When he met Susan in 1985, they were both divorced with four children between them. Oops, some error occurred while uploading your photo(s). All photos appear on this tab and here you can update the sort order of photos on memorials you manage. But beyond his professional accomplishments, little is known about his personal life, especially when it comes to his family. The distraught doctor managed to give police an account of his movements that morning. He was so kind, and you never heard him raise his voice or anything like that. Macy said he will ask that bond be denied for John Hamilton. Mrs. Hamilton, 55, had worked as a physician's assistant at her husband's abortion facility, Oklahoma Women's Clinic. asked him to move out of their What were they to make of Susan's handwritten message -- "Obviously, I bought this before last Monday." Feb. 13, 2003 -- Everyone says Susan Hamilton was the love of her husband's life. Mrs. Hamilton worked as a physician's assistant at her husband's abortion facility. It was Susan's good jewelry. Soon after their arrival, investigators started questioning Dr. John Hamilton himself. Ross Gardner: This was a relatively contained crime scene. "Blood spatter is not an exact science, and Bevel had gone over to the dark side on him. link True Crime Videos Gardner carefully examined everything the doctor had been wearing that morning. Dick: Right. The state of Oklahoma would charge Dr. John Hamilton with just loving his wife to death. Wes Lane: Nothing. 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. Psycho For Love: John Hamilton killed his wife, Susan; Sentenced to John Hamilton was a devoted husband to his wife, and he used to take excellent care of her. But the expert looked at John's shoes -- the left one in particular -- and found that to be a different matter. So yes, I went and tried to move the car. He says he did not kill his wife. Not least of all in a bloody crime there were no footprints leading out of the house. "My wife's bleeding all over the place," Dr. John Baxter Hamilton tells the 911 operator. 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. Dennis Murphy: And they thought they were very clever 'cause they took you, in effect, off the market. They do on Perry Mason, but they don't in the real world.". 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. loyal patients, former employees and fellow physicians, all standing behind the doctor. Furthermore, he has previously requested a retrial, which has been denied each time. doctors. News network NBC did a Dateline episode about the case. Randy Scott: He has time to get back by the house 'cause their-- their house is very close to in between the two hospitals. 0 cemeteries found in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, USA. Had there been an illicit relationship with this stripper, topless dancer? pic.twitter.com/JX4vEnAq2O, Crimes with Christine (@CrimeswChris) March 25, 2021. Ngy l tnh nhn nh mnh ca bc s ph sn Oklahoma City police declined on Wednesday to release additional information about the slaying. A prominent doctor's wife is murdered on Valentine's Day. Investigators never recovered the murder weapon. There was an error deleting this problem. cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. Area Briefs: Doctor convicted of killing wife loses appeal trips. What happened to him? Testimony is expected to continue this morning before District Judge Ray Elliott. Wes Lane: It was huge. 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. By 10:45, he was on his way home again, which is when he says he discovered Susan in a pool of blood. "You have to with what has happened in this country.". IE 11 is not supported. John Hamilton: I was frantic. Access Restricted - Oklahoma Medical Board It was never on any abortion protesters. He told them he had been frantically trying to save her life. Find John Hamilton obituaries and memorials at Legacy.com Susan's friend, Susan Johnston, the woman next door, had pulled one of the investigators aside and put a bug in his ear, that the week before Valentine's Day, Susan Hamilton had confided about problems in her marriage. Wes Lane: He knew that she was still considering divorce. At the end, I think she was calmer and she said, "I'm gonna think about it.". The cry for help comes from Oklahoma City's most exclusive neighborhood. for immediate release contact: diane denton december 16, 2004 615.741.3111 (office) 615.708.9384 (cell) disciplinary action report But the most damning blood evidence of all, may have been found in the doctor's car. I was shaking so much I was unsuccessful. She had been strangled with two of his ties, and her head had been smashed so badly that parts of her brain were exposed. together at the defendant's Dennis Murphy: There were people that thought this guy was being sandbagged, railroaded. "The police said, 'There's my man. Randy Scott: You know, you wouldn't a had time to washed up. According to the investigation, he was the perpetrator of his wifes murder. 