The wife of a fertility doctor is found dead at the bottom of a staircase. Did her dogs play a role in her death or was the scene staged to cover a murder? Correspondent Tracy Smith reports. This episode originally aired on May 20, 2024. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What happened to Susann Sills?
And around her body was that odd collection of items.
They definitely stood out, especially that steel puck. It almost looked like it was placed there. It wasn't upside down or leaning against anything. We had to figure out why those things were there.
The detectives say Dr. Sills didn't seem nervous that a homicide team was in his home asking questions.
He was just kind of going with the flow. How cooperative was he? Oh, very. Everything we asked of him, he gave us. He signed a consent form that gave us permission to search his house.
And when they interviewed the Sills' children, Mary Catherine and Eric, the 12-year-old twins, each told a similar story to their dad, that Suzanne had not been feeling well that night.
Suzanne had a history of migraines. They were typically debilitating, requiring a dark room, quiet, and bed rest. And she had been suffering from a migraine that weekend.
The migraine seemed to explain that large pot.
Sometimes she carried around a bowl in order to have it near her bedside in case she threw up in the middle of the night.
And the empty pill bottle was for a pain medication Dr. Sills said his wife took to treat her migraines. So did that make it sound more possible that she could have fallen down the stairs because she was suffering from a migraine?
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Chapter 2: What was discovered at the scene of Susann Sills' death?
I was shocked. Who goes to the office the next morning when your wife died?
Joni Ricker's daughter was a nurse at the Sills IVF clinic, and had called her in a panic. She said her patients are in cycle and they have to be treated. Joni volunteered to help manage the office, something Suzanne did, and ended up working there for two years. Did Dr. Sills talk about his wife?
Oh, never.
Did he ever say how she died? Oh, it was never discussed. Pretty soon, she says, the doctor started changing his appearance. He started to dress like a movie star.
I mean, he was very simple before.
And she says the once balding doctor now had a full head of hair.
We definitely noticed new hair. They also noticed Dr. Sill's flashier online persona. I said to one of my friends, now, is Seals a doctor or a model? I personally don't know any doctors on social media that are taking selfies in the gym and their blazers and their sunglasses and their Porsches. I mean, it was a little much.
All of a sudden, there started to be another woman in photos, and he was out on dates, and they were going around town.
The behavior raised eyebrows, but it was hardly evidence. Then, in November 2017, a year after Suzanne's death, there was finally news from the coroner's office. Suzanne's cause of death was cited as ligature strangulation and the manner a homicide. Dr. Sills was now the prime suspect. DNA results on the blood in Mary Catherine's room showed a mixture of his and Suzanne's DNA.
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Chapter 3: Was Susann Sills' death an accident or murder?
Early denies that. He says the reason Mary Catherine didn't tell investigators is simple.
It wasn't asked. Why would she think the dogs were important? She doesn't even know that there's any question of being choked.
He says Scott Sills did tell first responders. And he argued that Suzanne's toxicology tests point to an accidental fall. She had a muscle relaxant and pain medication in her system. And Early told the jury that Suzanne suffered from a fainting disorder and that vertigo would accompany her migraines. But the prosecution said the defense's theory just doesn't make sense.
Strangulation is a silent killer. You know what's not a silent killer? Falling down multiple stairs. You have to believe she bounced her head, neck, back, shoulders, inside her arms, legs, and feet multiple ways against approximately six stairs like being in a soundproof pinball machine. Then was strangled by her dogs.
Not reasonable. And why would Suzanne have a scarf around her neck that early in the morning to begin with? Prosecutors suggested that Scott Sills used it to strangle her and then left it around her neck to cover the marks. But Early told the jury it wasn't unusual for Suzanne to wear a scarf, especially when she wasn't feeling well.
Because if she got sick, that was something that she would wear a scarf to wipe your mouth with it.
But the prosecution also pointed out that Suzanne and Scott's son, Eric, told investigators he saw his mother put the dogs away in their crate in the hours before she died. Eric said that his mom put the dogs in the crate.
Yes. Sometimes dogs, when they're crate trained, when they go to bed, will go lay in the crate, even with the door open.
There was also no blood on the stairs or damage to them. There are all these injuries that you say come from the fall down the stairs all over her body, but she leaves no marks on the stairs. But there's no marks anywhere in the house. But there was that blood in Mary Catherine's bedroom, and the prosecution argued it was evidence that a fight occurred.
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