The Vanishing of Sharon Ann Martin: A Fortune, A Maintenance Man, and a Body Never Found
March 31, 2006, started as an ordinary Friday for Sharon Ann Martin. The 53-year-old property owner went about her business showing an apartment at one of her complexes on East Nine Mile Road in Pensacola, Florida. She called her husband, Calvin Wilson, at lunchtime, just as she normally would. That phone call would be the last time anyone who loved her would ever hear from her again. What followed was a case that would expose complicated relationships, suspicious financial transactions, and a trail of evidence that pointed to murder without ever producing the one thing that could definitively prove it: Sharon's body.
Sharon Ann Martin was no ordinary missing person. An Air Force veteran and former flight attendant, she had built an impressive life for herself. By 2006, she had accumulated a fortune estimated at $2.5 million, primarily through real estate investments. She owned and managed apartment complexes in the Pensacola area, including the property on East Nine Mile Road where she was last seen alive. Her husband, Calvin Wilson, was a respected attorney in the community, and by all accounts, Sharon had achieved the kind of financial security that most people only dream about.
But Sharon's life was not without its complexities. Those who knew her understood that she could be unpredictable. She had a history of disappearing for extended periods without warning, sometimes vanishing for as long as eight months at a time before resurfacing as if nothing had happened. This pattern of behavior would later become a crucial element in the legal case that followed her disappearance, as defense attorneys would argue that Sharon might have simply left of her own accord, as she had done before. However, this time felt different to those closest to her. This time, something was terribly wrong.
At the center of the investigation was John Homer Docherty IV, a maintenance worker at one of Martin's apartment complexes. Docherty lived and worked at the property, occupying a room in exchange for his labor. According to Docherty, his relationship with Sharon went beyond that of employer and employee. He claimed they were close friends, spending considerable time together when they weren't working. He described their bond as sibling-like, saying they would go camping together and that Sharon had confided in him about her lonely childhood. Docherty maintained that Sharon "didn't have nobody" growing up, and he had become an important person in her life.
Sharon's husband, Calvin Wilson, saw things very differently. Wilson later testified that he found the relationship between his wife and her maintenance worker "off-putting." He suspected that the two were having an affair, a claim that Docherty vehemently denied. Whether their relationship was romantic, platonic, or somewhere in between, one thing became clear as investigators began to dig into Sharon's disappearance: Docherty's behavior in the days following March 31 was deeply suspicious.
About a month after Martin vanished, authorities arrested Docherty on charges of grand theft, forgery, fraud, and illegal use of a credit card. The evidence was damning. Docherty had used Martin's credit card at a local Walmart multiple times after her disappearance. He had also attempted to cash a forged check in her name. For someone who claimed to have a close, caring relationship with Sharon, his actions suggested something far more sinister. These weren't the actions of a worried friend. These were the actions of someone who knew Sharon wouldn't be coming back to report the theft.
When investigators searched Docherty's apartment at the complex, they discovered evidence that would transform the case from theft and fraud into something far more serious. Hidden beneath a rug and a piece of furniture in Docherty's bedroom, detectives found a bloodstained section of carpet. The blood was tested and matched Sharon Ann Martin's DNA. There were also other possible blood traces found in the apartment. Someone had clearly attempted to conceal the bloodstain, placing objects over it in an apparent effort to hide what had happened in that room. Docherty would later claim that Sharon was clumsy and often banged herself up, insisting the blood was from an accident she had sustained while hanging out in his apartment. It was a convenient explanation, but one that investigators found hard to believe given the context of everything else they had uncovered.
In November 2006, eight months after Sharon disappeared, Docherty was charged with her murder. As the case built momentum, witnesses came forward with chilling testimony. One witness told investigators that on the night of Martin's disappearance, Docherty had asked him to help lift a heavy trash can into a dumpster. The weight and feel of the container bothered the witness so much that he actually asked Docherty if there was a body inside. According to the witness, Docherty didn't answer directly but instead paid him $450 in cash after they had placed the can in the dumpster. That same night, another witness observed Docherty searching through the dumpster with a flashlight. Investigators believe that Docherty may have removed Martin's body at that time and disposed of it elsewhere, which would explain why her remains have never been found despite extensive searches.
The prosecution's theory was straightforward: John Homer Docherty IV had killed Sharon Ann Martin to get access to her $2.5 million fortune. Whether they were lovers or simply close friends, Docherty saw an opportunity to enrich himself and took it. The blood in his apartment, the use of her credit cards, the forged checks, the suspicious dumpster incident, all of it painted a picture of a man who had committed murder and was now trying to profit from it.
When the case went to trial in February 2008, Docherty's defense team mounted a vigorous challenge to the prosecution's narrative. They focused on the fact that Sharon's body had never been found, arguing that there was no concrete proof she was even dead. They pointed to her history of disappearing for extended periods, suggesting that she might have simply left her life behind once again. As for the bloodstained carpet, the defense maintained it was the result of an accidental injury Sharon had sustained before her disappearance, nothing more sinister than that. They portrayed Docherty as a scapegoat, a convenient target for a crime that may never have been committed.
The jury faced an incredibly difficult decision. Without a body, without a definitive crime scene, without witnesses to the actual act of violence, how could they be certain beyond a reasonable doubt that Sharon Ann Martin had been murdered, let alone that John Homer Docherty was the one who killed her? In the end, the jury reached a compromise verdict. They acquitted Docherty of the more serious charge of first-degree murder, but they convicted him of manslaughter. It was a decision that reflected their belief that Sharon was dead and that Docherty was responsible, but perhaps they weren't convinced that the killing had been premeditated or that the prosecution had proven every element of first-degree murder beyond a reasonable doubt.
