American real estate broker who lived and traveled with Richard Eberling for 30 years as a couple from the time they met in 1960. Both said that they were not gay, but “closer than brothers.” They met at a party in 1960, both talkers and gregarious. Obie had college degrees and had served in the U.S. Navy for four years. When he was discharged in September 1954, he went into real estate. Stocky, a sharp dresser, he worked out and played tennis to stay in shape and had good-ole-boy southern charm.
Married once when young, Obie had a son.
Eberling had a police record that had began in his youth and he was arrested in 1959 for robbing 40 homes and civic buildings. His cover was that of a window-washing business which allowed him access to both residences and offices.
In 1984, Anderson and Eberling befriended an old lady, Ethel Mae Durkin. After she died of a fall, the two were investigated and found to have faked a will to inherit her $1.5 million estate, They were convicted in 1989 of her murder, and sent to separate prisons. Eberling was later investigated for a crime that happened 30 years before, the beating death of Marilyn Sheppard. He had washed the windows of the house shortly before the murder, and a ring that belonged to Marilyn was found in his possessions.
Eberling died at the Ohio State Medical Center on 26 July 1998 from natural causes.