RICK: Hey, so what do we got here?
I've got some courtroom drawings from the 1954
Sam Sheppard murder trial.
RICK: Whoa.
The movie "The Fugitive" and the series "The Fugitive"
was loosely based on this guy.
EARL: Right.
RICK: Not only did this influence pop culture,
but Dr. Sheppard's case literally
changed the way we gave a fair trial in the United States.
It was that big.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[WOMAN SCREAMING]
EARL: First of all, I love art, and I love history.
And this was exactly art history.
These are all the original drawings
that were used to put it in newspapers and magazines
and for the television stations.
I'm hoping to get $5,500, and the least I'm going to take
is $5,500.
RICK: How did you get these?
EARL: I bought them from an art collector.
OK.
This is some cool stuff.
I really like it.
You had a really successful young doctor.
And supposedly, he was sleeping on the couch, hears a scream,
goes upstairs.
Someone hits him over the head.
When he wakes up, his wife is murdered.
Goes to trial.
Found guilty, and then 10 years later goes back to trial
and found not guilty.
To this day, it's still unsolved.
EARL: Exactly.
The murder of Dr. Sheppard's wife
was one of those courtroom dramas
that captured the imagination of the American people,
and the press more or less pegged Sheppard as guilty
before they ever went to court.
It was so bad the Supreme Court ordered them to retry the case.
This picture right here, frown on his face--
it adds a little touch of evil.
EARL: Exactly.
RICK: I think in a drawing you can have
your feelings come out a lot more
than you can with a photograph.
Who drew these?
EARL: Burris Jenkins, Jr.
RICK: Burris Jenkins, Jr.
EARL: Right.
And he did approximately one drawing, one panel a day.
There's about 35 drawings here.
RICK: OK.
A newspaper illustrator was a regular gig for an artist
back then.
It attracted some great illustrators
looking to pay the bills.
What did you want for them?
EARL: I'd like $5,500.
RICK: OK, so you got 35 drawings here, huh?
EARL: Right.
RICK: I know about the trial.
I don't know anything about Burris
Jenkins, Jr. It's a hard time trying to figure
out what they're worth.
[SIGHS]
I'm going to give someone a jingle.
He might be able to help me out with this.
I'd just like to give him a call, get his opinion on it.
OK.
RICK: These drawings are a unique look at one
of the most infamous trials of the 20th century,
but I'm curious about the artist.
If he turns out to be famous, this collection
could be really valuable.
[CASH REGISTER RINGS]
BRETT MALY: The Sam Sheppard trial, wow.
That is very cool.
Courtroom drawings, it's kind of a dying art form,
but it's really unique in that it
dates back hundreds of years.
Actually, it dates back as early as the Salem witch trials.
So it's really quite fascinating.
EARL: I think so too.
BRETT MALY: These pieces, they're very unique.
It has an enduring appeal.
There was "The Fugitive" television show.
There was, of course, the movie.
I think these sketches would really appeal to someone who's
a fan of memorabilia or aesthetic artwork
that you normally would put over your sofa or your mantle.
So it basically just tells the story from the start
of the trial to the finish.
It shows him in prison.
It shows him testifying, shows some
of the actual settings where the alleged murder took place.
The Sam Sheppard case was one of the very first cases
in the 20th century that really generated a lot of buzz,
and these sketches were really the only window
for the general public to see what was going on.
Jenkins was a pretty famous artist in his own right.
He was really well known as a cartoonist throughout New York.
I've seen what good courtroom sketches have sold for,
especially if it's a known or notable case.
Individually, these could sell for a few hundred dollars.
But this is a case, I think, where the whole is much greater
than the sum of the parts.
For a collector of historical memorabilia or somebody
who's a real enthusiast about the case and "The Fugitive,"
I could see this approaching--
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
--$10,000.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[CHUCKLES] All right.
You're the best, man.
BRETT MALY: Hey, thanks for having me down.
RICK: I had no idea these could be worth so much.
That puts me in a tough spot.
As much as I want the drawings, it could
take a long time to sell them.
I know he said $10,000, OK.
But I don't know if I'm going to have to frame this up.
I don't know exactly what I'm going to have to do to it,
and mind you, it is really interesting.
It's really cool stuff.
EARL: Thank you.
RICK: I'll give you four grand for it.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
How about $4,000 cash and $1,000 in trade.
No trade.
EARL: No trade.
No partial--
It all works out the same in the end.
OK, I'll do $4,500.
Like I said, it's really odd art.
EARL: Oh, but it's very historic.
RICK: I know it's historical and everything,
but it's just odd art.
Meet you in the middle, like $4,250?
$4,500.
It's a good deal.
$4,500.
[SIGHS] I'll give you $4,300.
$4,500.
How about $4,500?
RICK: $4,300.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
I'll take it.
RICK: OK.
All right, I'll meet you right over there,
and I'll write you up. - Thank you.
I bought the collection originally for $399.
[CHUCKLES]
I think what I'm going to do with $4,300,
I'm going to go take a trip to Key West, Florida,
and do some fishing.
[MUSIC PLAYING]