At 5:50 a.m. on July 3, 1954, Samuel H. Sheppard telephoned his neighbor, Bay Village Mayor Spencer Houk, and stated that his wife, Marilyn Sheppard, had been murdered in her bed. At 6:00 a.m., the Bay Village Police arrived at the Sheppard residence. Throughout the morning, members of the City of Cleveland Homicide Unit, the County Sheriff s Office, and the County Coroner's Office arrived at the residence.

At approximately 6:30 a.m., Sheppard's brother, Dr. Steven Sheppard, and his wife Bette, arrived at the residence. About the same time, Drs. Carter and Dozier, interns at Bayview Hospital, arrived at the residence pursuant to Dr. Steven Sheppard's direction. Although an ambulance was present, Dr. Steven Sheppard, who described Sheppard's condition as near death, and an intern from Bayview Hospital, lifted Sam off the floor and assisted him in walking to an automobile. Sheppard was driven to Bayview Hospital and admitted. Dr. Steven Sheppard limited the investigators’ access to Sheppard. The Bayview Hospital was owned and operated by the Sheppard family.

Sam Sheppard's initial statements to investigators were vague. His statements were contradictory. Sheppard claimed to be sleeping on a daybed downstairs when he was awakened by his wife's screams from the upstairs bedroom. He ran upstairs to encounter a faceless form that struck him on the back of the head and rendered him unconscious. He claims he recovered heard a noise downstairs, pursued the intruder down a steep incline to the beach of Lake Erie behind the house where he half-tackled the bushy haired form, but again lost consciousness. He awoke in the water, ran upstairs to check Marilyn and administer to her, but saw she was dead. During the murder, seven year old Sam Reese Sheppard (Chip) lay sleeping, undisturbed in the next room. The Sheppard's also had a dog named Ko Ko, at the residence.

On August 17, 1954, a Cuyahoga County grand jury returned an indictment of first degree murder against Sheppard. The trial commenced on October 19, 1954. On December 21, 1954, the jury returned a verdict of guilty on the charge of murder in the second degree. Dr. Sam Sheppard was sentenced to life in prison.

The Sheppard family retained Paul Leland Kirk, a chemist with a specialty in criminalistics, to view and analyze the crime scene and certain physical evidence on behalf of Sheppard. Dr. Kirk concluded that the killer was a left handed, weak woman or young boy, bitten by Marilyn and suffering an "open and actively bleeding wound" from that bite. The trial court denied Sheppard's motion for a new trial on the basis of Dr. Kirk's evidence. The Eighth District Court of Appeals and the Ohio Supreme Court affirmed the conviction on appeal.

In 1961, Sheppard filed a petition in habeas corpus with the United States District Court. The petition was granted in the trial court and reversed in the U.S. Court of Appeals. Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the habeas petition and Sheppard was released from prison subject to retrial by the State of Ohio. The criminal trial of State v. Sheppard recommenced on October 24, 1966. The jury returned a not guilty verdict on November 18, 1966. Thereafter, Sheppard initiated a civil action against the Cleveland Press and its publisher and Coroner Samuel Gerber, alleging breach of his civil rights under 42 U.S.C. 1983 due to his wrongful imprisonment. That case was dismissed by the trial court and survived no appeals. Samuel Sheppard died on April 18, 1970.

Over twenty years later, Sam Reese Sheppard (Chip) together with Cynthia Cooper, a writer from New York and AMSEC, a private investigative firm to whom Cooper has promised a percentage of revenue from publications and other ventures, approached the Office of the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor alleging that the perpetrator of the Marilyn Sheppard homicide was Richard Eberling. The group sought to have the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor reopen a criminal investigation.

When those efforts failed, Sam Reese Sheppard directed his attorney to have his late father's estate institute an action against the State of Ohio for wrongful imprisonment. The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor serves as counsel to the State of Ohio in all such actions filed in Cuyahoga County. Accordingly, the Prosecutor entered an appearance on behalf of the State of Ohio in this proceeding.

1. Whether Samuel H. Sheppard committed the offense for which he was charged (including all lesser included offenses).

2. Whether Dr. Samuel Sheppard engaged in any criminal conduct.

3. Whether Samuel H. Sheppard avoided criminal liability in 1966.

4. Whether Samuel Sheppard was responsible for the death of Marilyn Reese Sheppard.

5. Whether Samuel H. Sheppard, wrongfully imprisoned within the meaning of R.C.

2743.48.

1. All material facts relevant to the murder of Marilyn Sheppard are at issue.

2. The State of Ohio asserts that Samuel H. Sheppard, and no other person, committed the murder of Marilyn Sheppard. Hence, the identity of the perpetrator is at issue.

3. The State of Ohio asserts that Samuel H. Sheppard was not a wrongfully imprisoned individual within the meaning of R.C. 2743.48.