|
Wrongly Convicted Database Record
|
Charge: |
"First Degree Murder and Obstruction of Justice (intimidating witness, tampering with evidence, etc)" |
Sentence: |
15 years to life imprisonment |
Years Imprisoned: |
3.58 |
Year Crime: |
2012 |
Year Convicted: |
2014 |
Year Cleared: |
2017 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Utah |
County or Region of Crime: |
Utah |
City of Crime: |
Orem |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"Conrad Mark Truman was wrongly convicted on August 22, 2014 of first-degree murder and obstructing justice in the shooting death of his 25-year-old wife Heidy Truman in their home in Orem, Utah on September 30, 2012. Truman was arrested in July 2013 when he was charged. Conrad Truman, 30, called 911 and when the police arrived they found Heidy lying face down in a pool of blood. Truman was very aggressive with the officers at the scene. He gave a statement that he was in the kitch when he heard a popping sound and rushed down the hallway to see Heidy collapse on the floor from a self-inflicted gunshot. He gave conflicting accounts of why his wife may have shot herself. The medical examiner determined from her autopsy that Heidy died of a gunshot fired in close range to her head. Truman's prosecution was based on the peosecution's theory that he shot his wife during an argument, and to collect on a $750,000 life insurance policy on her life. His aggressive behavior and conflicting assertions towards the officers who arrived at his house, and his conflicting assertions regarding the shooting was used to show he was in an aggressive and uncooperative frame of mind. Truman's lawyer argued to the jury that Heidy could committed suicide, or she could have slipped and accidentally shot herself. After his conviction by a jury, During Truman's sentencing on February 9, 2015 he told 4th District Judge Samuel McVey, "I can't say sorry for something I did not do." Judge McVey sentenced Truman to concurrent sentences of 15 years to life in prison for murder, and 1 to 15 years in prison for obstruction of justice. After his conviction new lawyers discovered that the police had falsely increased the measurement of the hallway in the Truman's house, which made the house seem bigger than it was. The jurors were told the inaccurate hallway measurement that made Truman's assertion Heidy inflicted the gunshot seem implausible given where her body was found. Based on discovery of the police's actual measurement, Utah County deputy medical examiner Edward Leis changed Heidy's cause of death from homicide to undetermined -- which had been his original ruling before being convinced by the Utah County District Attorney's Office to amend his ruling to homicide -- which was what he testified to at Truman's trial. In an Affidavit executed on August 26, 2015 Leis stated: "I can no longer state with medical or scientific certainty which individual fired the shot on Sept. 30, 2012. Based upon my consideration of the new and corrected information herein referenced, I can no longer rule out the possibility that Heidy Truman died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head." On August 26, 2015 Truman filed a motion for a new trial based on the discovery the jury had been presented with inaccurate measurement evidence and deputy ME Leis' changed Heidy's cause of death. A hearing was held in July 2016, and on August 2, 2016 Judge McVey granted Truman a new trial. McVey did note that Truman might be guilty, but the jury's verdict was tainted by the inaccurate measurement evidence: "Defendant's behavior after his wife died provided strong evidence of a guilty mind ... However, the incorrect dimensions presented to the jury in essence removed from its members the issue of reasonable doubt based on a defense theory of suicide," McVey ordered Truman could be released on $1.5 million bail, but Truman remained in custody because of his inability to pay the bail. On February 24, 2017 Truman was acquitted by a jury after his retrial. He was immediately released from custody." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Police falsified the hallway measurement in the Truman's house. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On February 24, 2017 Truman was acquitted by a jury after his retrial." |
Defendant Aided By: |
Attorneys Mark Moffat and Ann Taliaferro. |
Compensation Awarded: |
|
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
|
Age When Imprisoned: |
31 |
Age When Released: |
35 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"New jury acquits Conrad Truman of murdering his wife, By McKenzie Romero and Sam Penrod, KSL.com, February 24, 2017" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.ksl.com/?sid=43294937&nid=148 |
Information Source 2: |
"Conrad Truman found guilty of murdering wife in 2012, By Morgan Jacobsen, Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Oct. 22, 2014" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865613733/Conrad-Truman-found-guilty-in-wifes-2012-killing.html?pg=all |
Information Source 3: |
"New trial ordered for Orem man convicted of murdering wife, By McKenzie Romero, Deseret News (Salt Lake City), August 3, 2016" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865659329/New-trial-ordered-for-Orem-man-convicted-of-murdering-wife.html |
Information Source 4: |
"Orem man wants new trial, citing misconduct and flip-flop from medical examiner, By McKenzie Romero, Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Aug. 26, 2015" |
Information Location 4: |
http://beta.deseretnews.com/article/865635414/Orem-man-wants-new-trial-citing-misconduct-and-flip-flop-from-medical-examiner.html?pg=all |
Information Source 5: |
|
Information Location 5: |
|
Book About Case: |
|
Book Information: |
|
Book About Case (2): |
|
Book Information (2): |
|
Movie About Case: |
|
Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org