John Hamilton, an obstetrician-gynecologist, called 911 on Valentine's Day, 2001, to report that he had arrived to find his wife, Susan, apparently dead in a pool of blood in the bathroom. A system error has occurred. Spruill told jurors he has an opinion on how the killer got out of the house without leaving a blood trail even though the evidence doesn't provide an answer. Which means if John Hamilton didn't do it, you'd have to believe whoever did arrived right as he was leaving, or had been waiting inside all along. . The expert, though, was certain that whoever was wearing that left shoe that day was present when Susan Hamilton was being bludgeoned to death. "I didn't find any evidence of blood leading up to the front door. Daughter testifies slain woman was scared, upset - The Oklahoman Sounded like he was talking to Susan. But before that valentine's day was over, they would have a suspect in custody. Investigators have a word for rage crimes: "overkill." Jewels. So he runs by that house. Teresa Sterling: It was violent. Steve Jimerson: I was afraid for his safety. Dick Horton: Actually, we've turned it into a positive. And we kissed. And for that, they hired a blood stain expert Named Ross Gardner. By 10:45, he was on his way home again, which is when he says he discovered Susan in a pool of blood. Randy Scott: You know, you wouldn't a had time to washed up. "It was a shock to everybody, Hamilton said on the news program. A very nice, innocent guy was facing a nightmare. "The evidence will be she was just as much in love with him.". By the time emergency workers arrived, it was clear that Susan Hamilton was dead. Spruill told jurors he believed the attack happened quickly and the victim fought to free the necktie from her neck. PDF DISCIPLINARY ACTION REPORT - Tennessee What Happened To Dr John Hamilton? It was over by 8, and afterwards, John stopped by the hospital, where he had another procedure scheduled for later that morning. Something he'd noted and what would later be regarded as the atomic bomb of the trial of Dr. John Hamilton. It did in this case, though. John Hamilton, a prominent doctor in Oklahoma City, showered his wife with gifts, starting with a Porsche he gave her the day they married. Khi gp Susan vo nm 1985, c hai ly hn v c 4 a con . And I said, "Yes, sir.". Horton said. We changed it to, instead, that-- Valentine's Day is a day to celebrate love. Foreman: We, the jury and panel, sworn in the above-entitled cause, do upon our oath sign as follows. The doctor refuted the prosecution's case against him point by point. Dr. John Hamilton, though, was ready to explain it all, and his version of the truth would be completely different than the prosecutor's. The defense also hired a respected crime scene investigator, Tom Bevel, as an expert witness. Dennis Murphy: So these things that you say are kind of like out of focus- moving the car, there was the other thing -- the business about moving her jewelry, hiding it in her drawer? But I didn't wanna believe that or give up. Shibley and Horton told the cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. You may not upload any more photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 20 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 5 photos to this memorial, This photo was not uploaded because this memorial already has 30 photos, This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 15 photos to this memorial. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again. asked him to move out of their The doctor's behavior in the minutes after finding Susan dead seemed "off.". PDF Oklahoma City murder case featured on "True Crime with Aphrodite Jones Had he hurt himself? Maybe he ends up terminating that to save his marriage. felt deceived.". To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. Ever. . However, the investigation revealed that the murderer was John Hamilton himself. Hamilton, a frequent target of protesters opposed to abortions, was arrested about six hours after he made a 911 call reporting that he thought his wife was dead. Your Scrapbook is currently empty. Bevel, an expert on blood spatter pattern analysis, testified that the blood found on the doctor was consistent with his account of trying to save his wife. Before Susan Hamilton died, Coffey said, the victim had changed her mind and thought that her husband was not having an affair. They'd been suspicious earlier, back at the house when he scratched his hands against the cage in the police car. His defense team argued that there was no direct evidence that Hamilton was the murderer, noting that no murder weapon was ever found. He told them he had been frantically trying to save her life. The distraught doctor managed to give police an account of his movements that morning. A final report will not be completed for several weeks. husband was having an affair with a patient. The killer, careful not to step in the blood, changed into clean clothes and concealed the bloody clothes in a plastic bag before carrying them out of the house, Spruill said. John Hamilton, a prominent Oklahoma City gynecologist, has been in jail without bail since Feb. 14. Have a good day. He said the blood got on the steering wheel when he stopped doing CPR for a moment to move his car before the emergency vehicles arrived. In this article, we delve into the life of Simon Ekpa, his family, and his net worth. And, as expected, his take on the story told by the blood put his client, Dr. Hamilton, in