According to this article, just before submitting to the police questioning, Sam dramatically issued a formal statement declaring  I have lived an honorable life.   He also offered a $10,000 reward for  the arrest and conviction of the murderer of my wife.  Covering some of the same territory as  Start Quiz of Doctor in Murder of Bay Wife, this article from the Final Edition of the Cleveland Press says that Dr. Sheppard\u27s interrogators - Deputy Sheriffs Carl Rossbach and Dave Yettre and Bay Village Patrolman Fred Drenkhan - won admittance to the sick room only after  a series of violent verbal clashes  between Coroner Gerber and Sam\u27s attorney William Corrigan.https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/newspaper_coverage/1022/thumbnail.jp

Cleveland Press

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Cleveland-Marshall College of Law

Cleveland State UniversityEngagedScholarship@CSUAll Articles Newspaper Coverage7-8-195454/07/08 Husband Posts Reward: $10,000 Set forKiller's ConvictionCleveland PressFollow this and additional works at: https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/newspaper_coverageHow does access to this work benefit you? Let us know!This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Newspaper Coverage at EngagedScholarship@CSU. It has been accepted for inclusion inAll Articles by an authorized administrator of EngagedScholarship@CSU. For more information, please contact library.es@csuohio.edu.Recommended CitationCleveland Press, "54/07/08 Husband Posts Reward: $10,000 Set for Killer's Conviction" (1954). All Articles. 23.https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/newspaper_coverage/23Husband Posts Reward $10;000 Set for Killer's Conviction Propped up in a bed in Bay View Hospital, Dr. Samuel H. Sheppard today began answering the ques-tions of a trio of investigators about the July 4 slay-ing of his pretty wife, l\Iarilyn. Just before submitting to the ordeal, he dramatically issued a formal statement declaring "I have lived an honorable life" and offered a $10,000 reward for "the arrest and conviction of the murderer of my wife." Dr. Sheppard's interrogaters-Deputy Sheriffs Carl Rossbach and Dave Yettre and Bay Village Patrol!llan Fred Drenkham-won admittance to the sick room only after a series of violent verbal clashes. Lawyer, Coroner in Clash Adversaries in the battle of words were William Corrigan, Cleveland criminal defense attorney retained by Dr. Sheppard's family, and Coroner Samuel R. Gerber. Cordgan successfully blocked Dr. Gerber's demand that Dr. Sheppai·d be taken "do\-..1ntown" for question-ing either at the Criminal Courts Bldg. on the Morgue. When the coi-oner issued a subpena for Dr. Shep-pard's "forth\vith" appearance at a formal inquest at Find Human Heads at Doctor1s Home Four human head , one ·with flP">h on it, were found today tn the garage o Dr. hamuel Sheppard's home at 28924 Lake d., Ba;\· \ il111ge. 'l'he g-ri.,ly finds, \napped in new, papers and oil cloth, were Jdentified a..; ''anatomkal i.pecimen<i'' used by Dr. Sheppard in his neuro-surgery studies and research. the Morgue, Corrigan permitted his client to be ques-tioned in the hospital room without his own presence -but suggested that Drenkham, a friend of the Shep-pard family, be incluled in the questioning group. Answers in Low Voice Dr. Sheppard, who is the Bay Village Police Depart-ment sorgeon, smiled wanly as the law enforcement of-ficers entered his room and answered their inquiries in a Jow voice. Before submitting to the questioning, he declared in his first public statement since discovery of his wife's murder that he had already given police "all the in· formation I could" about the crime. Any restrictions on his talking for the past four days, he said, had been imposed "by the doctors who have been attending me"-who were his father and two phy ician brothers. While Dr. Shteppard was being questioned, his mother-in-law, Mrs. Jane Reese, stepmother of the murder victim, was closeted at the Criminal Courts Bldg. with Assistant County Prosecutor John J. Mahon. Check on Fa mi ly Life Mahon, who took command of the investigation when it seemed to be road-blocked ·by refusal of Dr. Sheppard's relatives to permit him to be questioned except at times and places they controlled, was ap-parently inquiring into the family life of the handsome young couple. He also interrogated Mayor J. Spencer Houk of Bay Village, clo e friend of the couple, who was the first · person Dr. Sheppard telephoned on the murder morn-ing to~blurt: "Come over, Spen . . . I think they've killed Marilyn ... " It was Mahon's terse order that Dr. Sheppard-re-covering from the neck injury he claims was suffered when he grappled with the maniacal slayer-"come downtown to make a statement" that started the tense bedside debate at Bay Village Hospital.· 'Vhen Dr. Gerber issued a subpena commanding Dr. Turn to Pag·e 2, Column 1 tart uest1on1ng o ill age cctor in Murder of His Wife -f'(Continued From Page One) Sheppard's "forthwith" appearance at the Morgue for a formal coroner's inquest, Corrigan declared: "Abso-lutely not-this man is sick. He is in a hospital. He cannot be moved." Then, Mahon reported, Corrigan agreed to "permit" questioning of his client in the hospital room "without a . lawyer present, and for any length of time." But actual start of the questioning was' delayed while Corrigan and his .co-counsel, Attorney A. Peter-silge, conferred with Dr. Gerber for more than an hour outside Dr. Sheppard's hospital room door. The coroner sent for another physician to examine Dr. Sheppard to determine if he could make a trip to either the Morgue or the Criminal Courts Bldg. Waiting impatiently to start the interrogation was Deputy Sheriff Carl Rossbach, whose previous at-tempts to question Dr. Sheppard had been blocked by Corrigan and the osteopath's father and brothers. who operate Bay View Hospital. Rossbach entered Dr. Sheppard's room earlier to day to find Corrigan at the bedside: A few minute later, the deputy stalked out and reported to Dr. Ge1 ber. The coroner then signed the subpena for D Sheppard. "Serve it forthwith," he commanded. But the service was prevented by Corrigan's int< vention and conference with Dr. Gerber. These developments came as Dr. Stephen Sheppard, brother-in-law of the slain clubwoman, told reporters that his brother was eager and anxious to aid the investigation and was now physically able to withstand questioning. He added that William J. Corrigan, prominent Cleveland criminal defense lawyer re-tained by the family, was "in complete charge from now on." Mahon took over direction of the inquiry after a confer-ence with Sheriff Joseph Sweeney, Bay Village Police .Chief John Eaton and Deputy Sheriffs Rossbach and Dave Yettra. At Mahon's request, Cleve-land Homicide Bureau Detec-tives Patrick Gareau and Rob-ert Schottke were assigned to the case. Mahon said his order to "come downtown" voluntarily or to the Morgue under sub-pena also applied to Samuel (Chip) Sheppard Jr., six-year-old son of the murder victim. "In my 23 years of criminal prosecution, I have never seen such flagrant stalling as in this case by the family of Dr. Sam-uel Sheppard," Mahon said. The stalling, he said, was in the refusal of Dr. Stephen Sheppard, the osteopath's DRAMATIC SCENE as Deputy Sheriffs Carl Rossbach (center) and Dave Yettra re-enter Dr. Samuel Sheppard's room at Bay View Hospital with _subpena after bedside clash with Attorney William Corrigan. On guard at door is Bay Village Patrolman Cy Lipaj . brother, to permit the injured husband to be questioned ex-cept at times and under con-ditions dictated by himself. "We have tried to be humane in this inquiry," Dr. Gerber said. "We expected coopera-tion from the family, but don't seem to be getting it. We'll now have to use the strong arm of the law." Dr. Gerber, Mahon and Ross-bach wanted to have the mur· der victim's husband retell his story o.f how he was asleep on a downstaris couch, when he heard his wife scream in the upstairs bedroom. Dr. Sheppard said he ran up the stairs, to be assaulted by a man who struck him from behind. He said he later re-c o v e re d consciousness and chased the intruder, engaging in another struggle in which he was injured. What infuriated the investi-gating officials was the fact that, after Dr. Sam Sheppard attended his wife's funeral yes-terday, he received a steady stream of callers in his hospi-tal room-but