.
At this point, the book sort of starts over too, and we go through another trial. And then, after that – even though Sam is dead – there’s another trial.
Part of me can’t find fault in Neff’s approach. It is, after all, methodical. After awhile, however, you cross the line from detailed and meticulous to belabored and repetitive. The Wrong Man began to remind me of Theodore Dreiser’s classic crime novel An American Tragedy. Like An American Tragedy, Neff plods through each and every tortuous step of the justice system. Dreiser eventually built to a powerful climactic scene. Neff’s book sort of just trails off into an ellipse.
This is a book in need of better structuring. True crime is built on a foundation of moral clarity. That may sound like a strange statement, but bear me out. When you read true crime, you are likely going to hear about one of two things: either the hunt for a terrible person, or the exoneration of an innocent one. These books are, in a way, like crusades. The righting of a wrong. Crusades are fed by passion. The Wrong Man lacks that. Instead of taking a strong position (Sam Sheppard is guilty as hell! Sam Sheppard is innocent as a newborn guinea pig!), Neff is pedantic. He never steps back from the mass of detail he has assembled to simply state his case in a well-argued and forceful manner.
The subtitle states that this book is “the final verdict” on Sheppard’s case. If that’s so, I’m still struggling to interpret the finding. Neff clearly believes that Sheppard is innocent, but that conclusion is undercut by ending the book with the civil trial. So we are left with a muddle. Three different trials with differing results. A man who probably didn't kill his wife but – in the realm of possibility – might have done just that.
Restructuring this book might have helped a lot. Rather than dutifully pushing through each trial, Neff might have focused instead on his theory of the case. He definitely has one. He proposes a likely suspect and spends a lot of time developing him as the real murderer. Separating Neff’s “verdict” from the historical reportage might have made for a cleaner, more compelling reading experience.
Life is filled with ambiguities and uncertainties. Things do not fall neatly on the side of right or wrong, black and white. The true crime genre exists, I think, as a way to order the chaos of lives disrupted by violence. It gives us a form of justice – that of a moral judgment – that is otherwise elusive. This is a thorny kind of case that does not easily conform to those standards. Still, I think a different author might have embraced the messiness of this case and leveraged that particular reality into a more-satisfying literary experience. That said, if you simply want to know all there is to know about the Sam Sheppard murder case, this is the obvious choice.
August 10, 2020
My head is just spinning from this book. In the end there are no real answers. Did he do it or did someone else? I guess it’s one of those things that only time will tell. Well worth reading though.
December 22, 2021
This was hard going at times. I had read that James Neff was a meticulous, methodical researcher; this book proves that to be true; it is so detailed that at times it probably requires as much patience on the part of the reader as that of the author in his preparation.
I have no memory of the Sheppard murder at the time it occurred. I was a first-grader and, precocious as I may have been, had not yet started reading the daily newspapers. The case became of interest to me when F. Lee Bailey took on the case years later while Sheppard was incarcerated. Bailey eventually won an appeal in the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren and, subsequently, an acquittal in Dr. Sheppard's retrial.
Villains abound in this story, most notably the coroner Samuel Gerber and Cleveland Press editor Louis Selzer, both of whom formed an immediate and unwavering conviction of Sheppard's guilt, set up the nearly unbelievable carnival atmosphere of the coverage of the coroner's inquest (a rare event) and the first trial. Press and public were shamelessly manipulated; the crime scene investigation was deliberately inept, and evidence (especially the all-important blood evidence) was ignored, mishandled, and sometimes manufactured. The laboratory analysts, local police, the Cleveland police detectives, prosecutors, and trial judge took their cues from Dr. Gerber. Sheppard was frequently denied access to his counsel, and pre-trial discovery was virtually non-existent.
In the author's portrayal of the many players in this drama, no one (with a few exceptions) comes off particularly well, including Sam Sheppard, his family, and even the victim, Marilyn Sheppard. I really disliked Dr. Sam; my impression is that of a man of rather unsavory character who felt privileged and entitled by his family, money and position and seldom denied his impulses in his personal behavior. That said, the circumstantial evidence presented of his guilt was weak, contrived, and selective.
Even after Dr. Sheppard's acquittal, I have no certain opinion of his guilt or innocence, but there can be no question of an overwhelming amount of reasonable doubt. I found the author's hypothesis as to the identity of the killer inconclusive and not entirely convincing, though persuasive and logical. Patricia Cornwell, in her non-fiction Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper - Case Closed (2002), much more successful in a similar endeavor.
I had two lines of thought as I was reading this book. First, thanks to the landmark decisions of the Warren Court, the enormous strides in crime scene investigation and scientific analysis of evidence should make the terrible abuses described in the first trial unlikely to be occurring today.
My second, parallel line of thought was that, tragically, instances of miscarriage of justice and blatant disregard of the constitutional rights of the accused occur every day in this country mostly affecting minorities, the mentally ill, the mentally retarded, and defendants who were minors at the time of conviction. (The last group is particularly vulnerable because juvenile court proceedings are not public in nearly all jurisdictions.) I kept thinking of Bryan Stevenson's very important work, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption (2014) which I recommend highly.