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. If convicted, he could be sentenced to prison for life with or without the possibility of parole. The doctor and his wife built an envious lifestyle for themselves. John, the good doctor, was simply trying to counsel her. John and Susan Hamilton had the seemingly perfect marriage. Family members linked to this person will appear here. The sponsor of a memorial may add an additional. Dennis Murphy: Jurors saying, "Look at this shirt. said. Investigators had to interpret the blood evidence left behind. So he hid his wife's jewelry before the 911 forces arrived, fully intending to get it out of the house sometime later. Right away, detectives started asking: Who could be responsible? The couple had exotic vacations and a beautiful house, and after 14 years of marriage, friends and family say they were inseparable, and very much in love. Dennis Murphy: And that you can almost envision whatever that murder weapon is, the-- the bludgeon coming right down on poor Susan's head causing the blood spatter. And the shoe splattered with Susan's blood from different directions as she was being killed? If you have questions, please contact [emailprotected]. "The evidence will be she was just as much in love with him.". The scene was a bloody mess. All photos uploaded successfully, click on the Done button to see the photos in the gallery. Dr. John Baxter Hamilton was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. "Anything else, they don't want you to hear. Nothing was stolen, and yet, there was this curious story that cropped up in the days after Susan had been murdered. Even Susan's children were standing by their stepfather. Daughter testifies slain woman was scared, upset - The Oklahoman And while there were scenarios to serously consider: a berserk robber, or maybe the legion of activists opposed to the couple's abortion practice, the crime scene wasn't telling them that. And there wasn't an objection. Susan Hamilton, 55, had been strangled with two neckties and beaten. Hamilton jury told of love, hate, death Stripper tells of dances; best Her face savaged: almost unrecognizable. her mother, Horton testified in the first- Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. John would have been devastated.". February 14th, 2001, would have been their fifteenth Valentine's Day together. husband was having an affair with a patient. And I don't think they-- believed it. Wes Lane, the prosecutor, was surprised to find he had an unpopular case on his hands. And when they found fresh scratches on his hands and arm, did that explain maybe the business about scraping his hands on the patrol car cage? Online Bill Pay Boards, Committees, and Agencies Coronavirus Reporting Child Abuse requires every health care professional Click here for more information Statewide 24-Hour 1-800-522-3511 Posted on 06/17/2021 STAY CONNECTED! Select the best result to find their address, phone number, relatives, and public records. "Someone said there is a fine line between love and hate, and that man crossed it," Lane said in his opening statement in the first-degree murder trial for Hamilton, an Oklahoma City gynecologist, obstetrician and abortionist. Skip to main content. And you could overlay the pattern transfer right on top of the wound, and you see an immediate -- I mean, they match up. John Hamilton: My wife's, my wife, my wife I think my wife is dead. But he never had a chance to do that -- or to tell the cops that the killer had gotten the jewels -- that's because he was put in the back of the police car and never got back inside the house again. And the only explanation of that event is the wounding to Mrs. Hamilton. Did it ever. "I think that in and of itself caused the conviction," said Clark Brewster, an attorney who is preparing Hamilton's appeal. It started out negative. John Hamilton, a prominent doctor in Oklahoma City, showered his wife with gifts, starting with a Porsche he gave her the day they married. He was jailed immediately and denied any bail. He says he did John Hamilton, a prominent Oklahoma City gynecologist, has been in jail without bail since Feb. 14. Was he nervous about what an examination of his body would reveal? Supervised and trained employees in office duties, computer programs, and phone dialog. an affair when he called her before the slaying. felt deceived.". One year later, a battered body is found tossed into a canyon, the eyes and genitals gouged. Was he, in fact, late -- they theorized -- because he was killing his wife during those moments then trying to figure out what to do next? To use this feature, use a newer browser. they thought the Hamiltons had He and his wife, Susan, had met in 1985 at a friend's birthday party. 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. Doctor sentenced for wife's killing - NewsOn6 Spruill said she probably grabbed at the necktie with both of her hands. 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. Dr. Steve Jimerson -- a colleague of John's -- was best man. John Hamilton: I'm telling the truth now. And in photos of the crime scene, the prosecutor pointed out for jurors something that needed explaining -- a wet rag left in the pool of blood from the victim's head. I thought you might like to see a memorial for Susan Shibley Hamilton I found on Findagrave.com. Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. And both John and Susan had received threatening phone calls that week. "I didnt do it, he said. You have a good marriage. Both had recently separated -- John from his first wife, and Susan from Dick Horton. He told Primetime he made the calls to the stripper because she was "in real need of attention.". Try again. Things weren't nearly as bad as they portrayed them to be. It was never anywhere else. He is accused of beating and choking to death his wife, Susan, 55, at their Quail Creek home on Valentine's Day. But not pretty doctor's wives in Oklahoma City. (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. John Hamilton and Alliena Tom Bevel: He jumped out of his loafer shoes, which would have reorientated them, and he jumped over to her side and knelt down to try and assist her and to do CPR. To the investigators, the only plausible explanation was that the doctor had bundled up the murder weapon to dispose of it somewhere along the way as he raced back for his second surgery, a bloody bundle that leaked. John Hamilton had been imprisoned since 2001 on suspicion of murdering his wife. We checked every avenue of any burglary similar, remotely close in the neighborhood. Please enter your email and password to sign in. I mean, he fawned over her a lot. "He said, 'You know how True Crime : Susan Hamilton (Murdered 2001) @Crimedoor some 60 cell phone calls to a stripper. Prosecutors are trying to prove Hamilton hid his bloody clothes and the blunt instrument used to kill the victim. And why was it delayed? Just, you know, just a very light-hearted conversation. He said he performed a surgery around 7 a.m., then came home to exchange Valentine's cards with his wife. Karen Reisig: I personally don't believe a physician could do-- a surgery, go commit a brutal crime of murder. A final report will not be completed for several weeks. On February 14, 2001, the residents of Oklahoma City bore witness to a terrifying murder when Susan Hamilton was found strangled and beaten to death on her bathroom floor. neighbor. Horton said. If anything, threats against the clinic, only seemed to bring the Hamiltons closer together. After all, he'd had a busy morning -- performing not just one, but two surgeries with only a brief stop at home in between. "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. Is it possible that here in conservative Oklahoma, she had been murdered by an anti-abortion zealot? If I really did it, if it would, if it would clear my conscience, but I didn't do it. However, the investigation revealed that the murderer was John Hamilton himself. 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. the bathroom floor. Hamilton, an obstetrician-gynecologist, started performing CPR and called 911. Bevel believed the blood pattern was consistent with what would have happened if Hamilton struck his wife. On "Dateline NBC, as in his legal appeals, Hamilton criticized Bevel and the accuracy of his blood spatter analysis, which Hamilton called "junk science.. The defense's expert, bevel, couldn't go that far. Discussed procedure quotes. Just the week before Susan was murdered, this wanted poster had been left for Dr. Hamilton. His wife, Susan, worked twice a week at the abortion clinic. The medical examiner had determined that Susan had been strangled with two neckties, but her fatal injuries came from being bludgeoned with a blunt object, a murder weapon never found. "Ultimately, you take an oath to tell the truth and that overrides any allegiance I may have to any client," he said. She would've never hidden it in her underwear and all of a sudden the, you know, it just clicks that he's tryin' to make it look like a robbery. Susan Hamilton Murdered 2001 Murdered , Bludgeoned , Strangled On the morning of Feb. 14, 2001, Dr. John Hamilton phoned 911 requesting urgent help for his wife. cemeteries found in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, USA will be saved to your photo volunteer list. the Hamiltons had over Christmas over the defendant's payment for his son's car repairs There were things done that were dangerous. 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. So I answered. Defense attorneys say the victim's blood and flesh got in the car when Hamilton realized after calling 911 his car was blocking the drive for emergency vehicles. There was a detail that the witness wanted to talk about. As for the discovery of Susan's hair and blood tissue in his car, Hamilton explained it this way: he said after calling 911 he realized the EMTs wouldn't be able to get their ambulance past his car out front, so he raced out to move it. But eventually, she said, "Yes, I'll go.". Try again later. 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. He has not given an inch in that regard., Murphy said Hamilton still has the "command authority of a physician and chatted about vacationing in Italy "as if he was still in touch with the outside world.. Tom Bevel, a veteran of almost three decades with the Oklahoma City P.D. The surgical team was about to get started when they realized the doctor was still at home. Five Valentine's Day crimes of passion - news.yahoo.com Over the next few months, though, with the help of some unique forensic evidence, the D.A. said Johnston, who also is married to a doctor. John Hamilton: The more Susan and I talked about things the more things were clarified, the more things we got straightened out. "We talked in Five Valentine's Day crimes of passion | Fox News I still had 15 or 20 minutes. Your new password must contain one or more uppercase and lowercase letters, and one or more numbers or special characters. Shibley and Horton told the degree murder trial of her stepfather, Dr. Susan Hamilton, 55, had discovered on