Evening star., 1954-11-24
Prosecution Fires
At Sheppard Story
OF Murder Night
BY The Associated Press

- '''~ = ~
CLEVELAND. Nov. 24.-The
prosecution punched today at
two episodes in DR.. Samuel IT.
Sheppard's account Of the night
his wife was murdered. It got
witnesses to say his house was
ablaze with light and the lake
outside was rough.
"A Sheppard neighbor, Mrs.
Jay l.. Bender, testified she saw
lights upstairs and down at ais
am. on the morning of the mur-
der. DR.. Sheppard has said he
chased his wife's killer through
q darkened house.
John Tronti, a dark, burly
custodian. said he had to quit
fishing in Lake Erie near the
Sheppard home that morning
because the water was bad" and
lashing almost the entire beach.
The State claims DR.. Sheppard's
account of a struggle with Mari
lyn Sheppard's killer at the edge
of the water is phony because it
says he would have been
drowened after being knocked
out.
Hit at Testimony.
But DR.. Sheppard's lawyers
hit back on a fingerprint ex-
pert's testimony that he found
only one left thumbprint-
Sheppard's-on Marilyn's bed.
Defense Counsel William j.
Corrigan suggested DR.. Shep-
pard could have pressed his
thumb against the bed while
kissing Marilyn good night be-
fore she was murdered.
Regarding the thumbprint,
Mr.. Corrigan also theorized in
question form that his client
had two chances to leave his
thumbprint on the murder bed
five and eight days after she
was bludgeoned to death.
In putting Mrs. Bender and
Mr.. Tronti on the stand the
State was sharpshooting at DR..
Sheppard's story of chasing a
bushy-haired killer both inside
and outside his home.
Says Lights Were On.
-"I noticed there were lights
on downstairs on the east side
of the house and there were
lights on upstairs cat 2::15 a.m.),
Mrs, Bender testified. She said
she was driving past the home
with her husband and children
after visiting relatives in Aurora,
Ohio. i
DR.. Sheppard never has been
too clear in pinpointing times.
The last one noted was at 1880
am, when some friends left
after a dinner party. But Mrs.
Sheppard was still up then and
he was asleep on the couch.
Previous witnesses have testi-
fed that only a dressing room
lamp was on near Marilyn's bed
at about dawn.
Lake Was Rough.
With respect to DR.. Sheppard's
story about graphing with the
killer in the water, then being
left unconscious with his head
on the beach and his feet SUBJ
merged, Assistant Prosecutor
John Mahon asked Mr.. Tronti
about the lakes condition that
night.
"It was so bad we left / or 2
minutes of g." the fisherman
replied. ut was too bad to
fish"
He said he tried fishing only
20 minutes.
The thumbprint on Marilyn's
bed--identif1ed by the State as
DR.. Sheppard's-caused Mr..
Corrigan to suggest that his
client could have left it there
UP to a week after the murder.
Mr.. Corrigan was questioning
Jerome c. Poelking, Cleveland
fingerprint expert. Mr.. Poelking
said yesterday he found only one
print-of DR.. Sheppard's left
thumb-on the murder bed.
But he said he discovered it
only July 23-19 days after Mrs.
Sheppard, four months pregnant,
was slain.
Judge Is Impatient. zs53
AS Mrs. Bender finished her
testimony by answering several
questions over again, Judge
Edward Blythin interrupted and
told Defense Attorney Fred W..
Garmone:
"The court is getting impa-
tient at this repetition all the