This is not a can't put-it-down page-turner like Ann Rule's work, but it's worth reading and provides much food for thought.
I have no memory of the Sheppard murder at the time it occurred. I was a first-grader and, precocious as I may have been, had not yet started reading the daily newspapers. The case became of interest to me when F. Lee Bailey took on the case years later while Sheppard was incarcerated. Bailey eventually won an appeal in the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren and, subsequently, an acquittal in Dr. Sheppard's retrial.
Villains abound in this story, most notably the coroner Samuel Gerber and Cleveland Press editor Louis Selzer, both of whom formed an immediate and unwavering conviction of Sheppard's guilt, set up the nearly unbelievable carnival atmosphere of the coverage of the coroner's inquest (a rare event) and the first trial. Press and public were shamelessly manipulated; the crime scene investigation was deliberately inept, and evidence (especially the all-important blood evidence) was ignored, mishandled, and sometimes manufactured. The laboratory analysts, local police, the Cleveland police detectives, prosecutors, and trial judge took their cues from Dr. Gerber. Sheppard was frequently denied access to his counsel, and pre-trial discovery was virtually non-existent.
In the author's portrayal of the many players in this drama, no one (with a few exceptions) comes off particularly well, including Sam Sheppard, his family, and even the victim, Marilyn Sheppard. I really disliked Dr. Sam; my impression is that of a man of rather unsavory character who felt privileged and entitled by his family, money and position and seldom denied his impulses in his personal behavior. That said, the circumstantial evidence presented of his guilt was weak, contrived, and selective.
Even after Dr. Sheppard's acquittal, I have no certain opinion of his guilt or innocence, but there can be no question of an overwhelming amount of reasonable doubt. I found the author's hypothesis as to the identity of the killer inconclusive and not entirely convincing, though persuasive and logical. Patricia Cornwell, in her non-fiction Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper - Case Closed (2002), much more successful in a similar endeavor.
I had two lines of thought as I was reading this book. First, thanks to the landmark decisions of the Warren Court, the enormous strides in crime scene investigation and scientific analysis of evidence should make the terrible abuses described in the first trial unlikely to be occurring today.
My second, parallel line of thought was that, tragically, instances of miscarriage of justice and blatant disregard of the constitutional rights of the accused occur every day in this country mostly affecting minorities, the mentally ill, the mentally retarded, and defendants who were minors at the time of conviction. (The last group is particularly vulnerable because juvenile court proceedings are not public in nearly all jurisdictions.) I kept thinking of Bryan Stevenson's very important work, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption (2014) which I recommend highly.
This is not a can't put-it-down page-turner like Ann Rule's work, but it's worth reading and provides much food for thought.
August 12, 2015
Most of us have heard much of this story before. It’s been on the news on and off for over fifty years. On July 4, 1954 Marilyn Sheppard was found dead in her bedroom. She had been brutally murdered, her body beaten and face destroyed. Same was found unconscious saying that he had tried to catch the murderer but had been knocked out by him. His seven year old son, whose bedroom was in the next room, slept through it all.
Dr. Sam Sheppard was a member of one the most prominent families in Bay Village, a wealthy suburb of Cleveland. His family ran a small Osteopathic Hospital in the town. His father had started the hospital and both Sam and his brother worked there, though Sam had privileges in a Cleveland city hospital. The Shepards were the perfect post-war family, dad, mom and son. Upper middle class, Marilyn was one of the most admired women in the village.
The local police were out of their element and called in for help from the Cleveland Police Department. The Cleveland detectives immediately decided that the husband was the most likely murderer. The detectives did everything they could to find evidence against Sam. They didn’t seem to think to look for another perpetrator, and worked simply to find evidence against Sam.
Sam was eventually arrested for the murder of his wife and sentence to life in prison. For ten years he continued to claim his innocence and finally was released by and appeals court that ruled that the Judge in the case had been biased and allowed the Prosecution too much leeway.
Going back through the detectives notes, the evidence presented, the “expert witnesses” testimony, the trial transcripts, Neff agreed with Sheppard that he had been “railroaded”. He even presents a good case as to who the murderer was and why he murdered Marilyn Sheppard.
Well written and documented.
Zeb Kantrowitz zworstblog.blogspot.com zebsblog@gmail.com
Dr. Sam Sheppard was a member of one the most prominent families in Bay Village, a wealthy suburb of Cleveland. His family ran a small Osteopathic Hospital in the town. His father had started the hospital and both Sam and his brother worked there, though Sam had privileges in a Cleveland city hospital. The Shepards were the perfect post-war family, dad, mom and son. Upper middle class, Marilyn was one of the most admired women in the village.
The local police were out of their element and called in for help from the Cleveland Police Department. The Cleveland detectives immediately decided that the husband was the most likely murderer. The detectives did everything they could to find evidence against Sam. They didn’t seem to think to look for another perpetrator, and worked simply to find evidence against Sam.
