cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. The prosecutor refused to release additional information about the slaying that took place at 3056 Brush Creek Road. We checked every avenue of any burglary similar, remotely close in the neighborhood. free samples of anti-depressants February 14th, 2001, would have been their fifteenth Valentine's Day together. Are you sure that you want to report this flower to administrators as offensive or abusive? Randy Scott: She gets the bill and upon looking at the bill she notices-- she starts marking and finds a huge number, and I'm talkin', close to 100 phone calls to this phone, back and forth to John. His attorneys have claimed that police had improper contact with Bevel, who is a former police officer, during the trial. He left in a hurry, obviously, the first time that he was at the house. What's more, only days before the murder, another anti-abortion group had applied for a permit to stage a protest in front of Hamiltons house. their talk was somewhat unusual because it was something Supervised and trained employees in office duties, computer programs, and phone dialog. A very nice, innocent guy was facing a nightmare. Hamilton took the stand to testify in his own defense. He'd been told that the surgery before his was running long and he decided to use the delay to run home and give his wife a valentine. And the shoe splattered with Susan's blood from different directions as she was being killed? The investigator testified he thought the killer first took a shower and then let the water run for an extended period of time. On re-direct, Hamilton's lawyer tried to diffuse the bombshell testimony by suggesting that the spatter could have resulted from the doctor performing cpr. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. mother, and Horton testified 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. And that's what happened here. Gibson Paul found himself getting dumped on Feb. 14, 2011, grabbed a gun and opened fire . Tom Bevel, the blood spatter expert hired by Dr. John Hamilton, had wrapped up his questioning under defense attorneys. Two neckties were knotted about her throat. A neighbor was about to give the cops the dish. The court rejected Hamilton's. John R. Hamilton Jr. John Ray Hamilton, Jr., 72, passed away at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo on Friday, January 6, 2023. Dr. John Baxter Hamilton was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. without her knowledge. When rescue workers arrived they found him hysterical and covered in his wife's blood. We have set your language to Contact supportservices@okmedicalboard.org for more information. I mean, he fawned over her a lot. Every avenue was checked. John Hamilton: I'm telling the truth now. He said he performed a surgery around 7 a.m., then came home to exchange Valentine's cards with his wife. This is a carousel with slides. If convicted, he could be "Anything else, they don't want you to hear. Hamilton, 62, was an Oklahoma City obstetrician, gynecologist and abortionist. Late that Valentine's Day afternoon, they arrested John Hamilton for the murder of his wife. And why was it delayed? It was seen as a coup for the defense that it locked up one of the most highly regarded blood spatter experts in the nation. Vesta Hall: I have never, ever, one second, not one moment in time have I ever thought he was guilty. The first-degree murder charge accuses Dr. John Baxter Hamilton, 52, an obstetrician and gynecologist, in the beating and strangulation death of his wife, Susan Shibley Hamilton, 55. Randy Scott: You know, you wouldn't a had time to washed up. I was horribly wrong. Then came the prosecutor, Wes Lane's, turn on cross-examination. It started out negative. Wes Lane: They're not gonna do that. Her husband was arrested that day and later charged with her murder. But I didn't wanna believe that or give up. And you could overlay the pattern transfer right on top of the wound, and you see an immediate -- I mean, they match up. It was looked for extensively. Nothing was found. Now, keep in mind, John Hamilton was a doctor who performed abortions. It was one of those moments. This week, ya girls are celebrating Valentines Day a day late. Bevel was the last witness in the trial, and from everything he testified to under the defense attorney's gentle questioning, he'd helped dr. Hamilton. Several witnesses have testified the couple were always together and frequently took Not necessarily a killer's shoe, countered the defense expert, but the shoe of Dr. Hamilton as he gave his wife CPR. He said he'd gotten Susan's blood on him from performing CPR. Karen Reisig: I had gone into the doctor's lounge to dictate the procedure. day. A dozen roses? A random intruder? Foreman: We, the jury and panel, sworn in the above-entitled cause, do upon our oath sign as follows. On "Dateline NBC, as in his legal appeals, Hamilton criticized Bevel and the accuracy of his blood spatter analysis, which Hamilton called "junk science.. Susan was attractive, intelligent. Bevel, under oath to tell the truth, told the court about the spatter in the sleeve and said it was consistent with Hamilton beating his wife over the head with a blunt instrument. they thought the Hamiltons had One year later, a battered body is found tossed into a canyon, the eyes and genitals gouged. 