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ea ty CT 2.) es 4 grteer a Se Sd ’ - FD-350 (Rev.'5-8-81) > | ‘She & By Jobn P. Coyne | oo 1 ‘I More than 28 years after) |. lyn R. Sheppard was bludg-i_ eoned to death in her Bay Village ,bome, law enforcement officials "said they might have uncovered , the long-missing murder weapon. *.- Bay Village Police Chief Peter’ yw. Gray yesterday confirmed a tool was found, buried five inches deep in a yard near the Sheppards’ ‘former lakefront home, 28924 4] The neighbor who unearthed the : [find gave it to Gray Friday, set- ting off new inquiries into Greater ; Cleveland’s most publicized slay- - ing, which led to the conviction and later acquittal of the victim's. _husband, Dr. Samuel 4H. Sheppard. a _ “I don't know if it bas anything to do with the Marilyn Sheppard “+ ease,” Gray said. “Over the years. there have been many, many things turned in that could ba |been potential weapons, fi ‘This may or may not be the’ ht one. It’s too early to tell , he said. Gray would not descri the find except to call it a “ of sorts.” He also would not iden- tify whofoundit, ... (Mount Clipping in Space Below) “Lake Rd. co | ars i] However, -&@ _ prelimin: {xamination by the Cuyahog unty coroner’s office match the tool to some of the 35 blows to the head and body which killed Marilyn Sheppard near daybreak July 4, 1954, Gray said. ; “Some of the blows would be consistent with the object wd fpund, while some others would | om peal Gray said, speculatinji ytnat two weapons could have been He cautioned that officials have not yet determined if the tool had been manufactured at-the time - ' Marilyn Sheppard, 31 and four ‘months pregnant, was killed. - - _ “We have to get positive iden _ tification on it and go from th “. Two FBI agents took the in- 7 strument to the FBI laboratory, in Quantico, Va, where agents wil ' checked for fingerprints, pe WMO0 | It was not known how long the ‘tool had been buried, but Gray fe the coroner’s office fo oot fibers attached to it, indica {ing it had been underground fo 7 at least several years. Iba ce ay be S pard weapon | ; i ' | 2 y t (indicate page, name of Newspaper, city and state.) Edition: El The Plain Dealer Cleveland, Oh ton: 11/23/82 Character: Caseticaton: O2D—=2664 eC i oo aes “It could have been put: there 28 years ago or it might have . been there only a few years,” he said, adding it could have been a - planted in the yard by a publicity ’ . The find came just days after " a movie, “Guilty or Innocent: The _ Sam Sheppard Murder Case,” was _ re-run on television here depicting * the life of the man known as Dr. Sam, who was convicted of the ' murder in a dramatic trial fi j.. months after his wife’s death. |. ._ He was freed. 10 years later in}. a complicated round of appeals, Two years later, in 1966, the US. Supreme Court, citing extensive, prejudicial publicity, reversed his ‘hot guilty: Sheppard died in1970- ~- ---~ at age 46. re b Gray said the weapon alwavs’ {mad been a. | ‘conviction. A new trial found him E ) loose end in the ‘investigation. He said police got phone calls offering tips whenever movie was shown. None has warned Up any new evidence, he! “ Coroner Samuel R. Gerber, who offered key testimony in both of : Sheppard's trials, declined to dis- , BIJBON