Sam was eventually arrested for the murder of his wife and sentence to life in prison. For ten years he continued to claim his innocence and finally was released by and appeals court that ruled that the Judge in the case had been biased and allowed the Prosecution too much leeway.
Going back through the detectives notes, the evidence presented, the “expert witnesses” testimony, the trial transcripts, Neff agreed with Sheppard that he had been “railroaded”. He even presents a good case as to who the murderer was and why he murdered Marilyn Sheppard.
Well written and documented.
Zeb Kantrowitz zworstblog.blogspot.com zebsblog@gmail.com
March 24, 2021
Marilyn Sheppard’s life was simple.
Pretty and athletic, she did what good girls in the 1950’s were supposed to do - she married her high school sweetheart. While not the greatest student in the world, Sam Sheppard was born into a family of doctors, and his path to medical school was still easy enough.
Sam became a surgeon, the couple had a son, and they moved into a lakefront home. They appeared happy, but Sam proved to be a serial adulterer. Once, at a party, he paraded his mistress around and even retired to bed with her in front of the uncomfortable guests. Marilyn considered divorce, but her family encouraged her to tolerate Sam’s mistakes and work extra hard to please him.
(Middle finger to everyone who’s advised an emotionally abused woman to just ride it out and try harder.)
Sadly, that’s as far as Marilyn made it in life. Murdered in her own bed, it was her death that was anything but simple. For whatever mysterious reason certain crimes explode in the media, the Sheppard murder became THE topic of conversation and the lifeblood of local newspapers.
The investigation was rushed, Sam was accused, the trial was unfair, and the public was vicious.
(A quick aside. I lived near Cleveland for two years. I hate to stereotype, but I'll say this. MANY people from that area are stubborn, confrontational, aggressive, quick to anger, and slow to apologize. Wrestling is the sport of choice for boys. Clevelanders approach every interaction like there's a winner and a loser. They're always itching for a fight. At least once a day, someone would comment on how nice I am. “You’re not from around here, are you?” Nope. The point I’m getting to is - I’m not surprised the city of Cleveland morphed into a vindictive mob. Part of the whole Sheppard fiasco was the time, but some of it was the place.)
Anyway. Sam probably didn’t kill his wife. Hindsight is 20/20. Now we know the Sheppard’s window washer, Richard Eberling, had a habit of murdering women. Richard’s life story is sad and fascinating. He’s a Talented Mr. Ripley style character, a damaged con artist determined to rise above his station in life. I don’t mean any of that as a compliment. He was a remorseless killer.
This book takes you through it all. The courthouse drama, the suicide of Sam’s mother, the incarceration and release, Sam’s disastrous attempt to return to surgery, the remarriages, and the PTSD plagued life of Sam’s poor motherless son.
Some of it is terribly interesting. At other points, the legal wrangling dragged on until my eyes glazed over. It's all incredibly well researched. All this time later, this book is probably as close to the truth as we’re going to get.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 19, 2017
Review: THE WRONG MAN by James Neff
I was a toddler in a neighboring state when housewife Mrs. Marilyn Sheppard was brutally murdered in July 1954, leaving a seven-year-old son and a husband. Of course I knew nothing about it at the time, but in 1967 when the TV series "The Fugitive" debuted, I immediately became hooked on the story of a doctor wrongly accused of his wife's brutal murder, seeking justice and striving to clear his besmirched name. Associating this plot line with Dr. Sam Sheppard, I decided he too must be innocent but beleaguered by the disbelief of law enforcement and courts. Then when I began THE WRONG MAN and discovered Dr. Sam's personality faults (temper, philandering, an addictive personality), I changed my opinion and considered him guilty (for a time).
The lack of clarity and sheer failure to properly investigate may be equaled only by the investigation of the murder of Jon-Benet Ramsay in Boulder, Colorado in 1996. Too much belief in Dr. Sam's guilt and refusal to entertain other possibilities meant a near-railroading of Dr. Sam. Certainly no justice for Marilyn nor closure for her family was ever achieved.
I was a toddler in a neighboring state when housewife Mrs. Marilyn Sheppard was brutally murdered in July 1954, leaving a seven-year-old son and a husband. Of course I knew nothing about it at the time, but in 1967 when the TV series "The Fugitive" debuted, I immediately became hooked on the story of a doctor wrongly accused of his wife's brutal murder, seeking justice and striving to clear his besmirched name. Associating this plot line with Dr. Sam Sheppard, I decided he too must be innocent but beleaguered by the disbelief of law enforcement and courts. Then when I began THE WRONG MAN and discovered Dr. Sam's personality faults (temper, philandering, an addictive personality), I changed my opinion and considered him guilty (for a time).
The lack of clarity and sheer failure to properly investigate may be equaled only by the investigation of the murder of Jon-Benet Ramsay in Boulder, Colorado in 1996. Too much belief in Dr. Sam's guilt and refusal to entertain other possibilities meant a near-railroading of Dr. Sam. Certainly no justice for Marilyn nor closure for her family was ever achieved.
