An Eye For An Eye

A Beloved Doctor Is Murdered In Cold Blood

(CBS)  Throughout Schwartz's murder trial, Stidham's family sat in disbelief. "They had warned us there'd be photos, and I was prepared for that. But when they took his wallet out of the evidence bag, I mean I just gasped. Seeing a tangible thing that was my brother's. That's what got me," Stidham's sister Andrea remembers.

But it's the lack of tangible evidence on Bruce Bigger that Brick Storts zeroed in on: if Bigger stabbed Stidham, why wasn’t there any blood on him? "Not one drop of blood or any other evidence of any violent crime is seen on Mr. Bigger," Storts pointed out.

The state made its case not on blood evidence, but on a partial DNA sample they said Bigger left on the radio knob of Stidham's stolen Lexus. "Had we not found the DNA in the car, this might have been the perfect crime," Lafferty said.

The state's expert testified that the odds of the DNA belonging to someone other than Bruce Bigger are overwhelming -- one in 20 million.

But in a dramatic turn of events, a defense expert forced Lafferty to concede that the math was wrong.

"If the DNA is now called into question, maybe Bruce Bigger's not involved. Maybe the jury now has reasonable doubt for a not guilty verdict," Van Sant remarks.

"Well, that's not exactly how that works out because even a defense expert could not exclude Bruce Bigger. The issue was about numbers," Lafferty says.

Storts attacked the very heart of the state’s case: the timeline that Stidham died shortly after setting his office alarm at 7:26 p.m. His expert said Stidham may have died after 9 p.m.

"If that's the case, Mr. Bigger couldn't have been the killer. Because he was with Dr. Schwartz, with Lisa Goldberg," Storts said.

"If Dr. Stidham wasn't dead by 9 p.m., what was he doing? He didn’t go back into his office. The alarm wasn’t undone and reset. He made no cell phone calls," Lafferty pointed out.

Storts said his client was only guilty of having a big mouth. "Because Dr. Schwartz was a boar and talked about things that he had no business shooting his mouth off about and liked to apparently have quite a stable of female acquaintances, that doesn’t make him a murderer."

Schwartz never took the stand. After nine weeks of trial, closing arguments began.

"He wasn’t successful at first...but he kept on trying like a homicidal energizer bunny he kept going and going and going until he found Danny and when Danny died he kept going and going and going until he found Bruce," Lafferty claimed.

"The state has not met their burden to prove Dr. Bradley Schwartz guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," Storts argued.

The jurors took their time and deliberated for days. When they reached their decision, it was a surprise for both sides: the jury was hung on the count of first degree murder. But Schwartz was found guilty of conspiring with Bigger to murder Stidham

Four weeks later, Schwartz, the once prominent doctor who threw it all away because of a misguided sense of revenge, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

But it's little consolation to Brian Stidham's family and all who have been touched by this tragedy are haunted by the "what ifs."

---

Bruce Bigger, the hired killer, was convicted and is serving life in prison with no chance of parole.

Bradley Schwartz is appealing his conviction.

The Arizona State Bar disbarred Lourdes Lopez.

[Justice411]

My daughter was a patient of Dr. Stidham's. He was the kindest doctor I have ever come in contact with. He wasn't the type of doctor, in my opinion, to get the patients in and out. He made sure my daughter was comfortable. When we first started going to Dr. Stidham, my daughter was wearing a head device for plagiocephaly. He remarked that his son had to wear one for a short time. He offered to hold my daughter while I put her helmet back on. He was just a nice man and the title of "Doctor" just seemed to be that to him-a title. He didn't deserve to die. I think about his wife and his children all the time. He performed my daughter's first eye surgery in June 2004-four months before he was murdered.

Now it's been 5 years since Dr. Stidham was brutally murdered. I wish he could be here to continue caring for my daughter's eyes. I am still angry that such a kind, caring person could be taken away in such a horrific manner. I will continue to pray for his family.

[zazupitts]

I was a patient of Dr. Schwartz.. and got to know him... what I do not understand is......... He was under a therapist's care .. and why didn't the therapist tell the authorities that he was addicted to oxycotin .. (hillbilly herion) why in God's name didn't this therapist (woman) turn him in.. or help him.. he was so hyper and you could tell he needed help.. I fault the woman ... (I think her name was Joy)... for not taking action .. Schwartz is a very dynamic personality .. charming.. and highly intelligent. This is truly a tragedy that I feel could have been avoided if only his therapist would have taken the responsibility of her patient's obvious problems and handled it correctly.

[graceesmom]

buttermilk12, I too am wondering why they are showing all these reruns. I think they have been showing them for at least 3 or 4 weeks now. Maybe they''ll get some new interviews soon.