Docherty was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. For investigators and for Sharon's family, particularly her husband Calvin Wilson, it was both a victory and a disappointment. They had gotten a conviction, but not the murder conviction they believed the evidence warranted. More frustratingly, they still didn't have Sharon's body, and without it, there could be no proper burial, no final closure to a tragedy that had already taken so much from those who loved her.
Throughout his incarceration, Docherty maintained his innocence. He insisted repeatedly that he had no idea what happened to Sharon or where her body might be. Investigators made multiple attempts to get him to reveal the location of her remains, even offering him deals that would have required him to disclose where Sharon was buried or disposed of. Docherty consistently claimed he had nothing to tell them. He argued that if he actually knew where Sharon's body was, he would have said something to help bring closure to her family. Sergeant Brian Shorette, the lead investigator over cold cases for the Escambia County Sheriff's Office, later explained that this pattern of behavior is not uncommon among convicted felons. They often maintain their innocence even after release, believing it will make it easier to return to a normal life. Confessions in such cases, Shorette noted, often only come when someone finds faith and seeks forgiveness, or when they're on their deathbed trying to make things right.
In 2019, after serving his sentence, John Homer Docherty IV was released from prison. He walked out of those gates having never admitted to killing Sharon Ann Martin and having never revealed what he did with her body, if indeed he is the one who took her life. He returned to society still claiming that he was wrongly convicted, still insisting that Sharon had been like a sister to him and that he would never have harmed her.
In a 2020 interview with local media, Docherty continued to profess his innocence. He suggested an alternative theory, pointing the finger at Sharon's husband, Calvin Wilson. Docherty noted that on previous occasions when Sharon had disappeared for months at a time, Wilson had not raised any alarms. But in this case, after Sharon had been gone for just two days, Wilson filed for executorship of her estate. To Docherty, this was a red flag that should have made Wilson a suspect. However, Sergeant Shorette made it clear that investigators found no evidence whatsoever to suggest Wilson was involved in his wife's disappearance. When contacted by reporters in 2020, the then 91-year-old Wilson declined to give an interview, simply stating, "There's no point in bringing up the past."
The case of Sharon Ann Martin remains officially unsolved in one crucial respect: her body has never been found. Without remains, there can be no complete investigation into exactly how she died, where she died, or what happened to her in her final moments. The lack of a body also means that the evidence against Docherty, while substantial, remains circumstantial. The bloodstained carpet, the financial crimes, the witness testimony about the dumpster, all of it points to foul play, but it doesn't provide the definitive proof that a body would offer.
For Sharon's family and friends, the absence of closure is perhaps the most painful aspect of this tragedy. They cannot properly lay her to rest. They cannot visit her grave. They cannot be certain of what happened to her on that March day in 2006 or in the hours and days that followed. All they have are fragments: a phone call at lunchtime, a maintenance worker with suspicious behavior, blood on a carpet, and a woman who vanished without a trace.
The case highlights the challenges that prosecutors face in "no body" homicide cases. While it is possible to secure convictions without physical remains, as the Docherty case proves, it requires building an overwhelming circumstantial case that leaves no reasonable doubt in the minds of jurors. The fact that Docherty was convicted of manslaughter rather than murder suggests that while the jury believed he was responsible for Sharon's death, they may have had doubts about whether the prosecution had proven premeditation or intent beyond a reasonable doubt.
John Homer Docherty IV had a criminal history even before Sharon's disappearance. His record included prior charges related to theft, fraud, and weapons offenses. This history of dishonest behavior made his claims of innocence harder to believe, especially when combined with the evidence of financial crimes committed using Sharon's credit cards and checks after she vanished. A person with no history of such offenses might have been given more benefit of the doubt, but Docherty's past suggested a pattern of taking things that didn't belong to him.
Today, Sharon Ann Martin's case remains listed among Florida's unsolved missing persons cases. While there was a conviction in connection with her disappearance, the fundamental mystery of what happened to her body continues to haunt investigators and family members alike. The Charley Project, which maintains one of the most comprehensive databases of missing persons cases in the United States, still lists Sharon as missing, with her profile regularly updated with any new information that might emerge.
The question of what really happened between Sharon Ann Martin and John Homer Docherty on March 31, 2006, or in the days immediately following, may never be fully answered. Was there a confrontation that turned violent? Was this a calculated murder for money, or did something happen accidentally that Docherty then tried to cover up? Did Sharon trust the wrong person, or was their relationship more complicated than either side has acknowledged? These questions linger because the most important piece of evidence remains missing: Sharon herself.
As of 2024, nearly two decades after Sharon Ann Martin made that final phone call to her husband and stepped into the unknown, her family continues to hope for answers. Every year that passes makes the discovery of her remains less likely, but it doesn't diminish the need for resolution. Somewhere in Florida, possibly in a landfill that has long since been covered over, or in a location known only to one person, Sharon Ann Martin's remains may rest. Until they are found, her case will remain a haunting reminder of the lives left in limbo when justice is incomplete and the truth stays buried along with the dead.
Sources
- Sharon Ann Martin - The Charley Project
- Escambia Cold Cases: Man convicted for Pensacola woman's death maintains his innocence - WEAR