May 17, 2020
I would only recommend this book to someone with a ferocious appetite to learn about the Sheppard murder and subsequent three trials. Author Neff goes deeeeeep into the stacks as a researcher/journalist and some of the chapters will drag with the procedural nature of trials. However, I had a fascination with the stories of these people, having grown up in the town where the murder occurred, so this was a very satisfying and interesting read.
January 23, 2018
Decent true crime book. Writing style a little repetitive -- Neff turns to motifs and repeats select phrases throughout in a way that seems a little sloppy. Loses steam after Sheppard's death, but clearly a quality work of investigative reporting.
June 28, 2012
As someone who felt Dr. Sam was innocent, this book convinced me.
June 23, 2025
"there was no burglar in the home, the scene was “faked,” Sheppard was in the murder room at the time of the murder, and he “had a reason and temperament to commit murder. The ultimate conclusion … Dr. Samuel H. Sheppard murdered his wife, Marilyn, by brutally beating her to death with 35 crushing blows to the head.” - William B. Saxbe, the Ohio attorney general.
This one was a real slog for me, slow, dull, and repetitive but what really bothered me and disappointed me the most was what in my opinion is the total lack of objectivity from the author, a well respected Investigative journalist and editor. I felt from the very start that he was working hard to convince the reader of what I can only assume is his personal opinion, that Dr. Sheppard was the wrong man.
I can agree with Mr. Neff that the first trial was a circus, that the media was out of control, and the investigation was not great, but to accept as gospel that the judge made an inappropriate comment about the trial to a woman who only disclosed it ten years later, after the judge was dead and couldn't defend himself is unfair. Nevertheless the Supreme Court was correct in throwing out the first conviction but for what it's worth I believe that Mr. Saxbe was correct, Dr. Samuel H. Sheppard murdered his wife Marilyn, by brutally beating her to death with 35 crushing blows to the head, and everything else is red herring and distractions.
This one was a real slog for me, slow, dull, and repetitive but what really bothered me and disappointed me the most was what in my opinion is the total lack of objectivity from the author, a well respected Investigative journalist and editor. I felt from the very start that he was working hard to convince the reader of what I can only assume is his personal opinion, that Dr. Sheppard was the wrong man.
I can agree with Mr. Neff that the first trial was a circus, that the media was out of control, and the investigation was not great, but to accept as gospel that the judge made an inappropriate comment about the trial to a woman who only disclosed it ten years later, after the judge was dead and couldn't defend himself is unfair. Nevertheless the Supreme Court was correct in throwing out the first conviction but for what it's worth I believe that Mr. Saxbe was correct, Dr. Samuel H. Sheppard murdered his wife Marilyn, by brutally beating her to death with 35 crushing blows to the head, and everything else is red herring and distractions.
November 11, 2017
Even though it happened before I was born, I've always been fascinated by the Sam Sheppard case. Did he or didn't he bludgeon his wife to death in the wee hours of July 4, 1954? As a child I loved the Fugitive which despite the creator's insistence that it was not based on this case certainly became indelibly intertwined with it in the minds of viewers. There was also a TV movie that starred George Peppard that captured my interest. After reading this book by who just has to be the authority on the case with all the copious research recounted in this book, I believe Sheppard was an innocent man victimized by a psychopath who had a fixation on his wife and a history of burglary and would later prey on elderly women, eventually being convicted of murder in the late 80s. He even had two of Marilyn's rings that he stole from her inlaw's home two years after the murder. There's even DNA evidence that excludes Dr. Sam and proves the presence of a third person there that night. And eyewitness accounts of a stranger seen on the road that night that matched his description. In addition, the man regularly cleaned the windows at the Sheppard home and knew the layout intimately. No alibi. Other than being in the house that night there is no compelling evidence in my mind that proves beyond doubt that Sheppard committed this crime and I'm frankly baffled as to why he hasn't been completely vindicated at this point.
March 24, 2020
Such An Injustice
I was born in 1954. As I read this I felt sickened by the state of Ohio. It clearly was a case of misinformation and circus atmosphere!!
And to let the newspapers of all people dictate how a court should be run. So sick
So sorry for the family esp the son. Shame on you state of Ohio for wanting to be right but in the end you were wrong and ruined people’s lives. Bottom line...
I was born in 1954. As I read this I felt sickened by the state of Ohio. It clearly was a case of misinformation and circus atmosphere!!
And to let the newspapers of all people dictate how a court should be run. So sick
So sorry for the family esp the son. Shame on you state of Ohio for wanting to be right but in the end you were wrong and ruined people’s lives. Bottom line...
May 5, 2020
Unbelievable injustice
A reasonable person believes, in the end, justice prevails. Yet, this book proves that nothing could be further from the truth. I, like many others before me, have had some knowledge of this case, but I had no idea that even after death Sam
would never receive his due. Nor would his son, his family or the public.
