At 5:40 a.m. on July 4, 1954, the mayor of Bay Village, a small suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, received a frantic phone call from his neighbor Dr. Sam Sheppard. The news was too terrible to comprehend: Marilyn, Sam’s lovely wife, was dead, her face and torso beaten beyond recognition by an unknown assailant who had knocked Sam unconscious and escaped just before dawn. In the adjacent bedroom, Chip, the Sheppards’ seven-year-old son, had slept through the entire ordeal.

 

Almost immediately, the police began to suspect Sam Sheppard. The local press rushed to cast judgment on the handsome, prosperous doctor. After a misguided investigation, Sheppard was arrested and charged with murder. Sentenced to life in prison, he served for nearly a decade before he was acquitted in a retrial. Until his death, he maintained his innocence.

 

Culled from DNA evidence, testimony that was never heard in court, prison diaries, and interviews with the Sheppard family and other key players, The Wrong Man makes a convincing case for Sheppard’s innocence and reveals the identity of the real killer.

 

This ebook contains ten photographs not included in previous editions.

“An exhaustive piece of detective work . . . [Neff’s] determination gives his book a gripping zealousness.” —The New York Times Book Review

 

“The Wrong Man is one of the most brilliant works in the true-crime genre to come along for a decade. Even those who thought they knew the Sam Sheppard case are in for a surprise.” —Ann Rule

 

“A gripping and meticulously researched book . . . [A] first-degree murder mystery.” —People

 

“Far more than a true-crime book . . . The Wrong Man is a perceptive look at the intricacies of the justice system.” —USA Today

 

“One of the best true-crime volumes in years.” —Publishers Weekly

 

“Fascinating and provocative reading.” —The Washington Post Book World James Neff is a prizewinning investigative journalist and editor. He is the author of five books, including The Wrong Man: The Final Verdict on the Dr. Sam Sheppard Murder Case and Unfinished Murder: The Capture of a Serial Rapist, both of which were Edgar Award finalists; Mobbed Up: Jackie Presser’s High-Wire Life in the Teamsters, the Mafia, and the FBI, which was adapted into the HBO movie Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story; and Vendetta: Bobby Kennedy Versus Jimmy Hoffa (forthcoming in July 2015). Raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Neff was a reporter and columnist at the Plain Dealer for a decade and is currently investigations editor at the Seattle Times, where he has supervised multiple Pulitzer Prize–winning series.