a better light. If this is real-- if this blood splatter is real science then why should two prominent, national authorities disagree with the findings? If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. Around 8:50 a.m., he said, he was beeped because he was late for another procedure. You'd have to believe that he committed the violent murder in that narrow window between his two surgeries. John Hamilton: My wife's, my wife, my wife I think my wife is dead. or don't show this againI am good at figuring things out. The prosecutor tossed out an open-ended question: Wes Lane: Well, Mr. Bevel, is there anything that either the state's experts or the Oklahoma City Police Department missed in their examination of the evidence? the victim told them the defendant smothered her. home at 3056 Brush Creek Road. The conviction of Oklahoma City resident Dr. John Hamilton in the 2001 Valentine's Day murder of his wife Susan Hamilton will be examined on "True Crime with Aphrodite Jones" in an episode titled "Loved to Death," airing at 9 p.m. Monday on Investigation Discovery. And that's what had happened to Susan Hamilton on that Valentine's Day morning. the defendant was calling her 10 You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. Oklahoma City police declined on Wednesday to release additional information about the slaying. loyal patients, former employees and fellow physicians, all standing behind the doctor. I mean, because it was out there in view, I guess. The only thing that he could think of that it was consistent with was John Hamilton when he was beating her with that blunt instrument that was driving that up inside his shirt. Dennis Murphy: It's changed Valentine's Day forever for you and your kids, huh? And while he may have stepped over his boundaries professionally, he said he never had an affair with her. The card had been found inside john's Jaguar. Inmate Search: John Baxter Hamilton 413355, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma And that's what happened here. "I don't know, she looks like somebody hurt her." It's Valentine's morning and socialite Susan Hamilton lies nude, smashed in a pool of blood. That high society doctor was Dr. John Hamilton -- an OB/GYN who in addition to his regular practice, ran an abortion clinic -- a role that in conservative Oklahoma, would bring him some unwelcome notoriety. John Hamilton: Initially, she didn't want to go. Susan Hamilton's blood and skin were found on the steering wheel of the doctor's car, and a prosecution expert testified that his left shoe was spattered in a way that could only have happened while his wife was alive. Or you wouldn't have had time to have gotten it off your clothing. The defense's expert was saying that Dr. John Hamilton most likely created those blood stains by bashing in his wife's skull. Horton said her mother got OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ A prominent Oklahoma City doctor was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without parole for killing his wife on Valentine's Day. ", Hamilton denies that he was having an affair or that his wife wanted a divorce. Because Dr. John Hamilton was late. A lot of impact spatter. Time for a new episode! The cry for help comes from Oklahoma City's most exclusive neighborhood. Two months before her death, they fought over the defendant giving his son money without Susan Hamilton knowing about it. based on information from your browser. But beyond his professional accomplishments, little is known about his personal life, especially when it comes to his family. And they've got a lady under anesthesia without the doctor, and that is just unheard of. Oklahoma Department of Corrections 3400 North Martin Luther King Avenue Oklahoma City, OK 73111-4298 If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, call Onelife at 800-559-9544 or the National Suicide Prevention lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The major one is that I've lost the love of my life. Dr. John Baxter Hamilton was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. "Blood spatter is not an exact science, and Bevel had gone over to the dark side on him. Oops, something didn't work. she tried to act strong at first. Becoming a Find a Grave member is fast, easy and FREE. He had been up at dawn for a 7 am surgery at an outpatient clinic. Dennis Murphy: You thought that the second operation was gonna be backed up? She had been strangled with two of his ties, and her head had been smashed so badly that parts of her brain were exposed. February 14th, 2001, would have been their fifteenth Valentine's Day together. He did not think it could have come from giving CPR. What made John show his dark side? And then there were these curious stains on the doctor's shirt -- the blood expert thought he saw a similarity between their angular shape, and the wound created on Susan's head. Include gps location with grave photos where possible. John frantically called 911. A judge earlier ruled there was probable cause to detain Hamilton pending formal charges being filed. Her skull had Dr. John Baxter Hamilton is on trial for killing his wife. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. afford them. Vesta Hall: I have never, ever, one second, not one moment in time have I ever thought he was guilty. Susan Hamilton suspected her husband was having an affair with a patient and stripper whose telephone number turned up 60 times on the defendant's cell phone bills. He said he performed a surgery around 7 a.m., then came home to exchange Valentine's cards with his wife. We took a one-to-one image of his shirt, and we overlay it. However, there is no credible evidence that he is still alive or dead. I just felt like they were very happy. "Moments like that in the courtroom just don't happen like that. On Valentine's Day morning, Susan Hamilton had been strangled and brutally beaten in her bathroom. the Hamiltons had over Christmas over the defendant's payment for his son's car repairs And the shoe splattered with Susan's blood from different directions as she was being killed? But Hamilton was late, not arriving until 9:30. No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments. After two hours of deliberation, the jury found him guilty of first-degree murder. I didn't kill Susan. Hamilton, 62, was an Oklahoma City obstetrician, gynecologist and abortionist. Louise Shibley, the victim's At the time, many people sided with John Hamilton. Dr. John Hamilton placed the initial 911 call after his wife was strangled and beaten to death in Oklahoma on Valentine's Day 2001. . When left alone in the room, Hamilton seemed to be checking out his shoulder area. Something happened in that bathroom that absolutely triggered him, which he grabbed the ties, and he then, surprised her, and in his rage, did all the rest of the work. Dennis Murphy: You were starting to see her come around? If I really did it, if it would, if it would clear my conscience, but I didn't do it. Dr. John Baxter Hamilton loved his wife to death, District Attorney Wes Lane told an Oklahoma County jury Thursday. On Feb. 14, 2001, he phoned 911 to report finding his wife in the master bathroom of their Quail Creek home. Not necessarily a killer's shoe, countered the defense expert, but the shoe of Dr. Hamilton as he gave his wife CPR. And as the detectives looked more closely into the doctor's timeline that morning, they saw a hole -- not a big one but maybe enough time to kill and get back. Daughter of Kamille Kareen and Louise Sibley.Mother of 2 children.Lived to age 55 years.Murder victim. Mack Martin, the doctor's attorney, said, "We're going to enter a plea of not guilty, obviously. And if there was another pair, she'd go get those. I gave her her Valentine's card. would never do that,'" Horton Investigators though, weren't ruling anything out -- especially not after finding a Valentine's Day card, from her to him, opened that day. They have got DNA, fingerprints, lab reports that haven't even been looked at yet. tears.". John Hamilton: Right. "I didnt kill Susan.. Susan Johnston: I said, "Susan, I don't think it's true. Try again. Shouldn't the killer have left a trace? Rob Nigh: I've been doing criminal trials and appeals for 22 years and I've never seen a case like Dr. Hamilton's where the defense expert offered the most compelling evidence against the defendant. Doctor sentenced for wife's killing - NewsOn6 In fact, she even told her best friend Sharry, "I don't believe John had an affair." On the other hand, his name appears in a few obituaries on the internet. The surgical team was about to get started when they realized the doctor was still at home. Susan Shibley Hamilton (1946-2001) - Find a Grave Memorial Tom Bevel, the blood spatter expert hired by Dr. John Hamilton, had wrapped up his questioning under defense attorneys. Dr. John Baxter Hamilton It took only about two hours for the jury to reach a guilty verdict and Hamilton was sentenced to life without parole. wanted to talk to someone," Weve updated the security on the site. cemeteries found within miles of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab. "I always took threats like that seriously," he said. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Susan Hamilton (80157405)? Tom Bevel: In order to say that, you have to have the murder weapon. Dennis Murphy: And the card would later become an issue because people saw kind of a snarky line from Susan of, "Well obviously, I got this before the trouble, huh? By the time the prosecutor had wrapped up his case, he'd laid out a theory of what happened -- that the doctor had used the neckties to pull his wife down from to the ground, then bashed her head in with that murder weapon never found. Larry Spruill, a crime scene investigator, was on the stand for a second day Thursday, detailing what the evidence means and how it got there. And then she decides to eliminate her competition. And he was in there. The jurors, all women and the youngest members on the panel, wiped their eyes with tissues while Dr. Jeffrey Gofton, a forensic pathologist for the state Medical Examiner's office, testified he believes Susan Hamilton, 55, died from possibly three blows to her head with a blunt instrument. Alliena Aguirre, a topless dancer for eight years, testified she had performed table dances at two Oklahoma City clubs for the doctor. Abortion doctor strangled and beat his wife to death on Valentine's Day And I just don't think that it's true." Investigators had to interpret the blood evidence left behind. The blood spatter expert on the stand -- on the payroll of the defense -- hesitated before answering. In this article, youll learn more about Susan Hamiltons murder. Thanks for using Find a Grave, if you have any feedback we would love to hear from you. Resend Activation Email, Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox, If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map. He'd even