May 13, 1963 - The U.S. Supreme Court rejected today a plea from Dr. Sam Sheppard (pictured right in 1954) that he be allowed to take a lie detector test to prove his innocence in the bludgeoning slaying of his pregnant wife, Marilyn Reese Sheppard, on July 4, 1954. The court, in a brief unsigned order, rejected the request of the 39-year-old Ohio osteopath, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for second-degree murder. Sheppard has asserted that on the night of the slaying he was knocked unconscious by a bushy-haired stranger who broke into his home. In his appeal to the Supreme Court for a lie detector test, Sheppard also asked to be questioned while under hypnosis. He said the hypnosis would help him remember the circumstances of his wife’s death more clearly. The Ohio Supreme Court turned down his proposal on Dec. 27, 1962. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court let that ruling stand.
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