Posted on: 08:09 Mon, 15 Feb 2016



Dr. John Hamilton and Susan his wife
Dr John Hamilton, a romantic and respected
doctor who was said to be devoted to his wife
Susan has killed her on Valentine’s day. The
man who many believed enjoyed a wonderful
marriage spanning over 13 years, and
remembered by family and friend for surprising
his wife with a Porsche on their wedding day. He
lavished her with expensive gifts and luxury
holidays. The Hamiltons appeared to be deeply in
love. But, what many still do not understand is
why he killed her after all these.
The Mirror reports that the more baffling aspect
of the crime is that John chose Valentine’s Day
– the most romantic day of the year – to end
Susan’s life.
Here is a detailed account of how the incident
happened as shared by The Mirror .
Dr Hamilton was a talented obstetrician-
gynaecologist in Oklahoma City. When he met
Susan in 1985, they were both divorced with four
children between them. Susan was attractive,
intelligent and people loved to be around her.
John was soon head over heels in love.
The couple married two years later and settled
into a privileged life. Susan started working part-
time at John’s clinic, but it came at a price. As
well as delivering babies, John, 53, was involved
with abortions, and it attracted criticism in the
conservative state. There were protests, John’s
face was put on a ‘Wanted’ poster and Susan
received threatening calls.
On Valentine’s Day 2001, John left their house
early for surgery, then returned home to
exchange cards with Susan before heading back
to conduct his second operation of the day.
Waiting at the local florist was a huge bunch of
expensive red orchids John had ordered for his
wife, but before he could pick them up, he was
dialling 911.
“Please send police. Please send an ambulance,
please,” he cried. “I think my wife is dead .” He
told the operator he was trying CPR. “Please
send somebody quick,” he begged.
When paramedics arrived, it was a sickening
scene. John claimed he had returned home and
discovered Susan, 55, in a pool of blood on the
bathroom floor. She’d been strangled with two
neck ties and her head had been smashed with
such force that parts of her brain were exposed.
The unknown weapon was never found.
John was covered in Susan’s blood and was
hysterical as he stared down at his wife’s
unrecognisable face. Who would kill her with
such brutality?
Susan had received threats from anti-abortion
activists. Had she been killed to punish John?
The police didn’t think so. They had their
suspicions and their prime suspect. John said
he’d tried mouth-to-mouth but there was none of
Susan’s blood on his face despite her facial
injuries.
At the crime scene, there was no sign of forced
entry, nothing stolen and no bloody footprints
leading away from the carnage.
Then police found the Valentine’s Day card
Susan had given her husband that morning.
Inside, the message read: “I bought this two
weeks ago, so I guess maybe it doesn’t seem as
appropriate. But I do love you. Have a good day.
Susan.” Her words made police question whether
the marriage was as perfect as
it seemed.
One of Susan’s friends revealed that the couple
had argued after Susan had discovered John had
been making calls on his mobile to a tople$$
dancer. While John insisted she was just a
patient he was trying to help, Susan accused him
of having an affair.
John was taken to the police station. They
noticed that during the car journey there that he
was scraping his knuckles on the mesh divider –
was he trying to hide injuries on his hands?
The time slot to kill between surgeries was tight,
but when investigators discovered he’d been late
for his second operation, he was charged and
denied bail.
However, John had plenty of supporters. Even
when details about the stripper were revealed,
public opinion was that at worst he had stepped
over a professional boundary. If he’d been having
an affair, perhaps his mistress had killed Susan?
When the trial started in December 2001, in the
majority of people’s eyes, John remained a
gentle, kind and devoted husband.
Prosecutors said Susan had confided in friends
that she was considering a divorce. The couple
had argued after they’d exchanged cards in the
morning. While John was cleaning up with a rag
found at the scene, he was paged to perform
surgery at the clinic so left, dumping the weapon
and his clothes on the way. Then he returned
later to ‘discover’ the body.
Blood on his cuff
Susan’s blood and skin were found on John’s
steering wheel. Also, while loved ones were
sorting through Susan’s clothes they found some
of her jewellery hidden in her underwear. It was
unlike her – had John put it there to look as if it
had been stolen?
He never got the chance to retrieve it. There
was also blood on his shoe, consistent with
splatter from an ‘alive’ Susan.
John’s defence team said investigators hadn’t
looked into the threats from anti-abortionists
enough. When he took the stand, he said he
loved his wife and insisted he’d tried to save her.
He explained the blood on his steering wheel by
saying he’d moved his car for the emergency
vehicles. He and the stripper also denied an
affair.
The defence team brought out a blood expert,
who testified that the blood patterns on John
were consistent with him trying to save his wife.
But when the expert was asked under oath if
there was anything that had been missed, he
alerted the court to splatter inside John’s cuff.
He said it was likely to have been the result of
John forcing a blow to Susan’s head.
It turned the case around. A man hired by the
defence had unwittingly become the
prosecution’s ultimate weapon.
The jury took two hours to find John guilty of
first-degree murder. He was later sentenced to
life in prison without the chance of parole.
“The majority of the jurors were very disappointed
they didn’t have the sentence of death as an
option,” the judge said. “You should consider
yourself very lucky.”
John continues to appeal the conviction but has
so far been denied a retrial. His supporters still
believe he’s innocent and that he loved his wife
too much to hurt her.
But it wasn’t his love for Susan that was in
question. It was whether he was responsible for
her terrible death.