PROVO — Saying that corrected crime scene measurements show it's possible an Orem woman could have killed herself rather than been murdered, a judge has granted her imprisoned husband a second chance before a jury.
In an order handed down Wednesday, 4th District Judge Samuel McVey ordered a new trial for Conrad Truman, 34, who was convicted almost two years ago of murdering his wife, 25-year-old Heidy Truman.
While Truman's attorneys outlined several reasons why they believe a new trial is warranted, the judge hinged his decision on just one issue: Incorrect measurements recorded at the crime scene and presented to jurors.
At some point during the investigation by Orem police, a measurement of the Truman hallway where Heidy was shot was changed from 139 inches, or about 11.7 feet, to be 13.9 feet. McVey called the error negligent, creating the impression that Truman's account that his wife shot herself, stepped forward and collapsed was especially improbable.
"The significance of these errors is that under the correct dimensions the victim could have indeed shot herself, taken a step and a half and then reached the point where she was found. Thus, instead of the suicide scenario being virtually impossible, it became possible," McVey wrote.
Prosecutors had argued that Truman's story didn't match up with where his wife's body was found, saying after she was shot she would have had to walk several feet down the hallway before collapsing. Considering the new measurements, Truman's account matches the scene, McVey said.
The judge noted that neither prosecutors nor Truman's trial attorneys would have had reason to question the report given them by police, or to go back and remeasure the home themselves.
While Truman's actions at the home that night provided "ample evidence" that could have swayed a jury, McVey wrote, those accounts must be weighed against the corrected crime scene information. Police have pointed at Truman's reportedly bizarre behavior after his wife was shot, railing at arriving officers when they told him to move away from the woman.
Truman's attorneys, Mark Moffat and Ann Taliaferro, dispute those claims.
In light of the judge's ruling, deputy Utah County attorney Ryan Peters said prosecutors are evaluating how to proceed with the case. They have not yet determined whether they will proceed with the new trial, he said Wednesday.
Taliaferro said Truman's defense team anticipates filing a motion next week asking that he be released from prison as he awaits the new trial.
Truman maintained during his trial and at sentencing that he did not murder her as the jury concluded, but that she in fact shot herself. He is currently serving 15 years to life in prison for murder with a consecutive one-to-15-year sentence for obstructing justice.
Heidy Truman was shot once in the head in the couple's Orem home on Sept. 30, 2012. While Truman insists he heard a popping noise that night before rushing down the hallway to see his wife collapse from a self-inflicted gunshot, her family claims she was a tragic victim of domestic violence.
Following his wife's death, police said Truman reported at different times that his wife had shot herself accidentally, proffered reasons why she may have killed herself, or said that she had been shot by an intruder or a stray bullet from outside.
Prosecutors said the couple was underwater financially and that, in an attempt to get money, Truman upped the life insurance policy on his wife and then killed her.
Truman's attorneys assert there was no financial motive for the crime, and disagree that Truman provided a variety of explanations of how his wife was shot. Rather, they say Truman was traumatized, confused and hysterical when unsympathetic officers pressed him for information immediately after the shooting.
Truman's appeal also cites the flip-flop by deputy medical examiner Edward Leis, who after the trial stepped back from classifying Heidy Truman's death a homicide.
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