Susann Sills case: Were dogs to blame for California woman's tragic death? | Forensic Files

this week's 48 Hours looks at the puzzling death of a wife of a prominent fertility doctor Dr Eric Scott Sills
called 911 to report finding his wife and business partner Suzanne unresponsive at the bottom of the stairs
in their California home the initial investigation into suzan's injuries found some evidence they could be
consistent with an accidental fall however the manner of her death was later ruled a homicide by strangulation
Dr Sills became the prime suspect in his defense attorneys arguing that the family dogs may have played a role in
her death correspondent Tracy Smith on the unusual Theory it was a Sunday morning November
13th 2016 when Dr Eric Scott Sills reported that his wife had tripped and fallen on the staircase after suffering
from a migraine she's had one for three days minutes later 45-year-old Suzanne Sills was declared dead at the scene
Suzanne had injuries to pretty much her whole body Orange County Sheriff's homicide detectives Eric hatch and Dave
Holloway were called to conduct a death investigation the deputy Corner during her preliminary body exam of Suzanne the
injuries weren't consistent with somebody falling down the stairs her neck had a pretty pronounced ligature
Mark the Sill's daughter Mary Katherine told detectives her mother had a scarf around her neck when she was discovered
that morning is it possible that she could have fallen down down the stairs and then somehow the scarf strangled her
could have caught on a banister but we didn't have any evidence of that but in Mary Katherine's room where Suzanne had
stayed that night to rest something raised suspicion you found blood yes in November 2017 Suzanne's cause of death
was cited as ligature strangulation and the manor homicide Dr Scott Sills was now the prime suspect but defense
attorney Jack early says there are two other possible culprits the family dogs Bary Kate saw the dogs pulling on
the scarf he suggested that Suzanne fell on the stairs and that the dogs then tugged on the scarf that was wrapped
around her neck do you honestly think that the dogs pulled hard enough to strangle her to death no that was not
the main Theory instead early focused on another injury identified in Suzanne's autopsy a fra Ed vertebra in her neck
which would have left Suzanne incapacitated their breathing is compromised if they're then choked it
doesn't take much to kill them Tracy Smith joins us now quite a theory there Tracy good morning were
they ever able to identify whose blood was in the daughter's room yes so there was blood on the
curtains on the nightstand and on the wall and when they tested it for DNA they found Scott Sill's DNA in all three
of those places and on the wall there was a mixture of Scott and Suzanne's DNA so investigators think maybe a fight
happened there how did Dr Sills explain all that blood at first he said he was unaware of it and then when they
confronted him with the DNA results he said oh he was changing a window screen and he cut
himself wow lots of questions this is going to be quite a report Tracy Smith thank you very much you can watch
Tracy's full report and you're going to want to it's called the puzzling death of Suzanne Sills on 48 hours tomorrow
night 10 9 Central here on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus

A California fertility doctor said he found his wife and business partner unresponsive at the bottom of a staircase in 2016. Nearly a year later, her death was ruled a homicide by strangulation. A defense attorney suggested the family dogs may be responsible. CBS News' Tracy Smith reports on the puzzling case for "48 Hours."

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Brief Summary

The episode investigates the suspicious death of Suzanne Sills, focusing on the role of her husband and the family dogs in her homicide.

Key points

The Puzzling Death of Suzanne Sills. A prominent fertility doctor's wife is found dead, leading to shocking revelations.

Episode highlights

The Puzzling Death of Suzanne SillsA prominent fertility doctor's wife is found dead, leading to shocking revelations.“Dr Sills became the prime suspect in his wife's homicide.”0:25May 17, 2024

Episode quotes

Wow, lots of questions!

Tracy Smith discussing the case's complexities

0:20WatchMay 17, 2024

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