A fertility doctor who strangled his wife and then staged her body to make it appear as if she had taken a fatal fall down a staircase at their San Clemente home was sentenced on Friday, March 15, to 15 years to life in prison.
More than seven years after the death of 45-year-old Susann Sills, and nearly five years after the husband’s arrest, an Orange County Superior Court jury late last year deliberated for around three hours before finding Dr. Eric Scott Sills guilty of second-degree murder.
During Dr. Sills’ sentencing hearing on Friday in a Santa Ana courtroom, Susann Sills’ family members remembered her as a “dynamic person” who was filled with hopes and dreams.
Theresa Neubauer, Susann Sills’ mother, told Orange County Superior Court Judge Patrick H. Donahue that “so much has been said about Scott during the trial and about what he did and what he did not do,” leading the mother to instead focus on her daughter.
“She was a vibrant, intelligent, witty adult,” the mother said. “She was hardworking and above all passionate. … She had dreams for their house, and for her children and her future.”
Frank Gaulden, Susann Sills’ half-brother, told the judge that while he believed “the verdict was the correct verdict,” it has brought “no happiness, no joy. …
“When she died it was like reading a novel and right when it starts getting good there is nothing but a blank page,” Gaulden said. “I just want as much as the law of California can do to give a sentence that is commensurate as much as possible with the life sentence we are all suffering.”
Susann and Eric Sills’ now-19-year-old daughter, Mary-Katherine Sills, told the judge that she had “experienced so much tragedy already” in her life, including the death of her mother, ending up in the foster care system after her father’s arrest and being pulled into the criminal case and trial.
She and her twin brother were 12 years old and both home the night of…
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