Narrator: a beautiful home,
An affluent woman,
A vicious m*rder.
While her husband mourned,
Investigators searched for
clues.
A greetings card..
An exotic dancer..
And an operating room schedule
showed investigators
A side of medicine they
haven't seen before.
It was valentine's day, 2001,
and susan hamilton had a busy
Day planned.
Her husband, dr. John hamilton,
was an obstetrician.
Susan ran his medical clinic.
Susan hamilton was the
proverbial trophy wife.
By all accounts, she was a star
and he was, indeed, a very
Fortunate man to have her.
Narrator: but susan never
left the house that day.
Dr. Hamilton was performing
surgery all morning.
When he finished, he stopped
home on his way to his office to
Give susan some flowers for
valentine's day.
Once there, he found the
back door wide open.
Upstairs in the master bathroom
was his wife, unconscious.
I think my wife is dead.
What's the problem there?
My wife's bleeding all over
the place.
Narrator: dr. Hamilton tried
to revive her, but it was too
Late.
In this case, the attacker
was in complete control.
It's unfortunate, but I don't
think mrs. Hamilton really stood
A chance.
Narrator: the k*ller
apparently escaped through the
Hamiltons' back door.
None of the neighbors saw anyone
leaving the home.
We were suspicious of the
fact that maybe a burglar could
Have came in and possibly
att*cked this woman -- trying to
Steal some jewelry or trying to
steal some of the valuables from
That home -- and she possibly
surprised them.
This was a prominent part of
oklahoma city -- bigger homes,
Wealthier people, affluent
folks -- you know, the kind that
Go to the country club.
Narrator: and police had
another possible lead.
As an obstetrician/gynecologist,
dr. Hamilton performed abortions
At his own clinic, the one his
wife susan ran.
Dr. And mrs. Hamilton had been
targeted by antiabortion
Protesters.
They'd even made up wanted
posters, I believe --
"Wanted for m*rder,
john hamilton."
You know, that sort of thing.
Narrator: and both
dr. Hamilton and his wife were
Unapologetic about their work.
Here in the bible belt,
that's not something that
Citizens typically embrace.
We know it goes on.
It does happen.
But to be openly doing something
like that and have a clinic that
Does those kind of procedures,
didn't sit well with a lot of
People.
Narrator: at the police
station, dr. Hamilton was
Grief stricken.
Please help me.
Please help me.
Please, please, please, please.
Narrator: investigators hoped
forensic evidence at the scene
Could tell them more.
Narrator: susan and
john hamilton had been married
For 15 years, the second
marriage for both.
Everyone loved dr. Hamilton.
His wife -- beautiful woman,
wore her age incredibly well.
Country club set?
Absolutely.
She looked like she would hang
out with that kind of affluent
Crowd.
Everyone said they were just
wonderful people and very much
In love.
Narrator: at susan's autopsy,
the medical examiner found no
Signs of sexual as*ault.
She had been strangled with some
neckties.
Then, the perpetrator drove her
head onto the floor many times.
Death was caused by repeated
blows to her head with a blunt
Object.
The wound to her forehead or
the left side of her head was
Substantial and massive.
I think that w*apon has to be a
w*apon of opportunity.
It has to be something that was
in that environment that was
Accessible to that person.
Narrator: in a search for
suspects, investigators learned
That an antiabortion group
planned a demonstration in front
Of the hamilton's home.
We were able to determine
that the house had been
Picketed, as well as a permit to
picket that residence had been
Obtained within a month of the
time of this homicide.
Narrator: at the crime scene,
investigators found no evidence
Of a break-in.
But they did find a potential
clue.
On the kitchen counter, they
found the valentine's day card
John purchased for his wife.
And the card read...
Narrator: the card susan gave
to her husband had an entirely
Different message.
One of the captions she had
written herself said,
"Obviously, I bought this card
before last monday."
Then as you open the card and
begin to read the inside of it,
She had written, "I bought this
card two weeks ago, so they
Don't seem as appropriate now.
I love you."
Signed susan hamilton.
Narrator: police wanted to
know what had happened two weeks
Earlier.
Dr. Hamilton said they had a
fight about money.
But investigators found evidence
there was more to it than that.
There was accusations that he
was having an affair with one of
His clients, who was a topless
dancer.
This came from phone calls that
susan hamilton had gotten
Ahold of.
Narrator: susan discovered
her husband called the dancer
More than 60 times.
This was nuclear in her eyes.
She even moved out for a night,
went to stay with her friend.
Dr. Hamilton had been to her
club.
She had done a table dance for
him for about $100, possibly on
More than one occasion.
Narrator: dr. Hamilton denied
the two were having an affair.
But with so many calls, susan
was skeptical.
It was not even the fact that
he had done it, that he had
Actually been chasing this girl
a little bit.
What was important was that
susan hamilton believed he had
Done it.
One week before the
valentine's day m*rder,
Susan hamilton had made
dr. Hamilton write a letter to
This dancer refusing to be her
doctor any further.
Narrator: and the media had
their own suspicions about
Dr. Hamilton.
