If DNA analysis shows the blood came from someone other than Sheppard or his wife, it may point to Sheppard's innocence. The results also could focus suspicion on the Sheppards' former handyman, Richard Eberling, who is serving a life sentence for the 1984 killing of a woman in Lakewood, Ohio. Eberling, now 66, denies killing Marilyn Sheppard, but he has a scar on his left wrist and says he bled in the Sheppard house after cutting himself on a window several days before the killing, according to the newspaper. Inman and Rudin won't speculate on Sheppard's guilt or innocence, claiming they are interested only in the case's investigative aspects. If they have an opinion, they guard it closely, but Rudin did suggest it's possible someone else killed Marilyn Sheppard.
Forensic scientists expect the results of DNA analysis on the sample within two months.