her husband's telephone bills Dick Horton: Well, Susan was a very disciplined individual. Tom Bevel: In order to say that, you have to have the murder weapon. On the other hand, his name appears in a few obituaries on the internet. Two months before her death, they fought over the defendant giving his son money without Susan Hamilton knowing about it. Several witnesses have testified the couple were always together and frequently took he was upset. Abortion doctor strangled and beat his wife to death on Valentine's Day Home; Memorials; Cemeteries; Famous; Contribute; Register; Sign In; . Inmate John Baxter Hamilton is currently incarcerated in Oklahoma Department of Corrections (OK DOC) located at 3400 N Martin Luther King Ave, Oklahoma City, OK. Connect with john using InmateAid. We all know red is for the ribbon on the box of chocolate, not for the pool of blood in the master bath. Dr Hamilton was a talented obstetrician-gynaecologist in Oklahoma City. 2023 www.oklahoman.com. A friend was combing Susan's clothes closet for something appropriate for her to be buried in, when she came upon something concealed in an underwear drawer. John Hamilton called his Ross Gardner: We took a one-to-one image of Mrs. Hamilton's head -- the injury, the laceration. Mack Martin: We've got a circumstantial case and I think that the prosecutors in this case were putting as sinister a spin on it as they possibly could. Sounded like he was talking to Susan. 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. "She was really upset that he As manager of this memorial you can add or update the memorial using the Edit button below. Dick: They had to find the stripper. Before Susan Hamilton died, Coffey said, the victim had changed her mind and thought that her husband was not having an affair. There were no Now, courtoom lawyers like to talk about Perry Mason moments when a trial is electrified by unexpected testimony, but it hardly ever happens. To investigators, that delay opened up the doctor's window of opportunity by up to an hour. Her husband, John Baxter Hamilton was convicted of murder, and is serving a life sentence. Hamilton is serving a life sentence without possibility of parole at the state penitentiary in McAlester. 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. When Susan's ex-husband learned of her murder -- and the domestic melodrama about the cell phone log -- he thought he knew right away what had happened. Hamilton had told the 911 operator he was performing CPR. They will bring them in here. John Hamilton: Yes. The email does not appear to be a valid email address. Sorry! A judge earlier ruled there was probable cause to detain Hamilton pending formal charges being filed. Detective Teresa Sterling: He was acting very upset. John Hamilton, 53, is on trial in the Valentine's Day slaying of his wife at their They found a disturbing scene that didn't suit a moneyed neighborhood. Susan was attractive, intelligent. The couple had exotic vacations and a beautiful house, and after 14 years of marriage, friends and family say they were inseparable, and very much in love. Wes Lane: So somebody would have had to come in, get enraged, surprised her, and thrown her to the ground, and done the rest. afford them. When the police in Farmington, New Mexico discover a broken window at a local head shop called The Eclectic, they expect to find evidence of a robbery. Two men's ties were tightly knotted about her neck. her daughter was taking sides Violence against Pro-Lifers - Why Pro-Life? Prosecutors said Hamilton changed clothes after killing his wife in the master bathroom. Wes Lane: John Hamilton is a control guy. smashed into the floor. Susan, in particular, became entangled with neckties, resulting in a severe head injury. She denied having an affair or any type of personal relationship with the defendant. We don't have a weapon. The national media outlets refused to identify Hamilton as an abortionist, referring to him only as a local obstetrician. Dennis Murphy: Until that Valentine Day morning, there was no-- no anger issues, no histories of this guy hit-- hittin' the switch and flipping out, and-. ). On the steering wheel and driver's side seat and door sill, crime scene investigators recovered strands of susan's hair and a piece of her flesh. 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. Susan.". Molly Baxter - Oklahoma State University-Oklahoma City - LinkedIn Hamilton reportedly had come home from the hospital where he worked to get his planner and discovered his wife, 55-year-old Susan Hamilton, lying. with John Hamilton. As is routine in domestic murders, the detectives would take a look at the spouse -- John Hamilton, himself. "It tells a story. Angela Horton testified Friday in Oklahoma County District Court that her But I do love you. I had a million thoughts were running through my head. A big comfortable house in a top-notch neighborhood, lavish dinner parties, spur of the moment vacations. Mack Martin: The focus was always on John. The defense claims Oklahoma City police jumped to the conclusion that Hamilton was the killer and ignored other evidence. The doctor, according to the prosecution's version, now had to cover up his frenzy by going back to perform his second surgery as though nothing had happened. "She loved him," Coffey said her friend told her every day for a week before she was killed.