Silent Witness

Silent Witness is the story of Chicagoan Verna Sadock, the courtroom sketch artist for NBC TV from 1969-2012. She covered every landmark trial there was, providing America with a way to put faces to the national news every night. She started with the Chicago 7 trial and finished with disgraced Governor Rob Blagojevich's. In addition, she was an outstanding landscape, seascape, and portrait artist, with her works hanging in major museums around the world.

Looking at her life, in conjunction with these famous trials, gives a clear picture of us as a nation and Verna as a groundbreaking woman in a previously all-men's world. The parallels are both unmistakable and fascinating.

Legal buffs will enjoy the details about the trials and her behind the scenes stories. If they were notorious and on trial, whether murderer, mobster, thief, predator, or corrupt official, chances are Verna was at the trial. Read what she has to say as a silent witness who heard and saw it all.