Dr. Sam Sheppard’s Remains To Be Interred With Slain Wife’s

The remains of Dr. Sam Sheppard, convicted at a sensational trial and then acquitted of killing his pregnant wife, will be moved to her mausoleum crypt, the Plain Dealer reported Sunday.

His story - that a bushy-haired intruder knocked him out and killed his first wife, Marilyn, in 1954 - helped inspire the television series and movie “The Fugitive.”

The couple’s son, who is trying to prove his father was innocent, said he will move the remains after they are exhumed Sept. 17 for genetics tests.

“People are sure to have different takes on this decision, but it’s something I need to do,” Sam Reese Sheppard told the newspaper. “I have never been able to mourn my parents in public.”

The genetics testing is part of Sheppard’s lawsuit claiming his father was wrongfully imprisoned. Sheppard, 50, of Oakland, Calif., could receive more than $2 million from the state if he wins. The trial is scheduled for January.

The elder Sheppard, who served 10 years in prison before his conviction was thrown out, died in 1970 at age 46 and was buried at Forest View Cemetery in Columbus.

Marilyn Sheppard was buried at Knollwood Cemetery Mausoleum in Mayfield Heights.

The tests will compare Sheppard’s DNA with the genetic makeup of blood found in the couple’s home in suburban Bay Village.