Ed Sherman murder of pregnant wife Ellen Sherman

With over 400 episodes, Forensic Files covered a wide array of cases over its 16-year run. Produced and aired in 2003, this episode relayed the events from the crime itself in 1985 through the trial and Ed Sherman's conviction in 1992. It even included Ed's death in early 1996. This was not an unpopular case – several other web sites included versions from Forensic Files, and some supplied a deeper dive into the details that emerged while the case was cold for over five years.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

But unlike most episodes, ours didn't feature many photos – neither of the crime scenes nor the courtroom. In fact, pictures of the victim and perpetrator were rare. There were a total of two images of Ellen Sherman (neither very flattering), and I only recall a couple of Ed himself – in black and white. It seemed the bulk of the episode was a mix of reenactments and interviews, especially with Len Fredriksen and Dr. Henry Lee.

The Shermans' friend Len Fredriksen was a major contributor to this episode. It didn't seem he'd been among the friend group that went sailing with Ed on that fateful weekend in August 1985, but he did recount the uncomfortable situation of the New Year's Eve party "partner swapping" request. And it was Len who Ed reached from the sailboat to "check on his wife" after Ed's calls had gone unanswered. Some friend though – he knew he was sending Len into his home to find Ellen's dead body.

The show's producers made an odd choice of actors when portraying Len Fredriksen during the episode's reenactments. Given Ed's age and what Len looked like in 2003, nearly 20 years after the events, it'd be safe to bet Len Fredriksen was 35-40 years old in 1985. So why did the episode's actor-of-choice make Len look like a frumpy, old man? Perhaps if they'd used the same casting agent from Frozen Assets (s13e01), they could've found a dead ringer for Len.

Ed Sherman: A lifetime of indulgence

After his conviction (and without admitting his guilt), Ed did apologize – he claimed Ellen deserved better during their 16-year marriage and that he'd lived a self-serving, indulgent lifestyle. It was clear that Ellen's family's small publishing operation was the couple's key financial resource. Ed's vocational contribution to their household was teaching part-time at a local community college. I'd bet this was less about Ed bringing home a paycheck and more about having an excuse to be around young, attractive women.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Once Ellen was pregnant again (five-and-a-half months by late July of 1985), she demanded Ed man up and be a husband and father to their children. The choice of "again" and "children" is deliberate here – Ed and Ellen already had a child at the time of Ellen's murder – a teenaged daughter named Jessica. During police interviews, Ed expressed his anger that he was being forced to give up the relationship with his mistress Nancy Prescott and their love child. This was the inspiration for Ed's sinister plan.

Ed Sherman was always looking out for the interest of just one person: Ed Sherman. A divorce from Ellen would mean the end of his sponging and mediocre job, and at best, shared custody of the couple's daughter. Ellen said, "He can have his girlfriend and his sailboat." But a mysterious and tragic murder of Ellen would work out much better for Ed. He'd be able to recouple with Nancy Prescott, possibly inherit his wife's business, and retain sole custody of Jessica. Plus, there'd be no new baby to be responsible for.

But for being a member of Mensa, Ed didn't foresee the blunders he made. What was his explanation for the bedroom's air conditioner being set so cold that it "felt like a refrigerator"? It might've been possible to explain away how a stranger entered the Sherman home without signs of forced entry, but the necessary scenario – an illicit affair by Ellen – was seriously doubtful. And as smart as he was, he probably didn't realize that manual strangulation invariably breaks the cricoid cartilage in the victim's neck.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

But consider the steps Ed did take when formulating his scheme. After watching the B-movie Blackout, he got the idea that turning up the bedroom's air conditioner could cause Ellen's body to decompose much slower than usual. This would throw off the investigators' determination of her time of death, cementing his alibi on the Saturday in question. He also made a fake phone call from his friend's house on Friday night – pretending to talk to Ellen would further establish that she was alive when he left for his sailing trip. Finally, the application of the ligature marks on Ellen's neck would make her murder look like a possible sex crime. Out on the boat, Ed faked an increasing anxiety after several failed attempts to call Ellen.

Ellen Sherman's murder: Cold case

Our episode made a passing mention of this case going cold, but it actually did so – in a big way (no pun intended here). It was five years before the keys to the case against Ed Sherman were gathered. During the three-month trial, Len Fredriksen and first responders testified about how cold the Sherman's bedroom was when Ellen's body was discovered. The daughter of Ed's friend, who had picked up the extension and heard Ed talking to a ringing phone, also testified – she was now 13 years old.

Police suspected Ed's involvement in his wife's murder, but his alibi seemed bulletproof. His own words during his initial questioning provided a motive. Two of Ed's statements stood out:

• "I had been having an affair with another woman for a number of years, and Ellen had been accepting of it ... up until relatively recently."
• "And then I terminated the relationship with this other woman. I was angry because I had to make a decision."

In Ed's Mensa-wisdom, it seemed being truthful with the police was the right strategy. It didn't matter how motivating the events leading up to Ellen's murder seemed, Ed's "out sailing with friends" alibi was undeniable. During this initial questioning though, did investigators think to perform a physical examination of Ed's body? His witnesses shared that he'd been wearing long pants and a long-sleeved turtleneck – it was pretty obvious he was hiding something.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

Of course, dismantling Ed's alibi meant reexamining Ellen Sherman's time of death. When found, Ellen's body was in a late stage of rigor mortis. Upon death, the human body stiffens for 12-24 hours before "becoming more pliable." There was an image shown just past the episode's 11:20 mark – a nude, male in full rigor mortis. As disturbing as the dead body is, I wondered about the entire scene. It looks like the photo is taken in the shower/bathroom area of a prison, and the body is bridging two stools with only its stiffness supporting it.

The trial, telephones, and TMI

With very little in the way of physical evidence, Ed's conviction boiled down to the case's circumstantial facts. It was stated that jurors didn't put much weight into the testimony of the 9-year-old girl that picked up the phone extension and heard Ed talking to no one on the other end. The article cited that the girl's age led to jurors' choosing to not rely on her recollection being entirely accurate.

A younger audience without exposure to the set-up of a home's standard "land line" might have difficulty understanding how a child could accidently listen in on a phone call. I haven't had a land line in any home/apartment I've lived in since 2003. But it wasn't all that long ago that the only phone in a home was a shared, wall-mounted phone, often in the kitchen. Additional receivers were usually kept in other rooms, and these all shared one line; one number.

Image credit: Episode screen capture from Forensic Files

If Ellen had indeed been the victim of a random attack, the biological evidence on the Shermans' bed might have been valuable. There was a disgusting abundance – "150 to 200 semen stain[s]". Either the Shermans needed a better washing machine, or they should've considered buying new sheets every so often. I'm sure waving that black light over their bed caused it to light up like a Christmas tree.

This crime became the source of a 2017 paper written by Dr. Henry Lee and others called "Cold Case Investigation: The Ellen Sherman Case". It also speaks to the exhumation of Ellen's body to get a DNA sample from her fetus. Investigators wanted to conclusively show Ed Sherman was the baby's father. The DNA proved this true.

Where is Ed Sherman now in 2024?

In 1992, a jury found Ed Sherman guilty of first-degree murder of his wife Ellen. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison. A few years into his sentence, Ed Sherman died of a heart attack at the age of 52.