Dr. Eric Scott Sills, at left, in an appearance on the talk show, The Doctors. Video was posted to YouTube on Oct. 12, 2016. More than a month later, he strangled his wife, Susann Sills, at their home. (Screenshot: The Doctors; mug shot of defendant Sills at right: Orange County District Attorney’s Office)
Jurors convicted a California fertility doctor on Monday of strangling his wife to death amid marital problems. Prosecutors acknowledged in an Orange County courtroom that they could not prove motive as to why Dr. Eric Scott Sills, 58, killed Susann Sills, 45, in the early morning of Nov. 13, 2016, but they painted a picture of a marriage on the rocks.
Issues included friction over the defendant having to pay alimony over a prior marriage, and the victim even posting a topless photo after losing a chat room bet that Donald Trump would become the Republican presidential nominee, according to The Orange County Register
“She is frustrated, upset, feels trapped and feels like he is killing her,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker reportedly told jurors in opening statements last month. “She tells him in these texts, ‘You are killing me, don’t you see?’”
Prosecutors said Susann Sills died at approximately 5 a.m., more than an hour and a half before defendant Sills called 911 and said that he and his daughter, then 12, woke up to find his wife injured at the bottom of the stairs after an apparent fall.
Both sides reportedly disputed the importance of Sills referring to Susann as a “patient” and not his wife in the 911 call. Prosecutors construed this as him being unfeeling while Sills’ defense lawyers said he went into “doctor mode.”
Prosecutors maintained, however, that defendant Sills intentionally mishandled elements of the initial treatment. For example, despite being a doctor, he put his wife’s foot on the stairs on purpose to establish a “connection to the stairway” even though the dispatcher asked him to put her on a flat and hard surface for CPR, according to The Los Angeles Times. Also, while first responders were on their way, Sills wasted time by looking for a pulse oximeter instead of trying to help his wife, the state said.
“Dr. Sills was sworn to care for the sick and injured and his chosen profession as a fertility doctor helped bring so much joy to his patients but the woman he vowed to love in sickness and health was strangled to death by his own hands,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer in a statement after the verdict. “Think of how diabolical you have to be — not only to kill your wife but to make it look like she had fallen down the stairs. It took calculated planning to commit this crime and worse of all he ruthlessly and selfishly murdered the mother of their children who now are left without their parents. I am grateful to the jury for the verdict and the diligent work by investigators and Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker for holding him accountable for his reprehensible act.”
Susann Sills had been sleeping in her daughter’s bedroom that night while suffering a migraine. The couple’s 12-year-old son, who is twin to the daughter, had reportedly told cops he woke up at around 4 a.m. to his parents arguing, yelling and screaming in his sister’s room. However, according to the L.A. Times, he appeared to walk that back during his testimony at trial.
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As for defense lawyer Jack Earley, he argued Susann Sills’ medications at the time of her migraines likely hurt her balance.
“None of this stuff was staged,” Earley said, according to the Register. “None of it was planned. What happened was a horrible accident.”
Earley argued that her spine injury was from the fall and that it compromised her breathing. He also challenged the injuries to her neck, claiming that DNA from the family’s two large, friendly dogs showed that they tugged on her scarf as she was lying unconscious on the bottom of the stairs and they caused the injuries to her neck.
“I’m not blaming the dogs for anything,” Earley said. “They are just dogs. They do what dogs do. They like to tug on things.”
The prosecution disparaged this theory, saying that the injuries did not match this version of events. Instead, defendant Sills “squeezed the life out of” his wife amid a violent struggle in the daughter’s room. Investigators said they found blood on the curtains and wall matching both spouses, and there was a clump of Susann Sills’ hair.
“The blood and the hair shows this victim fighting for her life,” Walker reportedly said.
Defendant Sills’ sentencing for second-degree murder is scheduled for March 15. He faces up to life in prison.
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