It's sickening that the principal law men involved got away with lies, manipulation of the public, including the jury and creating a circus. Yet, that wasn't even enough.
They had to carry on this insanity up until today, with having full knowledge of their mistakes and DNA to prove who the killer truly was. I realize some of it (the DNA) may have degraded, but that doesn't justify what occurred in the last trial, which stinks of corruption, cover-up and politics.
At least we're given the truth via James Neff. I don't care that one scientist was difficult to understand during the trial, where was the collective sense and\or the brains of this last jury! Not to mention the judge.
This man's name should be cleared once and for all. Before reading this account, I didn't believe Sam Sheppard was guilty; with the proof provided here, why would anyone judge him guilty?
I have little faith in our justice system already, this solidifies my belief, that truth and justice doesn't exist, especially in Cleveland Ohio!!
And I mean, to this day.
Railroaded comes to mind.
Good work Mr. Neff. This may seem like a "heavy" book, and it is, but think of the wrong's this family endured and still does; hence the reason for it.
A reasonable person believes, in the end, justice prevails. Yet, this book proves that nothing could be further from the truth. I, like many others before me, have had some knowledge of this case, but I had no idea that even after death Sam
would never receive his due. Nor would his son, his family or the public.
It's sickening that the principal law men involved got away with lies, manipulation of the public, including the jury and creating a circus. Yet, that wasn't even enough.
They had to carry on this insanity up until today, with having full knowledge of their mistakes and DNA to prove who the killer truly was. I realize some of it (the DNA) may have degraded, but that doesn't justify what occurred in the last trial, which stinks of corruption, cover-up and politics.
At least we're given the truth via James Neff. I don't care that one scientist was difficult to understand during the trial, where was the collective sense and\or the brains of this last jury! Not to mention the judge.
This man's name should be cleared once and for all. Before reading this account, I didn't believe Sam Sheppard was guilty; with the proof provided here, why would anyone judge him guilty?
I have little faith in our justice system already, this solidifies my belief, that truth and justice doesn't exist, especially in Cleveland Ohio!!
And I mean, to this day.
Railroaded comes to mind.
Good work Mr. Neff. This may seem like a "heavy" book, and it is, but think of the wrong's this family endured and still does; hence the reason for it.
April 9, 2019
The real-life murder that became known as " The Fugitive" case began before dawn on July 4, 1954, in a Cleveland suburb, when Marilyn Sheppard was viciously beaten to death in her bed. After an inadequate investigation, her husband, Dr. Sam Sheppard, was charged with the crime, and a chain of events was set in motion that has caused more speculation, more publicity, and more cultural myth than any other American murder. James Neff is an award-winning investigative journalist who, over the past ten years, has assembled the most compete set of Sheppard records in existence, including DNA analyses and interviews with every living person central to the case. He has also gained unprecedented access to crime-scene evidence that shows conclusively that Sham Sheppard did not murder his wife- and points to the man who did. Peeling away the layers of fiction surrounding the case, Neff uncovers the factual events and the key players in a story that until now has been shrouded in mystery. The Wrong Man is a landmark work, a gripping narrative, and indeed the final verdict on America' s most famous unsolved murder
May 4, 2015
I looooooove true crime. This murder happened 10 years before I was born. But growing up in Lorain County, Ohio, it was definitely something I heard about all my life.
There were those who think Dr. Sheppard was totally guilty, and also those who think he was innocent.
When I saw this book on Netgalley I was definitely interested in reading it. Sixty plus years later, it's still being talked about!
The book was an interesting read. Contained a lot of information. Definitely makes you think that Dr. Sheppard may in fact have been "the wrong man".
Thank you Netgalley & Open Road Integrated Media for my ARC copy. It was my pleasure to read it and give you my honest review!
There were those who think Dr. Sheppard was totally guilty, and also those who think he was innocent.
When I saw this book on Netgalley I was definitely interested in reading it. Sixty plus years later, it's still being talked about!
The book was an interesting read. Contained a lot of information. Definitely makes you think that Dr. Sheppard may in fact have been "the wrong man".
Thank you Netgalley & Open Road Integrated Media for my ARC copy. It was my pleasure to read it and give you my honest review!
June 14, 2015
I remember watching a 1975 TV movie called Guilty or Innocent: The Sam Sheppard Murder Case starring George Peppard and being fascinated with the story. Decades later I ran across this book and found I still had an interest in the case. I thought it had just faded into obscurity, but that certainly didn't happen. Even if you know nothing about this famous case from 1954, if you enjoy true crime at all, this is a book you'll want to read. The book is a highly detailed (sometimes too much so, with a bit too much repetition) page-turner.
August 20, 2019
Everything you need to know as an onlooker is available from any one of a dozen websites and can be read and digested in 15 minutes.
This book is thorough to the point—and past it—of bloat.
If you’re obsessed over this case and have an absolute craving to know every bit of minutia, you’ll be happy with this. Because it’s all here. All of it, in dull, plodding recitation.