mentored the blood expert used by the prosecution. On Feb. 8, after the victim learned of the cell phone calls, the defendant wrote Aguirre in a letter saying he could no longer be her doctor, she said. Lane had questioned the other woman. In TV interview, Oklahoma doctor says he didn't kill wife It was a violent scene. "She didn't know if she could get the trust back.". upset about the incident because Susan Hamilton thought His theory was that the stains on the shirt were left by the murder weapon as it came in contact with the garment. "I didnt do it, he said. They said the police had focused on Hamilton too quickly, and not paid enough attention to the threats from antiabortion activists. Wes Lane: It was huge. Found more than one record for entered Email, You need to confirm this account before you can sign in. You can always change this later in your Account settings. His former medical partner, for one, thinks that would be impossible. One of their arguments was that Tom Bevel should never have been allowed to testify. Please try again later. She didn't sound like my mom.". I mean, he fawned over her a lot. John Baxter Taylor, Jr. 1882 - 1908 - University of Pennsylvania School And-- my children started, "Well, I'll never celebrate it again." problems. Share this memorial using social media sites or email. Dick: They had to find the stripper. The Hamiltons' 14-year marriage apparently had been in trouble for some time before the slaying. The group had faxed Hamilton a "wanted" poster the same week as the murder, and the doctor told Primetime he and his wife had both received threatening phone calls the week she was killed. doctors. John Hamilton, 53, ordered an expensive arrangement of red orchids for his wife, but he never got the chance to give them to her. Dennis Murphy: So that was the reason you went home? Not least of all in a bloody crime there were no footprints leading out of the house. the bathroom floor. We checked every avenue of any burglary similar, remotely close in the neighborhood. Antiabortion protesters had picketed the clinic and, friends said, even their home. Wes Lane, the prosecutor, was surprised to find he had an unpopular case on his hands. John would have been devastated.". At the end, I think she was calmer and she said, "I'm gonna think about it.". And I looked at the defense table which was over to my left. John Hamilton, 53, is on trial in the Valentine's Day slaying of his wife at their Things weren't nearly as bad as they portrayed them to be. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. Today, John Hamilton resides in a maximum security prison, behind the walls where Valentine's Day has little meaning at all. "He (Hamilton) was really clinging to the defense lines that the blood result was not the way it was interpreted, Dennis Murphy, a "Dateline NBC reporter, told The Oklahoman on Wednesday. An important clue came in the card Susan had written to her husband, which had a handwritten note reading: "I bought my cards two weeks ago, so I guess maybe they don't seem as appropriate now. District Judge Ray Elliott also ordered. Defense attorney Mack Martin told jurors in his opening statement, "John and Susan Hamilton were head over heels in love with each other. Thanks for your help! Bevel believed the blood pattern was consistent with what would have happened if Hamilton struck his wife. The note made police question whether the Hamiltons' marriage was as happy as it had seemed, and they began to regard Hamilton as a suspect. Drag images here or select from your computer for Susan Shibley Hamilton memorial. Tom Bevel: I expected an objection. His long silence behind bars ended as he prepared to tell the jury -- and us -- what really had happened that Valentine's Day morning. Dennis Murphy: There are a lot of people, the ones who would think you are guilty are saying, "It's time for Dr. Hamilton to finally admit his guilt, be a guy, step up to the plate, and tell the story the way it was.". Instead, he says, he came home between surgeries that morning to pick up his datebook and was horrified to find his wife lying on the bathroom floor in a pool of blood. What was that all about? Why do you do that? In this case, though, the spouse had an alibi, and a good one. "You could have heard a pin drop," remembers Lane. The Eclectic Murders - LearnLocker - Empowering student engagement for He was born on April 23, 1950 in Phenix City, Alabama. The defense claims Oklahoma City police jumped to the conclusion that Hamilton was the killer and ignored other evidence. As is routine in domestic murders, the detectives would take a look at the spouse -- John Hamilton, himself. That statement was out of character for I had a million thoughts were running through my head. Dr. John Baxter Hamilton was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. The Valentine's Day Mystery - NBC News And go back and do another surgery. John Hamilton: I was frantic. Multi-directional blood spatters or spatters of blood coming from different directions reflecting movement were discovered on the defendant's shoes, but not on the slacks he was wearing, Lane said. A dozen roses? Good amount of blood. Here there might be a spark of life in your wife and you're giving her CPR, "Oh, I've gotta move the car.". If convicted of first-degree murder, Hamilton, 53, could be sentenced to life in prison with or without the possibility of parole. Her husband was arrested that day and later charged with her murder.