Final answer:
Sam Reese Sheppard had his father's body exhumed in 1997 to try to clear his name in the controversial 1954 murder case. Sam Sheppard was initially convicted but later acquitted in a retrial. The effort in 1997 used modern forensic techniques in the posthumous attempt at exoneration.
Step-by-step explanation:
In 1997, Sam Reese Sheppard had his father's body exhumed in an attempt to completely clear his name. This case is infamously known as the Sam Sheppard murder case that began in 1954, when Sam Sheppard was accused and later convicted of murdering his wife, Marilyn. The case became a subject of widespread media attention and controversy, which led to questions about the fairness of his trial given the media circus around it. In 1966, after a retrial, Sheppard was acquitted, but debates regarding his innocence continued. The exhumation in 1997 was part of ongoing efforts by Sam Reese Sheppard to prove the innocence of his father, using modern forensic techniques.