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Dr. Eric Scott Sills, at left, in an appearance on the talk show, The Doctors. Video was posted to YouTube on Oct. 12, 2016. More than a month later, he strangled his wife, Susann Sills, at their home. (Screenshot: The Doctors; mug shot of defendant Sills at right: Orange County District Attorney’s Office)
A California fertility doctor was sentenced to 15 years to life in state prison for fatally strangling his wife, whose body was found at the foot of the stairs in a staged accident at their home in 2016.
Dr. Eric Scott Sills, 58, learned his fate this week after he was found guilty in December of one count of second-degree murder for killing his wife, Susann Sills, 45.
“Mr. Sills not only killed his wife but he went one step further and tried to cover up his horrific crime,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer in a news release. “His actions have irreparably torn apart his family as his children have to grapple with the immeasurable pain of losing their mother at the hands of their father. This was the ultimate betrayal by their father and now he will spend his remaining days in state prison.”
As Law&Crime reported, the killing happened amid marital problems. Prosecutors acknowledged they could not prove motive as to why Sills killed his wife in the early morning of Nov. 13, 2016, but they painted a picture of a marriage on the rocks.
Issues included friction over the defendant having to pay alimony over a prior marriage and the victim even posting a topless photo after losing a chat room bet that Donald Trump would become the Republican presidential nominee, according to The Orange County Register.
“She is frustrated, upset, feels trapped and feels like he is killing her,” Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker reportedly told jurors in opening statements. “She tells him in these texts, ‘You are killing me, don’t you see?””
Prosecutors said Susann Sills died at 5 a.m., more than an hour and a half before her husband called 911 and said that he and his daughter, then 12, woke up to find his wife injured at the bottom of the stairs after an apparent fall.
Both sides reportedly disputed the importance of Sills referring to Susann as a “patient” and not his wife in the 911 call. Prosecutors construed this as him being unfeeling, while Sills’ defense lawyers said he went into “doctor mode.”
Prosecutors maintained that he intentionally mishandled elements of the initial treatment. For example, despite being a doctor, he put his wife’s foot on the stairs on purpose to establish a “connection to the stairway” even though the dispatcher asked him to put her on a flat and hard surface for CPR, according to the Los Angeles Times. Also, while first responders were on their way, Sills wasted time by looking for a pulse oximeter instead of trying to help his wife, the state said.
“Dr. Sills was sworn to care for the sick and injured and his chosen profession as a fertility doctor helped bring so much joy to his patients but the woman he vowed to love in sickness and health was strangled to death by his own hands,” said Spitzer in a statement after the verdict. “Think of how diabolical you have to be — not only to kill your wife but to make it look like she had fallen down the stairs. It took calculated planning to commit this crime and worse of all he ruthlessly and selfishly murdered the mother of their children who now are left without their parents. I am grateful to the jury for the verdict and the diligent work by investigators and Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker for holding him accountable for his reprehensible act.”
Susann Sills had been sleeping in her daughter’s bedroom that night while suffering a migraine. The couple’s 12-year-old son, who is twin to the daughter, had reportedly told cops he woke up at 4 a.m. to his parents arguing, yelling and screaming in his sister’s room. However, according to the L.A. Times, he appeared to walk that back during his testimony at trial.
Defense lawyer Jack Earley argued Susann Sills’ medications at the time of her migraines likely hurt her balance.
“None of this stuff was staged,” Earley said, according to the Register. “None of it was planned. What happened was a horrible accident.”
Earley argued that her spine injury was from the fall and that it compromised her breathing. He also challenged the injuries to her neck, claiming that DNA from the family’s two large, friendly dogs showed that they tugged on her scarf as she was lying unconscious on the bottom of the stairs and caused the injuries to her neck.
“I’m not blaming the dogs for anything,” Earley said. “They are just dogs. They do what dogs do. They like to tug on things.”
The prosecution disparaged this theory, saying that the injuries did not match this version of events. Instead, defendant Sills “squeezed the life out of” his wife amid a violent struggle in the daughter’s room. Investigators said they found blood on the curtains and wall matching both spouses, and there was a clump of Susann Sills’ hair.
“The blood and the hair shows this victim fighting for her life,” Walker reportedly said.