If you’re another type of person who simply wants a good true crime story and is mildly curious about Sam Sheppherd’s guilt, this book is a dull waste of your time.
This book is thorough to the point—and past it—of bloat.
If you’re obsessed over this case and have an absolute craving to know every bit of minutia, you’ll be happy with this. Because it’s all here. All of it, in dull, plodding recitation.
If you’re another type of person who simply wants a good true crime story and is mildly curious about Sam Sheppherd’s guilt, this book is a dull waste of your time.
June 18, 2019
Fascinating, emotional read!
Neff has done a masterful job with this book. He takes the reader on a journey of discovery through recent history in a way makes it come alive. I particularly liked how he brings the personalities and backgrounds of the different players in the case to the foreground, lending context to the facts. Excellent read, would recommend.
Neff has done a masterful job with this book. He takes the reader on a journey of discovery through recent history in a way makes it come alive. I particularly liked how he brings the personalities and backgrounds of the different players in the case to the foreground, lending context to the facts. Excellent read, would recommend.
June 25, 2025
This is a very similar crime from the States to the long-running Jeffrey McDonald saga, though a tad lesser well-known, I'd say. It is interesting for sure, as was the other case, and, as with the other case it DOES seem to be that the good doctor is guilty, although it doesn't totally reach the beyond reasonable doubt criteria 100%. In both cases I doubt we'll ever know the whole truth now.
The author managed to speak to a lot of the people involved which was good. Very well researched. However, I did get bogged down toward the end of it when we were being given the blood and DNA evidence. It's most frustrating how "experts" in their respective fields can disagree, depending on which side they're testifying for, it seems to me. And that ain't science !!! At one point we're told a DNA test proved the DNA appeared in maybe 1 out of every 42 people.....and it was purported to be a conclusive result....which I wouldn't have agreed with. A GOOD point was that, theoretically DNA found could match up to 83% of the adult population BUT not all of them had access to the Sheppard home....boom !!
It wasn't full of errors which was good, though he spelt straitlaced this way and as straightlaced for some reason and he wrote perimeter and not parameter; then a couple of misplaced apostrophes and that was all, so well presented. I always like to see photos included as well to save me needing to google, though I did remember what the people in this story looked like.
I did get a kick out of the old, alternate name they used for a polygraph-the lie box !! Hehehe.....
This is a big old book and I was chuffed to be able to get it on offer as well.
The author managed to speak to a lot of the people involved which was good. Very well researched. However, I did get bogged down toward the end of it when we were being given the blood and DNA evidence. It's most frustrating how "experts" in their respective fields can disagree, depending on which side they're testifying for, it seems to me. And that ain't science !!! At one point we're told a DNA test proved the DNA appeared in maybe 1 out of every 42 people.....and it was purported to be a conclusive result....which I wouldn't have agreed with. A GOOD point was that, theoretically DNA found could match up to 83% of the adult population BUT not all of them had access to the Sheppard home....boom !!
It wasn't full of errors which was good, though he spelt straitlaced this way and as straightlaced for some reason and he wrote perimeter and not parameter; then a couple of misplaced apostrophes and that was all, so well presented. I always like to see photos included as well to save me needing to google, though I did remember what the people in this story looked like.
I did get a kick out of the old, alternate name they used for a polygraph-the lie box !! Hehehe.....
This is a big old book and I was chuffed to be able to get it on offer as well.
August 29, 2020
I went through a bit of a nostalgic period and decided to have a look at three books concerning the Sheppard trial. Neff's book certainly was not #1. I found he got so caught up in facts and conjecture that he sometimes missed the bus on fairly clear and concise events.
In my opinion Sheppard was guilty...I mean seriously, some bushy haired guy broke in, viciously mudered his wife, then deicded to do a robbery?
Sheppard wakes up, runs upstairs, gets clobbered...then wakes up, goes out on the beach to fight the guy again, gets his ass kicked again...and the guy runs off leaving him alive?
The viciousness of Marilyn's murder in contrast to the weak fights Sheppard had against the assailant made no sense whatsoever.
If one goes through the timeline and the evidence? It's pretty clear Sheppard wanted out of his marriage. He made no secret of extra-marital affairs and often engaged in them publicly, to the horror and embarrassment of his poor wife. Sheppard was a douche bag who figured he could get his family to fudge the facts.
Unfortunately Sheppard's son didn't have sound legal advice or a decent lawyer, so that didn't fare well for him when he tried to sue Ohio for wrongful imprisonment.
However in my opinion justice previaled...although Sheppard should have done another 15 years.
Dr. Sam Sheppard on Trial is a much bettter book and lays out the facts clearly and concisely via the trial in 2008. William Mason was the prosecutor, he also co-wrote the book.
That's the one to read.
In my opinion Sheppard was guilty...I mean seriously, some bushy haired guy broke in, viciously mudered his wife, then deicded to do a robbery?
Sheppard wakes up, runs upstairs, gets clobbered...then wakes up, goes out on the beach to fight the guy again, gets his ass kicked again...and the guy runs off leaving him alive?
