July 4, 1954. Bay Village, Ohio. 31-year old Marilyn Reese Sheppard is bludgeoned to death inside her bedroom and her 30-year old husband, Sam Sheppard, is injured after claiming he was attacked by an intruder. Since Sam was known for conducting extramarital affairs, police believe that he fabricated the story and was responsible for killing his wife, so he is charged with Marilyn’s murder. After being convicted at what is described as “The Trial of the Century”, Sam receives a sentence of life imprisonment, but there is great concern about the sensationalistic and biased media coverage surrounding the case. Sam spends nearly ten years in prison before his conviction is overturned and after the case makes it all the way to the United States Supreme Court, he is granted a second trial and winds up being acquitted. Decades later, Sam’s supporters attempt to posthumously exonerate him by presenting evidence that points towards another suspect, but the crime remains shrouded in mystery. To commemorate the nine-year anniversary of “The Trail Went Cold”, we will be releasing our very first special three-part episode about one of the most controversial murder cases of all time. On last week’s episode, we chronicled the original investigation into Marilyn Reese Sheppard’s murder and Sam Sheppard’s first trial, but this week in Part Two, we will chronicle the overturning of Sam’s conviction, his second trial, and the attempts to exonerate him at a civil trial in 2000. Part Three of this series will be released next week.

Additional Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Sheppard

https://famous-trials.com/sam-sheppard/

"The Wrong Man: The Final Verdict on the Dr. Sam Sheppard Murder Case" by James Neff

"Dr. Sam Sheppard on Trial: The Prosecutors and the Marilyn Sheppard Murder" by Jack DeSario and William Mason

https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/sheppard/

https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetailpre1989.aspx?caseid=300

“The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing at the AdvocacyCon, taking place at the Indianapolis Marriott East in Indianapolis on March 28-30, 2025. To get a 10 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “TRAIL10”, by visiting https://www.advocacycon.com/.

“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.

The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

July 4, 1954. Bay Village, Ohio. 31-year old Marilyn Reese Sheppard is bludgeoned to death inside her bedroom and her 30-year old husband, Sam Sheppard, is injured after claiming he was attacked by an intruder. Since Sam was known for conducting extramarital affairs, police believe that he fabricated the story and was responsible for killing his wife, so he is charged with Marilyn’s murder. After being convicted at what is described as “The Trial of the Century”, Sam receives a sentence of life imprisonment, but there is great concern about the sensationalistic and biased media coverage surrounding the case. Sam spends nearly ten years in prison before his conviction is overturned and after the case makes it all the way to the United States Supreme Court, he is granted a second trial and winds up being acquitted. Decades later, Sam’s supporters attempt to posthumously exonerate him by presenting evidence that points towards another suspect, but the crime remains shrouded in mystery. To commemorate the nine-year anniversary of “The Trail Went Cold”, we will be releasing our very first special three-part episode about one of the most controversial murder cases of all time. This episode will chronicle the original investigation and trial for the murder of Marilyn Reese Sheppard and Parts Two and Three will be released over the course of the next two weeks.

Join us on Saturday, February 22 at 8:00pm ET for an online streaming marathon where we will be watching classic segments from “Unsolved Mysteries”. You can enter our screening room by clicking on this link.

Additional Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Sheppard

https://famous-trials.com/sam-sheppard/

"The Wrong Man: The Final Verdict on the Dr. Sam Sheppard Murder Case" by James Neff

"Dr. Sam Sheppard on Trial: The Prosecutors and the Marilyn Sheppard Murder" by Jack DeSario and William Mason

https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/sheppard/

https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetailpre1989.aspx?caseid=300

“The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing at the AdvocacyCon, taking place at the Indianapolis Marriott East in Indianapolis on March 28-30, 2025. To get a 10 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “TRAIL10”, by visiting https://www.advocacycon.com/.

“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.

The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

December 7, 2003. Montgomery, Alabama. 19-year old LaQuanta Riley stops off at her mother’s residence to borrow a jacket from her brother. He sees LaQuanta leave in a dark green car being driven by an unidentified man, but she subsequently goes missing. A few weeks later, LaQuanta’s mother receives a garbled message on her answering machine from a panicked woman whom she believes is her daughter and a male voice can be heard in the background. Even though a number of leads are explored, including LaQuanta’s name showing up on an apartment rental in Georgia, no trace of her can be ever found.

June 26, 2010. Selma, Alabama. 17-year old Tarasha Benjamin leaves her mother’s home to go shopping at the Selma Flea Market, but never returns. Tarasha is seen driving an SUV which she borrowed from a friend, but later that day, the abandoned vehicle is found alongside the Cecil Jackson Bypass with a broken door handle and two windows missing. While it is suspected that Tarasha was the victim of an abduction, there are very few leads to work with and Tarasha remains a missing person.

On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore two unsolved missing persons cases involving young women from Alabama.

Additional Reading:

https://charleyproject.org/case/laquanta-nachelle-riley

https://discover.hubpages.com/family/Missing-LaQuanta-Nachelle-Riley

https://www.al.com/news/montgomery/2014/04/where_is_my_daughter_decade-ol.html

https://www.waka.com/2018/06/25/15-years-later-mother-of-missing-woman-still-searching-for-answers/

https://www.al.com/news/montgomery/2019/05/search-continues-for-teen-who-disappeared-in-montgomery-15-years-ago-11000-reward-offered.html

https://elmoreautauganews.com/2021/02/26/missing-since-2003-officials-release-age-progressed-photo-of-laquanta-riley-today-is-her-birthday/

https://charleyproject.org/case/tarasha-benjamin

https://www.newspapers.com/image/570741799/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/570741847/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/570741897/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/570817130/

https://www.wsfa.com/story/36273263/selma-family-pushes-to-uncover-clues-in-womans-2010-disappearance/

https://www.wsfa.com/story/15670452/exclusive-missing-selma-teens-mom-finds-new-hope/

“The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing at the AdvocacyCon, taking place at the Indianapolis Marriott East in Indianapolis on March 28-30, 2025. To get a 10 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “TRAIL10”, by visiting https://www.advocacycon.com/.

“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.

The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.