Claire Sheldrake

"You have no idea what it's like. Wondering, always weighing your looks and your age against the next young thing to walk into your husband's office. Every year they get younger and thinner, and he stops coming home at night."

- Claire Sheldrake, before her arrest Claire Sheldrake is a one-shot villainess from CBS' long-running series, Diagnosis Murder. She appeared in Season Eight's "Less Than Zero."

She was played by Michelle Burke.

Claire Sheldrake is the wife of nutritionist Hank Sheldrake, who was having an affair with his celebrity client, Thalia Roselawn. As Claire revealed after Thalia suddenly died of cardiac arrest, she had known about the affair and Hank's other indiscretions. However, she had also harbored resentment over Hank's cheating, and when it came to Thalia, Claire murdered her by poisoning her. It was also revealed that Ciaire signed Thalia's name to love letters threatening to blackmail Hank if she didn't marry him.

Later in the episode, Claire received news from Jesse that Thalia's sister, Heather, may have killed her--with the motive being that she was in love with Hank and she attempted to frame him. She received the same news from Steve Sloan about Heather, stating that if there was proof that she signed Thalia's name, they could arrest Heather. With that, Claire began writing Thalia's signatures on a notepad, and then returned to the house so she could plant them there and frame Heather. However, the scheming villainess was caught by Steve and a group of police officers, while it was revealed that she was under surveillance the entire time. After voicing her true bitterness over Hank's affairs, Claire was arrested for Thalia's murder.