James Neff

Fantastically researched and very surprising to someone who honestly thought (wrongly) that The Fugitive was actually based on this case. Sam Sheppard had his faults, but he was railroaded so thoroughly (and represented so poorly in the first case), that it is hard to even fathom. The most shocking part to me, however, was how Dr. Sam spent the last few months of his life. So sad and so grotesque for someone who had worked so hard to be a successful doctor. The only knock I had on the book is that it was very dry in spots (I kept zoning out as I was reading it) and it was somewhat repetitive at times. Other than that, I would definitely recommend it not only for fans of true crime, but for anyone who wants to get a little 1950's zeitgeist fix.… (more)

4909. The Wrong Man The Final Verdict on the Dr. Sam Sheppard Murder Case, by James Neff (read 22 Mar 2012) This 2001 book recounts the Marilyn Sheppard murder, the trial of her husband, the reversal of his conviction by the U.S. Supreme Court. the second trial when he was represented by F. Lee Bailey, his life after prison, and his death in 1970. I found the first two-thirds of the book told an interesting story in non-scintillating prose, but the final section, when the Sheppard Estate sued the County, was boring and showed that the subtitle of the book is hype, and not too accurate. The author makes at least one egregious error, when he says FDR appointed Harold Burton to the Supreme Court, showing a lack of basic research on the part of the author. I am not sure the time I spent reading this book was well-spent.… (more)