The viciousness of Marilyn's murder in contrast to the weak fights Sheppard had against the assailant made no sense whatsoever.
If one goes through the timeline and the evidence? It's pretty clear Sheppard wanted out of his marriage. He made no secret of extra-marital affairs and often engaged in them publicly, to the horror and embarrassment of his poor wife. Sheppard was a douche bag who figured he could get his family to fudge the facts.
Unfortunately Sheppard's son didn't have sound legal advice or a decent lawyer, so that didn't fare well for him when he tried to sue Ohio for wrongful imprisonment.
However in my opinion justice previaled...although Sheppard should have done another 15 years.
Dr. Sam Sheppard on Trial is a much bettter book and lays out the facts clearly and concisely via the trial in 2008. William Mason was the prosecutor, he also co-wrote the book.
That's the one to read.
March 2, 2020
I love a good true crime novel, and "The Wrong Man" seemed like it would fit the bill. Additionally, it is billed as being one of Anne Rule's "top 5 true crime picks".
Author James Neff is an expert on the case of Marilyn Sheppard, who was brutally murdered in her home in the summer of 1954 while her young son slept in the next room. Police quickly honed in on her husband, Dr. Sam Shepard, as the prime suspect and he was ultimately convicted. The book blurb claims to provide new information that proves Sam Shepard was innocent and to also show who the killer really was.
I found this book extremely slow, boring and repetitive. The author gives a huge amount of background on even the most minor characters in the story (reporters, editors of newspapers, etc) and the writing is dry and dull. I could hardly follow the evidence listed in the book because it is all over the place; it is not explained in a coherent way whatsoever. I almost gave up on this book numerous times, and only kept going because of the lofty promise that the author would show that Sam Shepard was innocent and reveal who the real killer was, but I don't think either of these things was proven in any even slightly concrete way. Unless you are obsessed with this case, are already familiar with most of the details (enabling you to follow the astounding amount of mundane extra information provided) and want to learn a ridiculous amount of minutiae about it, I would skip this book.
Author James Neff is an expert on the case of Marilyn Sheppard, who was brutally murdered in her home in the summer of 1954 while her young son slept in the next room. Police quickly honed in on her husband, Dr. Sam Shepard, as the prime suspect and he was ultimately convicted. The book blurb claims to provide new information that proves Sam Shepard was innocent and to also show who the killer really was.
I found this book extremely slow, boring and repetitive. The author gives a huge amount of background on even the most minor characters in the story (reporters, editors of newspapers, etc) and the writing is dry and dull. I could hardly follow the evidence listed in the book because it is all over the place; it is not explained in a coherent way whatsoever. I almost gave up on this book numerous times, and only kept going because of the lofty promise that the author would show that Sam Shepard was innocent and reveal who the real killer was, but I don't think either of these things was proven in any even slightly concrete way. Unless you are obsessed with this case, are already familiar with most of the details (enabling you to follow the astounding amount of mundane extra information provided) and want to learn a ridiculous amount of minutiae about it, I would skip this book.
July 25, 2020
In the early 1950s, Dr Sam Sheppard's wife was murdered in their home on the shore of Lake Erie. He he claimed that he tackled the attacker, who hit him so hard that he became unconscious. When he awoke, he further chased the attacker, who further injured him and escaped.
This sounded improbable to the cops, who immediately focused on Sheppard. Sheppard was known to have seen other women, making him seem an even stronger suspect.
This book steps through the publicity that demanded Sheppards arrest, and his ultimate conviction, looking at the steps taken by investigators, and the many errors and omissions in their work. Eventually, Sheppard got a retrial, in which he was declared innocent.
However, that is really not the end of the story, as public opinion did not shift. This book follows up on the rest of Sheppard's story, and provides strong evidence that Sheppard's claims that there was an intruder were likely true, exposing a local man known to Sheppard and his wife as the killer.
Fascinating story.
This sounded improbable to the cops, who immediately focused on Sheppard. Sheppard was known to have seen other women, making him seem an even stronger suspect.
This book steps through the publicity that demanded Sheppards arrest, and his ultimate conviction, looking at the steps taken by investigators, and the many errors and omissions in their work. Eventually, Sheppard got a retrial, in which he was declared innocent.
However, that is really not the end of the story, as public opinion did not shift. This book follows up on the rest of Sheppard's story, and provides strong evidence that Sheppard's claims that there was an intruder were likely true, exposing a local man known to Sheppard and his wife as the killer.
Fascinating story.
February 4, 2021
Exceptionally Outstand Brilliant Book Who Did It
This book is a very fascinating crime and is extremely superbly detailed and researched by the author. The crime is set in the 1950’s and investigating a crime then and evidence allowed in court was far differs than today. Dr Sam Shepard had it all, He came from a wealthy family of Doctors, and he had a beautiful pregnant wife and a son, but Sam chose to be the handsome playboy husband choosing both work, sex, and infidelity.
