'Fugitive' son trying to clear father's name

In a nation where life does tend to imitate art and celebrity court cases are often treated like top-rated soap operas, you cannot help but feel Sam Reese Sheppard is swimming against the tide.

The California dentist is this week appearing in an Ohio civil court to try to clear the name of his late father, Sam Sheppard, convicted, then acquitted of the murder in 1954 of the son's pregnant mother.

The crime became one of America's most celebrated murder mysteries.

Sheppard Snr, a wealthy Cleveland doctor, was found guilty of bludgeoning his wife Marilyn to death.

The trial sparked the beginning of sensational court coverage and jury tainting - the names, ages and addresses of the original jurors were all publicised.

It also spawned the long-running television series, The Fugitive, about an escaped doctor, on the run and battling to clear his name.