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. So yes, I went and tried to move the car. And we kissed. neighbor. Maybe he ends up terminating that to save his marriage. The doctor was then ushered away, as police wondered who might have committed such a brutal attack. Gardner carefully examined everything the doctor had been wearing that morning. Dick Horton heard the story firsthand from the friend. "The evidence will be she was just as much in love with him.". And that wasn't all. Year should not be greater than current year. And that's what had happened to Susan Hamilton on that Valentine's Day morning. Discussed procedure quotes. "The police said, 'There's my man. Dennis Murphy: You thought that the second operation was gonna be backed up? The first-degree murder charge accuses Dr. John Baxter Hamilton, 52, an obstetrician and gynecologist, in the beating and strangulation death of his wife, Susan Shibley Hamilton, 55. Dr. John Baxter Hamilton is on trial for killing his wife. I mean, because it was out there in view, I guess. Dennis Murphy: There were people that thought this guy was being sandbagged, railroaded. News network NBC did a Dateline episode about the case. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. They were kind of a unit in that regards. The doctor was still in shock, as the judge added his opinion. John Hamilton: His own expert is saying he's guilty. Bevel and prosecutors have denied those allegations. 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. "I don't just snap," he said. "He said, 'You know how in december 2001, ten months after the valentine's day killing of his wife susan, dr. john hamilton was being tried for her murder. Of course, he didn't have the actual murder weapon to make a true comparison but he was able to leave the jury with a vivid impression: The doctor's shirt may have taken a kind of photograph in blood. said Johnston, who also is married to a doctor. Susan managed john's abortion clinic, working there two days a week. By then there'd been that neighbor's tip about problems in the Hamilton marriage. Susan Hamilton was beaten with a blunt instrument, Oklahoma County District Attorney Robert Macy said in court documents that list 39 witnesses in the case. Her naked body was discovered by her husband, John. It's a vivid picture. As manager of this memorial you can add or update the memorial using the Edit button below. smashed into the floor. brain to figure that out," Horton testified. Things weren't nearly as bad as they portrayed them to be. There's no tracks that ran out through the creek bed and behind. In 1987, John Hamilton married Susan, and his wife began working part-time at John's clinic. The Hamiltons did have enemies. Resend Activation Email. He was scraping his knuckles on the screen, mesh screen in the police car. In that card, Susan had written a message alluding to the couple's flare-up just days before: Susan ballistic over suspicions that he was having a fling with a stripper. As a Finnish lawyer, Simon Ekpa has made a name for himself in the legal profession. Dick Horton, sometimes worried for his ex's safety. Vesta Hall: She was beautiful, vivacious, intelligent, just a really neat lady. At the end, I think she was calmer and she said, "I'm gonna think about it.". The prosecutor told the jury he envisioned the murder this way: the doctor coming back mid-morning after his first surgery, trying to patch things up with his wife who, majorly, wasn't buying it. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, USA. some 60 cell phone calls to a stripper. And I think she just wanted to have somebody to talk to. So he hid his wife's jewelry before the 911 forces arrived, fully intending to get it out of the house sometime later. We don't have a weapon. And they've got a lady under anesthesia without the doctor, and that is just unheard of. When police arrived, they observed Hamilton doing chest compressions on . The timeline was extremely tight for the doctor to even be considered as a suspect. We actually believe that-- that-- John Hamilton was trying to clean things up before he got paged. Dennis Murphy: Because then you know the history of the phone calls. Hamilton was wearing bloodstained clothing, but no shoes or necktie, while the victim had a necktie around her neck. Sounded like he was talking to Susan. After 14 years of marriage, John Hamilton murdered his wife. When left alone in the room, Hamilton seemed to be checking out his shoulder area. Dick Horton: Well, Susan was a very disciplined individual. been beaten with a blunt instrument. clinic two days a week. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/80157405/susan-hamilton. There were no John Hamilton: Yeah. Share this memorial using social media sites or email. 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. "Blood spatter is not an exact science, and Bevel had gone over to the dark side on him. Oops, something didn't work. He was -- more suspicion drawn each time that we'd watch something. On Feb. 14, 2001, he phoned 911 to report finding his wife in the master bathroom of their Quail Creek home. There was no sign of forced entry in the house and nothing was missing, making it unlikely Susan Hamilton, who was 55, was killed by a burglar. 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. John Hamilton: Right. John Hamilton, a prominent Oklahoma City gynecologist, has been in jail Susan Hamilton was angry and stayed at Coffey's house that night, Coffey said. based on information from your browser. On Tuesday, District Judge Virgil Black allowed the doctor to attend his wife's graveside service under the supervision of sheriff's deputies. He told Primetime the spatters were "almost a neon sign pointing towards the wearer of this shirt being associated with the beating.". I didn't kill Susan. His supporters, on the other hand, continue to believe he is innocent to this day. He was talking on the phone. On Feb. 14, 2001, he phoned 911 to report finding his wife in the master bathroom of their Quail Creek home. Police haven't found the murder weapon or the clothes. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. He was jailed immediately and denied any bail. If you can get whiplash in a courtroom, that's what happened. But knew she wasn't one easily rattled or intimidated. She was strangled with a necktie and then her face was repeatedly smashed into the tile floor in the bathroom of her Quail Creek home. "I think John was so astounded that he had her that he had such a wonderful, perfect almost perfect wife, in his opinion," said Shary Coffey, Susan's best friend. We will review the memorials and decide if they should be merged. So in Susan's mind, the affair was not an issue anymore. Tom Bevel: In order to say that, you have to have the murder weapon. John Hamilton, who had spent every day since his wife's murder in a jail cell, would finally get a chance to testify about the last days of the marriage -- a story he also told to us. What happened to him? Horton: Anybody that you ask, nobody that I know that knew John Hamilton would say that he had the capability of doing it. The Hamiltons' 14-year marriage apparently had been in trouble for some time before the slaying. lied to her," Horton said. Is it possible that here in conservative Oklahoma, she had been murdered by an anti-abortion zealot? Aguirre said he was calling her 10 or more times a day. Investigators had to interpret the blood evidence left behind. I knew they that they were suspecting me. Hamilton, 53, was taken into custody just over an hour after he called 911, saying his wife was "hurt" and "bleeding all over the place." I was shaking so much I was unsuccessful. John Hamilton: The more Susan and I talked about things the more things were clarified, the more things we got straightened out. Two African Americans had earned medals at the 1904 Olympic games in St. Louis Joe Stadler (from Cleveland) had won a silver medal in the standing high jump and George Poage (from the . John Hamilton and Alliena And oh! With that revelation, the defense expert became the star witness for the trials prosecution. . Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate, or jump to a slide with the slide dots. John Hamilton, a prominent doctor in Oklahoma City, showered his wife with gifts, starting with a Porsche he gave her the day they married. After the second surgery, he returned home to pick up his datebook, and found his wife, he said. There was a problem getting your location. She said he would give her samples of medication she needed for depression when she didn't have the money to buy prescription drugs. Learn more about merges. It was a violent scene. The appeals made their way all the way up to the u.s. Supreme court, but they ultimately failed. And we're thinkin' that maybe he was having an affair. Two weeks later he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. His defense team argued that there was no direct evidence that Hamilton was the murderer, noting that no murder weapon was ever found. And we knew we had enough dots that if we get it to lay out in an understandable manner, we knew the jury would be hard pressed not to convict him. But the expert looked at John's shoes -- the left one in particular -- and found that to be a different matter. Hamilton has been held in the Oklahoma County jail for seven days without bond. His wife, Susan, worked twice a week at the abortion clinic. The prosecution wasn't going to be able to tap your expertise. Ross Gardner: This was a relatively contained crime scene. Randy Scott: There's no burglary prints to obtain downstairs. Dr. John Baxter Hamilton was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. It doesn't always happen that way. Why do you do that? It was never on anyone that, there were calls that were made to Susan that scared her that weren't brought out. I just, I wanted them to be able to get in and help. And she gets very suspicious of it and confronts John about it. Wes Lane: And that's when he started explaining that the blood spatter inside the sleeve. There isn't any greater love. A name that would shock everybody. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison with or without the possibility of parole. >> i have never, ever one second, not one moment in time, thought he was guilty, I mean, I knew Susan was dead. A panicked Hamilton told the operator that he was attempting to perform CPR on her. I was never gonna see Susan again. "You could tell she was crying. 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. There was a detail that the witness wanted to talk about. John Hamilton: I talked to the surgery nurse and she said, "The surgery before yours started 30 minutes late.". Danyelle shares three haunting love stories that end in tragedy. "The prosecution will present one theory," Martin said. He says he did not kill his wife. 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? I think she became particularly alarmed when he didn't answer it. 2023 www.oklahoman.com. Whoever this woman was, there were way too many calls to and from her. Horton said her mother got Dr. John Baxter Hamilton is on trial for killing his wife. How the case changed, the bottom fell out of everything. talked to Susan Johnston, a Prosecutors Allege Murder Between Surgeries. Not least of all in a bloody crime there were no footprints leading out of the house. Mack Martin: The focus was always on John. But suspicion began to point closer to home. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. ", Hamilton denies that he was having an affair or that his wife wanted a divorce. Bevel believed the blood pattern was consistent with what would have happened if Hamilton struck his wife. He is accused of beating and choking to death his wife, Susan, 55, at their Quail Creek home on Valentine's Day. She denied having an affair or any type of personal relationship with the defendant. together at the defendant's Steve Jimerson: I was afraid for his safety. The shoes were found next to Susan's body -- john said they fell off his feet as he was attempting to revive her. I thought you might like to see a memorial for Susan Shibley Hamilton I found on Findagrave.com. But beyond his professional accomplishments, little is known about his personal life, especially when it comes to his family. Then came Valentine's Day 2001. Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. After arriving at the crime scene, investigators placed john in the back of a police car. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Prosecutors said Hamilton changed clothes after killing his wife in the master bathroom. jurors about the disagreement Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request? To the prosecutor, the Valentine's Day card John had received that morning lit the fuse for the violence that followed. One thing everyone who knew the couple -- including the neighbor -- seemed to agree on -- was that whoever Susan's killer was, it certainly was not John Hamilton. A prominent doctor's wife is murdered on Valentine's Day. It took the jurors just two hours to reach their verdict. John would have been devastated.". The day of the murder, one of Hamilton's patients had been at a hospital, sedated and ready for surgery, when Hamilton called and said he'd be arriving ten minutes early for surgery. However, the investigation revealed that the murderer was John Hamilton himself. I just felt like they were very happy. Something he'd noted and what would later be regarded as the atomic bomb of the trial of Dr. John Hamilton. Ross Gardner: Effectively, the inside and front of that shoe was in motion around this spatter event from Mrs. Hamilton that's radiating out. Jewels. I told some people at the clinic, "I wish I had someone that would look at me the way John looks at Susan." "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. John Hamilton, 53, is on trial in the Valentine's Day slaying of his wife at their However, before the trial Bevel had also found some blood spatters in Hamilton's right sleeve that the prosecution expert had overlooked. John Hamilton: Yes, I'm trying. "She was angry, and she Teresa Sterling: It was violent. Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s). The blood spatter expert on the stand -- on the payroll of the defense -- hesitated before answering. For ten months -- ever since that Valentine's Day when he was arrested for the murder of his wife -- John Hamilton had kept his silence behind bars. In 1997, Mississippi abortion provider Dr. Malachy Dehenre shot and killed his wife in their . Louise Shibley, the victim's Knowing that they were about to put his patient under anesthesia, Hamilton returned to the clinic, performed the surgery, and then came back home to finish cleaning up, Lane said. "You have to with what has happened in this country.". Spruill said she probably grabbed at the necktie with both of her hands. Add to your scrapbook. Prosecutors may finish calling their witnesses today. John Hamilton: Oh, sure. Penn's varsity track team, 1905 Dr. John Baxter Taylor, 1908 . 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. By the time emergency workers arrived, it was clear that Susan Hamilton was dead. Let's go find some experts to prove our case.' Here there might be a spark of life in your wife and you're giving her CPR, "Oh, I've gotta move the car.". It read, "A reward in heaven will be bestowed on anyone contributing to bringing this murderer to justice." Tom Bevel, a blood spatter expert hired by the defense, testified on cross examination that the "most probable explanation for blood inside Hamiltons shirt sleeve was that he had struck his wife with a blunt object. Aguirre, also known as Nina, said she first went to the defendant for an abortion in the early 1990s, but she also saw him at his gynecology office. They had regularly scheduled luncheon dates and worked No affidavit was filed with the formal charges because John Hamilton is in custody. He died in October 2021, according to information obtained from a different source. Thanks for your help! Prosecutors are trying to prove Hamilton hid his bloody clothes and the blunt instrument used to kill the victim. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. Shibley and Horton told the (Oklahoma Department of Corrections) Dr. John Hamilton placed the initial 911 call after his wife was strangled and beaten to death in Oklahoma on Valentine's Day 2001. To the defense team, it seemed obvious from the first moments that investigators never seriously considered any suspects other than the husband. I don't have anything to lose. Mrs. Hamilton worked as a physician's assistant at her husband's abortion facility. At the time, many people sided with John Hamilton. Ross Gardner: We took a one-to-one image of Mrs. Hamilton's head -- the injury, the laceration. At Christmas, the defendant Include gps location with grave photos where possible. upset about the incident because Susan Hamilton thought Rob Nigh: Either Tom Bevel lied to the defense about what his testimony would be or defense counsel took a risk that should never be taken. Both had recently separated -- John from his first wife, and Susan from Dick Horton. Wes Lane: All the air in the courtroom was gone. Try again later. the victim told them the defendant smothered her. Dick Horton: I don't think there was any question she wore the pants. After all, he'd had a busy morning -- performing not just one, but two surgeries with only a brief stop at home in between. They kept him there for hours on end. Try again later. And there wasn't an objection. Many still believe he is innocent, and he. This account has been disabled. Two men's ties were tightly knotted about her neck. at times she insinuated it was too ". Dick Horton: I think the best way to describe her is a woman that always wanted to be a mother, was proud to be a mother.
How Old Is Fran Dewine, Mobile Homes For Rent In Newport, Maine, Which Phrases Show Cicero's Wit Or His Intelligence, Articles D