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OREM — Conrad Truman gave police several explanations of how his wife Heidy was shot in the head last September, but now police have arrested him and he has been charged him with murder.
Police stopped Conrad Truman, 31, as he drove down Center Street in Orem Friday and arrested him at gunpoint. Orem Police Lt. Craig Martinez said there has long been questions about Conrad Truman's role in his wife's death, but it has taken until now to build a case against him.
Conrad Truman was charged Friday in 4th District Court with murder, a first-degree felony, and obstructing justice, a second-degree felony. He will make his initial court appearance Monday.
Police said money was Truman's "primary motive" in killing his wife, according to court documents. Several life insurance policies had been taken out for Heidy Truman, and combined with other benefits, Conrad Truman stood to receive $878,767 in the case of his wife's death, despite her $43,000 annual salary.
Two handguns were found in the house. A black Sig Saur .380 that the Utah State Crime Lab confirmed fired the killing shot was lying on the kitchen floor when police arrived, and a holstered silver Sig Saur .380 was sitting on the kitchen table, charges state.
Conrad Truman insisted the silver Sig Saur was his and the black gun was his wife's, but the man who sold Conrad Truman the silver gun in April 2011 told police it was the other way around. Conrad Truman had selected the silver gun for his wife because it was "girly," the man said.
Throughout the investigation, Conrad Truman was uncooperative and his stories inconsistent, according to the charges. He stopped returning phone calls from the police, including a seven-month stretch, and had stormed out when officers approached him while he was at work.
"You have questions, well they can wait until I'm ready," Conrad Truman told police, according to the charges.
You have questions, well they can wait until I'm ready.
–Conrad Truman
He initially told police he and his wife had been drinking, had exchanged some words but didn't argue, and then Heidy Truman had gone to take a shower.
Police found Heidy Truman's body lying nude at the top of the staircase, just inside the main entry of the split-level home, on the night of Sept. 30. Conrad Truman reported he heard a loud pop from near the bathroom, at one point saying he was in the kitchen making a sandwich at the time, but later claiming he was in the living room watching TV, charges state.
Either way, a medical examiner determined the single, direct shot to the head would have made it impossible for Heidy Truman to walk the 12 feet between the bathroom and the place her body was found. Instead, she would have fallen immediately to the ground, according to the charges.
Conrad Truman told a victim advocate he thought his wife had been murdered. He had heard someone yelling outside his home prior to the gunshot, he said, and saw a man "that looked like he was talking to himself" before going back inside, charges state. He told his brother-in-law a black man had entered the house, and he had seen the man run out just before his wife was shot.
Conrad Truman reported he heard a loud pop from near the bathroom, at one point saying he was in the kitchen making a sandwich at the time, but later claiming he was in the living room watching TV.
He also suggested on several occasions that the bullet could have come through the bathroom window or the shower wall, but there was no physical evidence to corroborate that theory, according to the charges.
Phone records also revealed Conrad Truman had called his wife's cell phone, and a call lasting 94 seconds was logged 12 minutes prior to Conrad Truman's 911 call reporting his wife was bleeding from the head and needed help.
However, Conrad Truman had insisted several times to police that Heidy Truman had been in the shower for 20 minutes prior to her death, the same time the phone call occurred, charges state. Conrad Truman said he had no idea why he would have called his wife while she was in the shower, and had no knowledge of the call.
Conrad Truman later suggested the shooting was accidental, and provided several theories of suicide, charges state.
Video Contributing: Sam Penrod
