California fertility doctor Eric Scott Sills looks stone-faced is sentenced to ... trends now
A Southern California fertility doctor was sentenced on Friday to 15 years to life in prison for the murder of his wife in an incident authorities said was made to look like an accident.
Eric Scott Sills, 58, sat stone-faced in an orange jump suit as he was sentenced for one count of second-degree murder in the death of his wife Susann at Orange County Superior Court, in Santa Ana, California.
Authorities say Sills called 911 in November 2016 and said he found his wife's body after she apparently fell down the stairs in their home in San Clemente, which is about halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego.
But evidence showed she died from being strangled. Prosecutors told jurors at the outset that the 45-year-old's injuries were not consistent with a 'fall down the stairs' narrative.Blood stains were found in the room where she had been sleeping.
Tensions in the couples marriage arose after Susann posted a nude photo of herself online after she lost a bet over Donald Trump's 2016 election win.
Sills was arrested in 2019 over the November 2016 killing and found guilty by a jury in December last year.
Dr. Eric Scott Sills appears before Judge Patrick H. Donahue as he is sentenced to life in prison for killing his wife in Orange County Superior Court on Friday, in Santa Ana, California
Dr. Eric Scott Sills, 58, was arrested in April 2019 over the 2016 killing, allegedly amid tension with his late wife Susann Sills
Susann, 45, was found at the foot of the stairs in what prosecutors labeled 'a staged accident' at their San Clemente home in November 2016
Sills sat stone-faced as he was sentenced to life for killing his wife seven years
During the trial, prosecutors recalled how Sills hade made a frantic phone call on the day of the killing.
'On November 13, 2016, Sills called 911 and said he awoke to find the lifeless body of his wife, 45-year-old Susann Sills, after she apparently fell down the stairs.
'Evidence presented at trial showed that she died due to strangulation and blood stains were found on a wall and curtains in their daughter's bedroom where Susann was sleeping due to a migraine.
'A clump of her hair also was found in the room, indicating that there had been a violent struggle between the couple.'
Those inconsistencies, the attorneys said, proved crucial in jurors agreeing to dole out a guilty verdict for one count of second-degree murder.
Prosecutors, moreover, labeled the murder 'a staged accident' - pointing to the dad-of-two's apparent attempt to cover up the killing after 'squeez[ing] the life out of' his spouse after a series of lover's quarrels.
Dr. Eric Scott Sills listens as his daughter speaks on his behalf - although he refused to look at her while appearing before Judge Patrick H. Donahue at Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana, California
Sills stuck to his story about his wife's death being an accidents, but evidence showed she died from being strangled. He is pictured with his attorney Jack M. Earley
Sills previously claimed to have discovered his wife's body at the bottom of the stairs in the family of four's home on the 10 block of Via Cancion in San Clement
Evidence presented at Sills November trial, pictured, showed his wife died due to strangulation, prosecutors said. They further cited blood stains found on a wall and curtains in one of their kids' bedrooms, where Susann had been sleeping due to a migraine
Those inconsistencies, the attorneys said, proved crucial in jurors agreeing to dole out a guilty verdict for one count of second-degree murder. Sills is seen in court last month, during which he stuck