It started when reporters heard
the tape of dr. Hamilton's 911
Call.
Listen, I'm a doctor.
I've been trying cpr.
Send somebody quick.
Is she not breathing?
No, she's not breathing.
I don't get pulse, please.
If you listen to it over and
over again, it sounds strange --
The things he's saying, the
order in which he says them.
He's gonna -- it just --
it sounds weird.
Narrator: so the local tv
station, kwtv, sent the tape to
A company specializing in
computer voice stress analysis.
The test charted the
microtremors in dr. Hamilton's
Voice.
It showed "no excessive blood
flow" impacting dr. Hamilton's
Voice.
On this, I'm very confident
that this doctor is not
Stressed to the degree that I
would think he would be under
Those circumstances, which makes
me feel very confident that he
Rehearsed this before he made
his call.
The analysis couldn't say,
yes, he did, or no, he
Didn't, but it certainly gave an
insight into maybe there was
Something more to the story that
we didn't know.
Please, please.
Narrator: and homicide
investigators started to
Question dr. Hamilton's unusual
behavior captured on videotape
Just after the m*rder.
He seemed to be out of
control with emotions, one way
Or another.
He would get upset and start
moving back and forth.
He would start crying, he'd
stop.
And that was one of the concerns
that I had.
It was almost like he was
acting.
Narrator: but dr. Hamilton
had an alibi for the time of the
m*rder.
He was in surgery all morning
with plenty of witnesses.
Obviously, a doctor couldn't be
in two places at the same time.
Or could he?
She was strangled.
She was found naked.
Topless dancers, abortions --
you start hearing all that mixed
Together, it made for a lot of
talk in this town.
Narrator: to analyze the
forensic evidence from
Susan hamilton's m*rder,
homicide investigators asked
Blood spatter expert
ross gardner for his opinion.
This case is like many in
the sense that what the suspect
Says ultimately is gonna be
tested against the crime scene.
Narrator: when emergency
workers arrived, dr. Hamilton
Was covered in his wife's blood.
Dr. Hamilton's presence in
the crime scene, the fact that
He's bloody, is completely
expected.
He's come home.
He's found his wife dead.
He's cradled her.
He's taken action.
Narrator: but not all the
blood on dr. Hamilton's shirt
Could be explained away.
Dr. Hamilton's claims
presented some major
Contradictions.
I don't expect to find spatter.
The spatter I observed were
present on the front of his
Shirt below his neck, on both
sleeves at the cuff, and these
Suggested that his arms and his
body had been in close proximity
To a spatter event.
Narrator: on dr. Hamilton's
shoes were tiny blood droplets
Almost invisible to the naked
eye.
These were suspicious -- not
only the shape, but the angle at
Which the blood landed on the
shoes.
There was some coming down on
the toe from above 40, 50
Degrees.
There was no possible way that
someone had lifted
Mrs. Hamilton's head, dropped
her down, created additional
Spatter, and, somehow,
dr. Hamilton's shoes were
Exposed to that.
You couldn't explain it from
that.
Narrator: the blood on
dr. Hamilton's shoes was the
Result medium velocity impact
spatter, the kind caused as a
Result of a beating.
Tom bevel, a blood spatter
expert hired by dr. Hamilton,
Agreed with gardner's
assessment.
The spatter places the shoe
within an area capable of
Receiving spatter, and the
spatter is being generated by
Some impact into a blood source,
which, in this case, is
Mrs. Hamilton.
Narrator: and blood spatter
found four inches up inside his
Right shirt cuff was most
telling.
It was direct spatter, meaning
the blood landed directly on the
Shirt.
For spatter to get up inside the
cuff meant it had to be
Traveling at some speed.
For it to get on the inside,
the blood has to be coming at an
Angle capable of missing the
wrist and the edge of the cuff
And the outside, and going on
the inside of it.
That puts very limited positions
with which that could have
Occurred.
The only way that could have
happened is from somebody...
Using their hand to either hold
a w*apon or something like that
And beat --
beat susan hamilton.
And the blood droplets come
spewing off that would be driven
Up in that angle.
Narrator: scientist performed
dna testing on each and every
Blood stain on dr. Hamilton's
shirt and shoes.
It was all susan's blood.
Luminol tests revealed even more
of susan's blood on the inside
Of dr. Hamilton's car.
There was blood found on the
steering wheel.
There blood found on the seat --
the driver's side left edge of
The seat -- and also some hair
and tissue found on the floor of
The vehicle on the driver's
side.
Narrator: investigators
discovered what may have been
The m*rder w*apon.
The hamiltons' maid said that a
marble figurine from the
Bathroom was missing.
And communication records
indicated dr. Hamilton was not
In the hospital in between his
two operations on the morning of
The m*rder.
He started getting pages from
that hospital to get there now
Because that second patient had
already been put under
Anesthesiology.
Narrator: the blood spatter
evidence proved he was home.
Dr. John hamilton was arrested
and charged with m*rder.
Well, can you leave the door
open?
I mean, I feel like I'm in a
cage.
