An Omission of Epic Proportions — Sherlock Holmes Investigates the Murder of Mrs. Marilyn Sheppard

This much we know for certain:  Mrs. Marilyn Sheppard was found bludgeoned to death in her bed on July 4, 1954.  Her husband, Dr. Sam Sheppard, a young osteopathic neurosurgeon, told a wild tale of a bushy-haired intruder.  He never wavered from his story of events and always maintained his innocence, but he was accused, tried and convicted.  A second trial 10 years later set him free, but the truth of this unsolved murder has never been proven.

In this intriguing mystery, a time warp enables Dr. Watson to bring Sherlock Holmes together with Paul Leland Kirk, the expert criminalist who first conducted an unbiased investigation of the Sheppard murder in 1955.  Holmes is skeptical — after all, Dr. Sheppard’s story of a bushy-haired intruder seems preposterous — until Holmes is presented with physical evidence that was repressed or considered insignificant during the trial. The evidence points to three other suspects, a window washer, an Air Force major, and an outraged neighbor, all of whom had opportunity and motivation for a sexual assault upon the victim.

The author of this novel, niece of Marilyn and Sam Sheppard, builds her story on authentic scientific research and expert analysis documented in an unpublished manuscript authored by a master criminalist. Readers can follow Sherlock Holmes’ deductive reasoning and use their own logic to review the unvarnished facts of the case and decide for themselves who murdered Mrs. Marilyn Sheppard.

It’s been 61 years! Why bring it up now?!

Yes, it happened back in 1954, and it has haunted me ever since.  My aunt was murdered.  My uncle was blamed.  This murder has never been resolved. That is why I bring it up.

Murder requires objective, unbiased examination.  Conclusions and accusations must be based on clear analysis of the physical evidence; even the smallest detail must be taken into account. The facts of this case were never considered with that kind of unbiased clarity.  I wanted it re-examined, and this time with open-minded, deductive objectivity!

I knew exactly who I needed:  Sherlock Holmes, the world’s most famous criminalist.  And I got him!

It happened when an unexplained time warp enabled Sherlock Holmes to collaborate with Dr. Paul Leland Kirk —  Holmes’ equally-talented, 20th-century counterpart — to review the critical physical evidence tossed aside as “irrelevant” by the Cleveland Police and prosecutors of Dr. Sam Sheppard back in 1954.

I take no credit myself.  Dr. Watson made all the arrangements — and he is the one to tell you the story.