Murder of Brian Stidham

David Brian Stidham (August 13, 1967 – October 5, 2004) was a pediatric ophthalmologist who relocated to Tucson, Arizona in 2001 after answering a job posting from Bradley Schwartz, another pediatric ophthalmologist seeking help with his growing practice, Arizona Specialty Eye Care. Stidham was hired to take over pediatric patients, but soon after his hiring, a DEA raid in December 2001 led to Schwartz's indictment on 77 counts related to illegally obtaining prescription medication. Stidham subsequently gave notice and left to start his own practice across town.

The professional relationship between the two men deteriorated sharply. Schwartz lost his medical license following the indictment and became convinced that Stidham was deliberately poaching his patients, even after Stidham's new office opened on the opposite side of the city. Schwartz told his girlfriend, Pima County deputy attorney Lourdes Salomon Lopez, and other acquaintances that he wanted to kill Stidham.

On the evening of October 5, 2004, Stidham was found stabbed 15 times and suffering a skull fracture in the parking lot of the North First Medical Plaza where he worked. He had been killed inside his own car and then dragged out in an apparent attempt to stage the scene as a robbery; the car was later recovered more than six miles away. Investigators identified Schwartz as the primary suspect the day after the murder. Cell phone records linked Schwartz to a payphone near Stidham's office and to a hotel room he had paid for, where his hired associate, Ronald Bruce Bigger — a fugitive from Indiana with a prior record — had been staying. DNA linked to Bigger was recovered from the radio knob inside Stidham's car. Investigators concluded Schwartz had paid Bigger $10,000 to help carry out the killing. Both men were arrested on October 15, 2004, and charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

Schwartz's trial began in March 2006 and concluded on May 2, 2006. Prosecutors presented cell phone records and testimony from multiple witnesses about Schwartz's stated animosity toward Stidham. The jury convicted Schwartz of conspiracy to commit murder but could not reach a verdict on the first-degree murder charge; he was sentenced to 25 years to life. Bigger's trial ran from March 14 to May 16, 2007, and included more advanced DNA analysis. Bigger was convicted of both conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Appeals filed by both men followed sentencing; Bigger's appeal, which argued pretrial publicity had denied him a fair trial, was rejected by the Arizona Court of Appeals in May 2011. Stidham's widow, Daphne Stidham, filed a wrongful death suit in 2005 against the medical complex and separately sued Pima County and individuals connected to the case, ultimately settling for $2.29 million in 2007. Lourdes Lopez was disbarred by the Arizona Supreme Court in 2007 in connection with her role in Schwartz's drug fraud case.