On this day, Dec. 21, in 1954, Dr. Sam Sheppard was convicted of killing his pregnant wife, a decision that was later overturned and inspired a television series and movie.

Marilyn Sheppard was killed in the couple’s Cleveland home on July 4, 1954. Sheppard claimed his wife was killed by a bushy-haired man who also attacked him and twice knocked him unconscious. Sheppard served 10 years in prison, only to be freed in a landmark Supreme Court ruling.