[graceesmom]

I am also wondering why his wife wasn''t on the program. Murphy tells of the wife looking over an estate document and she also knew that Schwartz didn''t like Stidham. Is there any speculation of the wife because she named Schwartz as an enemy of Stidham because they said that it was a stretch for a Schwartz to do this to Stidham after 2 years. So perhaps the wife could have been involved at some point? Not that she was having an affair with Schwartz but just she might not have been happy with her husband anymore. I know the last thing on my mind in a crisis like this would have been legal documents. Schwartz might not have been totally alone in doing this but I think he would have snitched out the wife for his own gain. Just wondering..

[buttermilk12]

I just want to know why 48hrs keep putting all these show as new, when they are all reruns?

[rn37]

Why wasn''t the wife on the program? They left me to think that although she was not a suspect that somehow she was a bad person/wife. Why only his sister and mother spoke?

[dlucero76]

What baffles me is how vain so many woman can be, having *** with this punk just because he''s a doctor. My advise is get tested for STD''s as for the doc well he''s going to get plenty of *** in the joint because they are going to love his pretty white tail and than there''s the fact that many in the joint fell as though society has delt them a raw deal and there''s a doctor in there and had it all and threw it away because he though he was a tough guy, well I hope he likes it rough because that is how he is going to get it over and over.......See ya there is justice in the world.

[drdavedmd]

What a loser Dr. Shwartz was! Was it all worth it? And he was so dumb to invite his accomplice to dinner. If you''re going to kill someone you do it privately and don''t talk about stuff in the open with other people. This is common sense. And then he gives him the scrubs. What another dumb move. Don''t you think that would look odd??? Wouldn''t that be suspicious? And then using the cell phone to call and tell him that he got his money? Everyone knows that if you were going to commit something so heinous such as this that you should use pay phones! All these murderers are not so smart. They leave so many clues to make the puzzle fit so nicely. Idiots therefore need to pay the ultimate price. Justice was served.

[cricketmk3]

I can''t understand why all those women would want to be involved with Dr. Schwartz. I would never be attracted to him whether he was a doctor with money or not!

[incog-nito]

What kind of a verdict is that? They''re guilty of conspiracy to murder, a man is dead, but they''re not guilty of murder? So does that mean the real murderer is out there somewhere? And if so, why isn''t anybody looking for him? Stupid decision by a stupid jury.

[willyaz1]

We had a son that was a patient of Dr. Stidham. He was a gentle, kind, talented man. Children responded to him well; I understand they were a big part of his practice. He was a natural. When we knew doctor Stidham, he was already in his private practice, at the location which he was killed. Our son was a patient at the time of his death. His untimely death was a terrible shock. So brutal, sad. My wife and I followed the case very closely...and coordinated a collection for Daphne and her children. My wife and I, with son, went on the walk featured in the show--very emotional. To this day, some three years later, I still can not fathom the evil that must be present in a man such as Bradley Schwartz. How many lives did he so selfishly harm...from the entire Stidham family, to his own family, to all the women he deceived, to an entire community... To Daphne...we miss your husband to this day and wish you the very best as you deal with this loss. I hope your young children get to know, in time, what a special dad they had. To his extended family...our prayers are with you: Please know that your son, in a very brief period of life, had more impact than most have in a lifetime. Thanks to the Stidham family for coorperating with this show and helping to bring this story to a broader audience. Perhaps...it will help to prevent a loss for another family. To Brian...it was a honor to know you...

[willyaz1]

We had a son that was a patient of Dr. Stidham. He was a gentle, kind, talented man. Children responded to him well; I understand they were a big part of his practice. He was a natural. When we knew doctor Stidham, he was already in his private practice, at the location which he was killed. Our son was a patient at the time of his death. His untimely death was a terrible shock. So brutal, sad. My wife and I followed the case very closely...and coordinated a collection for Daphne and her children. My wife and I, with son, went on the walk featured in the show--very emotional. To this day, some three years later, I still can not fathom the evil that must be present in a man such as Bradley Schwartz. How many lives did he so selfishly harm...from the entire Stidham family, to his own family, to all the women he deceived, to an entire community... To Daphne...we miss your husband to this day and wish you the very best as you deal with this loss. I hope your young children get to know, in time, what a special dad they had. To his extended family...our prayers are with you: Please know that your son, in a very brief period of life, had more impact than most have in a lifetime. Thanks to the Stidham family for coorperating with this show and helping to bring this story to a broader audience. Perhaps...it will help to prevent a loss for another family. To Brian...it was a honor to know you...