Then one day his wife Marylyn is murdered, and his world is turned upside down as he becomes the number one suspect despite the evidence that mounts, like a speeding train out of control, with dodgy forensics, crime scenes, pathologists, police, crazy news media, and out of control court rooms. The full facts where hidden for decades and it is incredibly sad that all these years later that you are left with the question are you sure Who did it and Who did not do it?
An exceptionally outstand brilliant book for true crime readers.
This book is a very fascinating crime and is extremely superbly detailed and researched by the author. The crime is set in the 1950’s and investigating a crime then and evidence allowed in court was far differs than today. Dr Sam Shepard had it all, He came from a wealthy family of Doctors, and he had a beautiful pregnant wife and a son, but Sam chose to be the handsome playboy husband choosing both work, sex, and infidelity.
Then one day his wife Marylyn is murdered, and his world is turned upside down as he becomes the number one suspect despite the evidence that mounts, like a speeding train out of control, with dodgy forensics, crime scenes, pathologists, police, crazy news media, and out of control court rooms. The full facts where hidden for decades and it is incredibly sad that all these years later that you are left with the question are you sure Who did it and Who did not do it?
An exceptionally outstand brilliant book for true crime readers.
March 23, 2022
If you are new to this case, Neff’s complete review of the facts is valuable. The police instantly concluded the doctor was guilty and shut down any evidence—and there was much—that misfit their theory. The unfairness of the initial trial is sickening to read. The judge, who admitted hearsay evidence and blocked the defense at every turn, deserved to be removed from the case and disbarred. After his crazy conviction, Sheppard was driven mad by abuse in jail. Even after his release ten years later, he could not recover: he drank himself to death. His treatment was an inside-out version of the OJ case. I would be interested to read Dorothy Kilgallen’s account of the trial. Neff’s book leaves me with a loathing of small-town Ohio and its bonehead juries. Virginia’s small-town juries are equally bad, or Bob Shell would not be rotting in prison.
September 29, 2022
This book is a well researched and interesting true crime story about the "unsolved" Marylin Sheppard murder. The book does a great job of painting why the person many assume to be the killer couldn't be and gives an alternate suspect who fell just short of admitting the crime.
There is citations everywhere, some more interesting than others as they are marked in the book with explanations in the back. It also felt like the pictures, which were clustered in the middle of the book could have been better used spread out throughout, but a great read none the less.
There is citations everywhere, some more interesting than others as they are marked in the book with explanations in the back. It also felt like the pictures, which were clustered in the middle of the book could have been better used spread out throughout, but a great read none the less.
July 3, 2021
This was a very good book. It seemed well researched and presented the reader with the facts to make their own decision on whether or not Dr. Sam Shepherd murdered his wife on the night of July 04, 1954. Of course he did just ask any legal employee of the State of Ohio that had anything to do with this case from 1954 to 2004 and after. The State of Ohio demanded their pound of flesh from Sam Shepherd and all of his surviving family members as well.
July 18, 2022
So far I've read 4 books on the Sheppard murder case since 1997 and this - together with Sam Reese Sheppard's and Cynthia Cooper's book "Mockery of Justice" - is by far the best account.
James Neff has a very compelling writing style and showed admirable efforts to find out once and for all what happened in the Sheppard home on the night of July 4th 1954.
I just wish the book had twice as many photos.
James Neff has a very compelling writing style and showed admirable efforts to find out once and for all what happened in the Sheppard home on the night of July 4th 1954.
I just wish the book had twice as many photos.
June 23, 2023
I first became interested in the Sheppard case decades ago when I saw a 1970s TV movie about it starring George Peppard. That movie (which was pretty accurate according to the facts laid out in this book) presented Sheppard as a wronged man, railroaded to prison by a hostile and small-minded community. Nothing I’ve read since has made me seriously question that notion. This book is an excellent summary of the facts, though it loses focus a bit after recounting Sheppard’s death in 1970. Well worth your time if you have an interest in the subject.
Addendum: There was another TV movie made about the case in the late 1990s, a cheap Canadian production starring Peter Strauss as Sheppard. Skip it, it’s awful.
Addendum: There was another TV movie made about the case in the late 1990s, a cheap Canadian production starring Peter Strauss as Sheppard. Skip it, it’s awful.
August 15, 2019
I've read 4 or 5 books on the Dr. Sam Sheppard murder case and struggled my way through this one. I rather recommend "Mockery of Justice" written by Sam Sheppards son Sam Reese Sheppard.
Supposedly this murder case inspired the 1960's popular TV crime series "The Fugitive" about an innocently accused of murder doctor on the run.
Supposedly this murder case inspired the 1960's popular TV crime series "The Fugitive" about an innocently accused of murder doctor on the run.
March 14, 2020
A classic in the true crime genre. Meticulous research, beautiful prose. Brings a new perspective to an old, still-unsolved murder. Be warned, though: this is a long, detailed book, so if you're a casual true crime reader, you're probably better off reading something a little "lighter". An interesting, if morbid, slice of American history.
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