Chris Solimine, a friend of Susann Sills, described her as a strong and intelligent woman with a sharp wit. She and her husband, Dr. Eric “Scott” Sills, ran their own IVF practice together. Susann was the driving force behind the business, managing everything except the medical procedures.
When Susann tragically died in 2016 from what appeared to be an accidental fall, her friends were skeptical of the official explanation. Rick Leeds revealed that Susann had mentioned a distressing incident involving a topless photo of herself that had surfaced online. This photo, posted on a political chatroom, seemed to be a source of tension in her marriage.
Former detective Dave Holloway, who investigated the case, noted that Susann had sustained injuries all over her body. Initially, Scott Sills was seen as a grieving husband, but as the investigation progressed, suspicions grew.
The details of the mysterious death of Susann Sills are explored in “The Puzzling Death of Susann Sills,” airing on CBS and Paramount+.
Susann Sills had been battling a migraine all weekend. To help her rest, Mary-Katherine, who had the quietest room, had tidied it up to resemble a hotel suite while she slept in her parents’ bedroom. Scott Sills, in his 911 call, mentioned that his wife’s shoe was found on the stairs, indicating she may have tripped and fallen after getting up in the middle of the night. The presence of a cooking pot, an empty Tramadol bottle (a pain medication Susann often used for migraines), and a red and white scarf near Susann’s body seemed to support the accidental fall theory. Mary-Katherine explained that her mother had been wearing the scarf around her neck when discovered but removed it to aid breathing.
During an initial examination, the deputy coroner noticed additional neck injuries on Susann that raised suspicions, including a ligature mark. The possibility of the scarf strangling her during a fall was discussed but not substantiated by evidence. Investigators also found blood in Mary-Katherine’s room, where Susann had been staying, along with injuries on Scott, who claimed they were sustained while working on his car. Eric, their son, mentioned hearing his parents arguing in the early morning hours, with Scott admitting to arguing over Susann working late on her laptop, exacerbating her migraines.
DNA tests revealed Scott’s presence in the room where the blood was found, indicating a struggle had occurred. Text messages on Susann’s phone suggested marital tension before her death, with her expressing feelings of being trapped and wanting out. One year after her passing, the coroner ruled Susann’s death as a homicide by ligature strangulation, naming Scott as the primary suspect.
In a subsequent interview, Scott denied killing Susann and attributed the blood in Mary-Katherine’s room to a self-inflicted injury while changing a window screen. Investigators uncovered a potential motive when they found a printout of an online exchange between Susann and a male member of Patrick in Scott’s home office on the day of Susann’s death.
During a chat on an online forum dated August 30, 2016, individuals were discussing a topless photo posted by Susann Sills. A user with the handle “tenpoundbass” commented, “You must have a super cool Husband.” Susann, also known as “turtledove,” responded that her husband was actually exhausted from being married to someone who frequently posed partially naked and alluringly. Although Scott Sills had denied printing the conversation, investigators later found the same exchange on his phone.
This discovery led to speculation about possible motives, with Holloway suggesting that Scott might have been harboring feelings of anger or jealousy towards his wife’s online activities. The conversation turned dark when the question of whether these motives could lead to murder was raised, to which Holloway grimly replied in the affirmative.
Fast forward to April 2019, where Dr. Scott Sills was apprehended on his way to surgery and accused of his wife’s murder. In his defense during the 2023 trial, Sills’ attorney, Jack Earley, argued that there was no clear motive for murder and downplayed the significance of the topless photo. Earley even posited a unique theory involving the family dogs potentially causing Susann’s fatal injuries.
The trial took a bizarre turn when Earley suggested that the dogs may have inadvertently contributed to Susann’s death by causing a fractured vertebra, leading to compromised breathing. Despite the unusual defense strategies, the case continued to unravel with more questions than answers about the tragic events that unfolded.