the police were barred. The callers included Attor-ney Corrigan and Arthur A. Petersilge, the family's lawyer. Dr Stephen Sheppard denied any interference with the in-vestigation. "If we were trying to inter-fere,'' he said, "we wouldn't Mrs. Jane Reese, step-mou,er of Mrs. Marilyn Sheppard, today said she has "complete confidence that the county officials will clear up this horrible matter." She said she had no furtl1er com· ment on the delay in the probe of Mrs. Sheppard's death. have let anyone talk to him. But he's already been inter-viewed four times by the authorities, and told · them everything he knew. "Our chief concern is for his health. He's certainly been in-jured, having been knocked unconscious. He's c.onfused and unable to remember much. He'll possibly be able to re-member more after his condi· tion improves. "It's fantastic to think that we're trying to impede the in-vestigation. We tried to pro-tect Sam physically so he could get well as spon as pos-sible and be of more help." The coroner said the family's shielding of Dr. Sheppard from questioning for several days had produced "a major stymie" in the inquiry. Mahon entered the case be-cause he was indignant about the slowdown of the inquiry. "The state is already prepar· ing its case against the killer of Mrs. Sheppard," he declared. "No interference with the in· vestigation must be tolerated." Mahon directed a lengthy new search of the murder home at 28924 Lake Rd. late yesterday. The search disclosed no new evidence. Among the paper-backed J m ystery novels found strewn I about were these titles: "I Killed My Wi.fe," "Blood ' on ; My Hands," and "Blood in Your Eye." Chief Eaton hired profes-sional divers to explore the Lake Erie bottom off the Shep-pard beach front in quest of the still missing weapon with which the pretty clubwoman and Sunday school instructor was bludgeoned to death. A I m'.lgnetic device failed to re-trieve any th i n g from the water. However, the divers, Bill Vir-gin• and Frank D'Agostino of Lorain, were unable to go down because of rough waves. D'Agostino said it was "very unlikely" that they would find the weapon, but the quest mi~l~t "help satisfy public op1mon." . A piece of pipe found some d1stan~e from the beach house was discounted as having any connection with the crime. Dr. Gerber said the T-shirt worn by Dr. Sheppard when he do.ze~ off on the couch, but ~1ss1~g ,when he first reported ~J<; wifes murder, was still be-ing diliger.t1;. ~ought. Dr. Stephen Sheppard sug· inquiry was "one of the most gested that Sam Jr. be ques- . unusual cases" in his 19 years tioned by Bay Village Patrol· as coroner. man Fred Drenkham, who is "Here is a witness surround-acquainted with the boy. ed and shielded by his own family of doctors," Dr. Gerber said. (Dr. Sheppard's father and two brothers, all osteo-pathic physicians, run Bay View Hospital together). "It's a situation that's got to be straightened out immediately." This suggestion brought a retort from Mahon: "They're not going to dictate to us whom they want to talk to." " Took It Pretty Hard" Bay Village Sgt. Jay Hubach, who accompanied Dr. Sheppard ,piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiil to his wife's funeral, said the I family had kept the conversa-tion on subjects other than the murder. "He took it pretty hard," Hubach said. "He sobbed most of the time." Dr. Samuel Sheppard, in a lirief hospital room interview with reporters, said he wanted to give as much help as pos-sible to officials seeking to catch the maniacal killer. Before Dr. Gerber and Mahon interposed objections, Rossbach had arranged to "call Dr. Steve at 11 a. m." to "see if it would be all right to question Dr. Sam today." Dr. Stephen Sheppard had told reporters that the inter-r gation would be at his home, 1. 027 Inglewood Dr., Rocky River, and all newspapermen would be barred from the premises. Dr. Gerber said the murder Our Semi-Annual Cle~!!"'"' Men's and Odds-and-En LUGG 20% ro 5 on CLEARANCE 11 

54/07/08 Husband Posts Reward:  $10,000 Set for Killer\u27s Conviction

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54/07/08 Husband Posts Reward: $10,000 Set for Killer\u27s Conviction

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