The Wrong Man: The Final Verdict on the Dr. Sam Sheppard Murder Case (Hardcover)

by James Neff (Author) "EARLY SATURDAY MORNING, July 3, 1954, Dr. Sam Sheppard pulled his Lincoln into the parking lot of Bay View Hospital, housed in a huge, Georgian-style..." (more)
Key Phrases: closet stain, murder room, flying blood, Sam Sheppard, Marilyn Sheppard, Bay Village (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Before O.J. Simpson, Sam Sheppard was probably the most famous man acquitted for murder in the United States. Sheppard was a suburban Cleveland doctor accused of murdering his wife in 1954. The essentials of his case are well known. Sheppard said he was asleep on the couch when he heard his wife scream from the bedroom; he ran up the stairs and was knocked out by her attacker. Before long, Sheppard himself became the leading suspect--and most of the public came to consider him guilty. In The Wrong Man, reporter James Neff offers a detailed and well-told narrative that argues for Sheppard's innocence. Based on 10 years of research and interviews with many of the people whose lives touched the case, from family members to jurors to Sheppard's famous attorney F. Lee Bailey, Neff's account seems convincing. He even proposes a perpetrator, who, Neff says, offered something "close of a confession" during an interview shortly before his death in 1998. There may never be a "final verdict" in the saga of Sam Sheppard, but many readers will think this book effectively closes the case. --John Miller

From Publishers Weekly
The brutal murder of Marilyn Sheppard in a Cleveland suburb in 1954 led to the wrongful conviction and imprisonment of her husband and precipitated a popular television series (The Fugitive), two hit films and the federal appeals case that made F. Lee Bailey famous. This is a story of "blood, violent death, mystery and sex," and Neff (Mobbed Up) brilliantly dissects the vital organs of the case, uncovering the terror and bureaucratic frustration Dr. Sam Sheppard encountered when faced with "a community, a court system, and a powerful press corps working in apparent lockstep to convict him." More importantly, he presents new case material, including blood evidence and unheard testimonies as well as Sheppard's prison diaries and interviews with those close to the investigation all evidence that now points to the true identity of Marilyn's killer. Neff's illumination of Marilyn's unhappy marriage is careful and empathetic, while his portrayal of Sam's womanizing shows how easy it was for the prosecution to paint him as a killer. Neff's nose for news is no less powerful: he tracks the increasing public support of Sheppard's innocence, follows a pioneering criminologist whose career was nearly destroyed by Cleveland's political machine and sheds light on the historical shifts in the treatment of suspects since the Sheppard murder case. This brilliant, well-written story is easily the best of the true-crime genre so far for 2001. 8 pages of b & w photos not seen by PW. Agent, Esther Newberg, ICM. (On sale Oct. 30) Forecast: This definitive treatment of one of the most famous murder cases of the 20th century should be a big seller.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1st edition (October 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679457194
• ISBN-13: 978-0679457190
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 5.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #904,261 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Justice at Long Last, November 9, 2001

By	Richard A. Cook (INDIANAPOLIS, IN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Wrong Man is a gripping and provocative look at the sensational murder trial(s)of Sam Sheppard. While in high school in the 70's, I remember first reading about the case in F. Lee Bailey's book "The Defense Never Rests". Neff's book takes you behind the headlines of this infamous case and moves forward from the day of the crime and through the various incarnations of the case in the state and federal courts. He looks in depth at the participants and suspects in one of the century's greatest "unsolved murders." This case is a clear example of a man and a family destroyed by politicians and the press. These folks refused to let the facts get in the way of a good story. Sheppard's life and reputation were lost because the case was tried in the newspapers and television, instead of the court room. Oddly enough, through three trials in a "search for truth" justice was never served. It is ironic that Neff's objective review of the case as a journalist and a "member of the press" may be the closest the Sheppard family ever gets to finding the truth and obtaining justice. This is not simply a regurgitation of the headlines but a probing anatomy of an infamous crime and what happens when a "good story" over takes the facts, a community, and our system of justice. It also shows why our freedoms guaranteed by the constitution (including the freedom of the press) must be jealously guarded against all who would take them away. I could not put the book down once I started reading it and strongly recommend it to any one who enjoys the true crime genre or reading law related novels. Here, the facts are stranger (and more interesting) than any fiction one could invent.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The penultimate word on the Sheppard case, November 14, 2001

By	John Stark Bellamy II (Cleveland, OH USA) - See all my reviews

Given the antiquity of the Sheppard case, the loss of physical evidence and the death of virtually all of its chief figures, it is unlikely that this baffling murder case will ever be solved beyond the shadow of a doubt. But James Neff has come closer than anyone yet in penetrating to the core of this anguished puzzle. Well-researched and well-written, it demolishes many myths and misconceptions about the case and renders virtually every previous book on the case obsolete. Hard-core followers of the Sheppard phenomeon may be no more swayed by Neff's faith in the DNA evidence proffered in the 3rd Sheppard trial last year (the jurors weren't convinced)but he nonetheless makes a compelling argument for the guilt of Richard Eberling, a familiar and repugnant suspect to Sheppard buffs. True, Neff sidesteps the ludicrous implausabilities of Sheppard's "bushy-haired intruder" story but his evidence and arguments will be the starting place for any further controversy on this celebrated case. In a word, don't exhale until you've read this book.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Right Read, January 3, 2002

By	Roldo Bartimole (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews

James Neff's The Wrong Man not only is a good read but a compelling one. Though the title (subtitled, "The Final Verdict on the Dr. Sam Sheppard Murder Case")gives one the ending, the drama of the story keeps the reader going as well as any good mystery. Neff's investigative talent and what he uncovers helps build that drama. Neff connects the revelations of the passions built by media/political forces in Cleveland during this 1950s case to the McCarthy era mentality and to the growth of what was then considered the "safe" suburbs.(The book has been relatively ignored by the local Cleveland newspaper despite its massive previous coverage. But don't expect a whitewash of its main character. The content also has relevance to today's media frenzy in some of the highly emotional cases that become media spectacles and a warning that what seems to be might not be at all. Neff's detective work, obviously tenaciously done, has a Holmes-like quality. It's hard to put it aside once into the book.