   samuel holmes "sam" sheppard ( â ) was an american osteopathic physician and, toward the end of his life, a professional wrestler. he was convicted in 1954 of the brutal murder of his pregnant wife, marilyn reese sheppard, at their bay village, ohio home. he spent almost a decade in prison, mostly at the ohio penitentiary, before a retrial was ordered, where he was acquitted in 1966. to his death, he maintained his innocence in the murder. the murder of marilyn sheppard and the controversial murder trial of sam sheppard in 1954 drew widespread, nationwide attention from the media, creating what the u.s. supreme court later described as a "carnival atmosphere" which denied sheppard his right to due process. in 2000, sheppard's son, sam reese sheppard, who was seven at the time of his mother's murder, sued the state of ohio for his father's alleged wrongful imprisonment. after a ten-week trial, a civil jury returned a unanimous verdict that sam reese sheppard had failed to prove his father had been wrongfully imprisoned. == early life and education == sheppard was born in cleveland, ohio, the youngest of three sons of dr. richard allen sheppard. he attended cleveland heights high school where he was an excellent student and was active in football, basketball, and track; he was class president for three years. sheppard met his future wife, marilyn reese, while in high school. although several small ohio colleges offered him athletic scholarships, sheppard chose to follow the lead of his father and older brothers and pursued a career in osteopathic medicine. he enrolled at [[han
1923_births 1970_deaths 20th-century_American_male_actors American_male_professional_wrestlers American_physicians Burials_at_mausoleums Burials_in_Ohio Case_Western_Reserve_University_alumni Deaths_from_organ_failure Hanover_College_alumni History_of_Cleveland,_Ohio Neurosurgeons Osteopathic_physicians People_acquitted_of_murder People_convicted_of_murder_by_Ohio People_from_Bay_Village,_Ohio People_from_Cleveland,_Ohio Professional_wrestlers_from_Ohio University_of_California,_Irvine_alumni