Murder of Brian Stidham

David Brian Stidham (August 13, 1967 – October 5, 2004)[1] was a pediatric ophthalmologist stabbed to death in Catalina Foothills, Arizona as the result of a murder-for-hire plot that stemmed from a colleague's professional jealousy.

[2] Bradley Alan Schwartz, also a pediatric ophthalmologist, and Ronald Bruce Bigger, a hit man, were arrested and convicted for the murder.

[6] The couple moved to Indianapolis where Stidham undertook a fellowship in pediatric ophthalmology and adult strabismus at Indiana University.

[3] Other reports suggest that Schwartz was planning to open a plastic surgery practice[8] or, at least, another office on the north side of the city.

[9] In December 2001, one month after Stidham joined the practice, the DEA raided the office and Schwartz was indicted by a federal grand jury on 77 counts of illegally obtaining prescription medicine.

"[13] From early 2001 to May 2004, Schwartz was involved in a romantic relationship with the foster mother of one of his patients, Pima County deputy attorney Lourdes Salomon Lopez.

[4] Over a two-month period during the summer of 2001, Lopez allowed Schwartz to use her name to fraudulently obtain prescriptions for the controlled substance hydrocodone.

[9] In September 2002, a grand jury issued a 77-count indictment on charges related to Schwartz writing Vicodin and Ritalin prescriptions for two patients (Lopez and Espinoza) who returned the drugs to him for his own use.

[2] In June 2003, Schwartz and Lopez were involved in a domestic altercation which resulted in an amendment to the conditions for their release, prohibiting them from having contact with each other.

"[15] Under the terms of the probation, Schwartz was barred from writing prescriptions for narcotics, required to check in with the board each day, and subject to random drug tests.

[3][12] Despite the fact that Stidham's new practice was on the opposite side of town, Schwartz was convinced that his former partner was deliberately stealing his clients.

[3] On the evening of October 5, 2004, deputies of the Pima County Sheriff’s Department responded to a report of a man down in the parking lot of the North First Medical Plaza where Stidham worked.

[4] Differing reports say his body was found by either a cleaning crew[5] or Christine Rotella, a massage therapist who had returned to the medical plaza to retrieve her forgotten engagement ring.

[3][7] On the night of the murder, Schwartz was with Lisa Goldberg, a girlfriend he had recently begun seeing after meeting her on an online dating service.

[5] The following day after a conversation in which Schwartz denied to her that he was involved in the murder, Goldberg telephoned the police to report her suspicions and indicated that a man named "Bruce" had joined them while they were at dinner.

[4][20] Bigger had previously been convicted of criminal recklessness, check deception, and possession of marijuana in LaPorte, Indiana and was a fugitive from that state.

[21] On October 28, Lopez reported that, prior to the murder, she had expressed to Paul Skitzki, a county prosecutor with whom she was on friendly terms, her concerns about what Schwartz might do to Stidham.

[3] Prosecuting attorney Sylvia Lafferty pointed to Schwartz's cell phone records, which showed that he received calls from a payphone at a Denny's across the street from Stidham's office.

Many individuals took the stand, including ex-girlfriends, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances, many of whom confirmed that Schwartz often talked about his hatred for Stidham.

[3][20] Bigger's appeal suggested that he was not afforded a fair trial on account of the copious amount of media coverage surrounding the case.

[22] Bruce Bigger's attorneys felt that the trial should have been moved out of Pima County due to the publicity the case received.

He sustained injuries to his eye sockets and tear ducts and suffered nasal damage and facial fractures that required plastic surgery.

[22] Schwartz's ex-fiancee, Lourdes Lopez, who resigned as prosecutor after being indicted in federal court, continued to work as a defense attorney after disciplinary action had taken place.

[27] According to Bonnie Booth of the American Medical News, the rarity of physician-on-physician crime was the likely reason that the trial drew so much media attention.

[4] In addition to local media outlets, Court TV and CBS's 48 Hours provided coverage to a national audience.

[29] The events of the murder were also covered in an episode of Forensic Files titled "Office Visit", which aired on January 22, 2010, on truTV.