A 1951 St. Lawrence graduate -- also an alumnus of the FBI -- is hunting for
the killer in a sensational murder that inspired the television show and
movie The Fugitive, and he's taken out ads in The New York Times to
try and get the information that will finally crack the case.
Bernard Conners '51, of Loudonville, New York, recently told his hometown newspaper,
the Albany Times-Union, about his attempts to find out who killed Marilyn
Sheppard in 1954. Her husband, prominent doctor Sam Sheppard, was jailed for the
murder, but family members and others have disputed the guilty verdict.
Conners, a real-estate developer in Latham, New York, who was an FBI investigator from 1951 to 1960,
spent five years researching and investigating the case. He wrote and published a
book that pins the deed on a decorated fighter pilot, Maj. James A. Call, who
also was responsible for a series of crimes committed in Lake Placid, New York.
Tailspin: The Strange Case of Major Call has sold over 10,000 copies and
is in its second printing. The book also attracted the attention of Sheppard's
family. They recently sent a photo to Conners that he believes provides further
evidence of Call's involvement. A full-page ad in the Times Book Review -- paid
for by Conners -- is scheduled to run this month, showing the photo and asking
for anyone with information related to the case to come forward.
An English major at St. Lawrence, Conners was a member of the University's football
team and Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He is also the author of three novels, including
best-sellers Dancehall and Don't Embarrass the Bureau.