I'm sorry, but...
Well, I tried to explain to
you that they're assessing
Cases.
That's why I was hoping there
was someplace else you could
Put me.
This is just -- I'm sorry.
I am so distraught.
I need -- I just -- I want to
talk to somebody.
I'll go nuts sitting in here.
That's the whole purpose of
you being here, okay?
Narrator: the stage was set
for one of the most publicized
Trials in oklahoma history.
Interest of this case was the
stature of john and
Susan hamilton and the m*rder
occurring on valentine's day.
Valentine's day's a day for
love.
This wasn't a very loving scene
that I saw that day.
Narrator: so what really
happened between
Dr. John hamilton and his wife,
susan, in the days and weeks
Leading up to susan's m*rder?
Prosecutors learned that
dr. Hamilton was making
Financial payments to others
without susan's knowledge.
He had been sliding money to
one of his children by a
Previous marriage.
Well, she found out he lied to
her about that, and she
Absolutely went ballistic about
that -- told him if he ever did
It again, she'd leave him.
There was no question who
wore the pants in the family,
And it was not john.
She was a very
black-and-white person.
You, uh...
You lie to her, and you're done.
Narrator: and susan suspected
there was more going on between
Her husband and the exotic
dancer than he admitted.
My thinking is susan, at this
point, says, "you have broken my
Trust, and it's over."
The stripper actually told me
that she really believed that
John hamilton was trying to work
up the nerve to ask her out on a
Date.
There wasn't any relationship
there, but she knows men pretty
Well.
And he was trying to work up the
courage to even get to first
Base.
And he wasn't even off home
plate yet.
Narrator: on the morning of
valentine's day, prosecutors
Believe the couple exchanged
cards, and they argued about
Susan's not-so-veiled message
inside.
I don't believe I'd have ever
wanted to get this from my wife
For valentine's day.
It wasn't one of the more
cheerful ones that you'd want.
Forcing an exchange of
thoughts about one another...
Thoughts that maybe would have
been better aired with a
Counselor in the room.
Narrator: the evidence
suggests dr. Hamilton went to
The hospital, performed one
operation, then returned home,
Possibly with an attempt toward
reconciliation.
Prosecutors say the couple
argued once again.
I don't want you throwing
this in my face!
Narrator: in anger, hamilton
took several neckties from his
Closet and strangled her.
Once unconscious, he hit her
head on the floor and struck her
With a blunt object.
This created the medium-velocity
blood spatter found on his shoes
And on the inside of his shirt
cuff.
[ Pager beeps ]
before he could clean up, the
Hospital paged him for his next
surgery.
So he took his bloody trousers
and the m*rder w*apon and left
For the hospital, leaving the
back door open.
That's how susan's blood and
hair got inside his car.
How dr. Hamilton disposed of the
m*rder w*apon and bloody
Trousers remains a mystery.
At the hospital, dr. Hamilton
scrubbed up for his second
Operation, washing away the
forensic evidence.
But he was still wearing the
shoes covered with his wife's
Blood.
His ability to perform the
operation didn't surprise
Prosecutors.
My wife happens to be a
surgeon.
You revert to something you've
done a thousand times.
I'm not sure I'd have wanted
him performing surgery on me.
It's disturbing.
It's frightening and creepy.
] Narrator: when dr. Hamilton
Went home, he called 911 but
delivered a performance that
Didn't fool the forensic-speech
experts.
Dr. Hamilton probably believed
that performing cpr would cover
Any blood evidence of the
m*rder.
But he was wrong.
He made some major mistakes,
knowing what is available
Through science today -- way
beyond anything I had any
Knowledge of how sophisticated
science is.
Narrator: at dr. Hamilton's
trial, in a devastating blow,
Tom bevel, the blood spatter
expert hired by the defense,
Testified that he concurred with
the prosecution's expert.
This is dr. Hamilton's
witness there to help him get
Off the m*rder charge.
It was absolutely a
"perry mason" moment, and you
Could turn and look at the
jurors and see them all go,
"Oh."
In my opinion, when you look
at this case in its totality --
In other words, look at all the
physical evidence and look at
All the statements -- I am
certainly well beyond any
Reasonable doubt that
dr. Hamilton is the person that
Has done this.
Narrator: john hamilton was
found guilty of his wife's
m*rder...
And sentenced to life in prison
with no possibility of parole.
We all felt sorry for him
because, you know, his
Situation, but, to us, the
evidence was so overwhelming and
It just seemed to show on his
face that he was guilty.
John will rot in jail.
John will have to pay for this
at a higher level than what he's
Already paid.
Meaning?
Going to hell.
The forensic findings, I
thought, were powerful.
That's the glorious thing about
this case.
There was absolutely no doubt in
my head.
He is the k*ller.
He's made his own bed.
That's one of the interesting
things about forensic pathology
And forensics.
It's a study of human nature.
That's the dark side to it.
It's really unfortunate, but we
Can be pretty mean and nasty.
10x16 - Deadly Valentine
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Documentary that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness.
Documentary that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness.