DEATHLOCK: The Tragic Case of physician/ wrestler Dr. Sam Sheppard
By Peter Vuono
Through the years, pro wrestling has enjoyed a small group of talented physicians who decided to try their hand at pro wrestling. The first was probably Dr. Ben Roller in 1906. He was followed by Dr. John"Dropkick" Murphy of Malden Ma. Dr. Big Bill Miller was a licensed veterinarian. Of course, wrestling fans are now thrilled with the great talent of Dr. Brit Baker a bona fide dentist. However, there was one physician from Ohio who wrestled pro and who also had the dubious honor of being one of wrestling's most tragic stories; Dr. Sam Sheppard.
Dr. Sam was born in Ohio in 1923. He finished his training as an osteopath from the University of CA at Irvine. He was a good athlete being proficient in football, basketball and track. Dr. Sam lived with his wife Marilyn and son Sam. On the night of 7/3/54, after a dinner party, Dr. Sam fell asleep on the couch. He was awakened by screams by his wife. He went upstairs to the bedroom and was quickly battered unconscious.. He came to quickly and ran downstairs. He spied the suspect and chased him to the beach of his lakeside home. Sheppard was overpowered by the suspect and hit over the head into unconsciousness again. It was later revealed that he sustained a cervical concussion. Eighteen character witnesses were called and two described the "bushy haired man" that Dr. Sam described.
Several days later, Sheppard was deemed the major suspect and was arrested. Just prior to the trial, the Cleveland press was overly biased against Dr. Sam. To make matters worse, the jury was not sequestered. Dr. Sam, during the trial maintained his innocence and defiantly took the stand. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to prison for life. During the next ten years while incarcerated, more calamity struck the Sheppard family.
His mother-in-law Ethel would kill herself with a self inflicted gunshot in 1955. His father-in-law, Thomas Reese would also kill himself in 63. While Sheppard's lawyer would make 6 appeals, Sheppard, dedicated his life to helping others while in prison by allowing himself to be a cancer test subject. As part of an experiment by the Sloane Kettering Insitute for Cancer research, Dr. Sam allowed live cancer cells to be repeatedly injected into his body to research results.
While in prison, Dr. Sam's lawyer passed on. The case would be taken by famed Massachusetts lawyer F. Lee Baily. Baily took the case all the way to the supreme court. The supreme court exonerated Sheppard but once released from prison, he would be tried again by the state of Ohio in Oct of 66. Major testimony came when Chemist Paul Kirk deemed the murderer left handed and Dr. Sam was right handed. After 12 hours of deliberation, Sam Sheppard was released.
He would later marry the daughter of pro wrestler George Strickland of Ohio. Dr. Sam would be trained by Strickland and wrestled 40 matches in Ohio. He was a huge draw and was regarded as a "baby face", or good guy in the wrestling vernacular. He would later develop a hold based on his knowledge of medicine known as the "mandible claw". This hold would decades later be popularized by Mick Foley.
The trauma of Dr. Sam's life had left with him many scars. Among them was alcoholism. Dr. Sam would drink up to 1.5 liters of liquor per day. It would catch up to him and he passed at age 46 on 4/6/70. The legacy of Dr. Sam Sheppard did not end there, however. In 1997, his son Samuel Reese filed a lawsuit based on the unfairness of the 1st trial. Marilyn Sheppard's body was exhumed in 1997 and with the help of DNA evidence it was found that the most likely suspect was Richard Eberling, a family handyman and window washer. Eberling was a convicted murderer who died in prison.
Dr. Sam's ashes were interred with his wife Marilyn in Mayfield heights Ohio. They would finally be together forever. His life mirrors the passage from the sermon on the mount. "Blessed are they who thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied"
