Dateline: As Night Fell — What happened to Heidy Truman? Details of the 2012 Utah murder, revisited

Dateline: As Night Fell deals with the case of 25-year-old Utah resident, Heidy Truman, who was brutally shot at her house in 2012. The Dateline episode titled As Night Fell was first aired in 2019 and then re-aired on January 24, 2025, at 8 p.m. ET.

The tragic death of Heidy Truman on September 30, 2012, left many unanswered questions. Her husband Conrad Truman called 911 claiming to have found his wife dead from a gunshot wound. Despite Conrad's statements and initial reports suggesting an accidental death, he was arrested for murdering his wife.

In a turn of events, years after Conrad Truman's conviction, the discovery of new evidence led to a retrial that resulted in his acquittal. The synopsis of the Dateline episode, according to IMDb, reads:

"Heidy and Conrad Truman were an enviable couple with a bright future. Then, one fateful night, Heidy was found shot and, just like that, she was gone. In the aftermath, fingers were pointed but were they aimed at an innocent person?"

Let's have a look at the details of the death of Heidy Truman, and the arrest of her husband Conrad — a case that spiraled into a trial gone wrong.

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What happened on the night Heidy Truman died as shown in Dateline?

On September 30, 2012, Conrad Truman made a frantic 911 call to the police stating he found his wife Heidy lying in a pool of blood after hearing a gunshot. Conrad claimed Heidy was in the bathroom where they argued before she locked herself up, as shown in the Dateline episode.

When Conrad tried to open the lock, Heidy asked him to leave and he went to the kitchen. Then, he heard gunshots from the bathroom. When Conrad rushed to the bathroom, he found Heidy in a pool of blood with no trace of a gun. The gun was later found several feet away from her body. After medical tests, it was found that the couple drank alcohol that night.

The gunshot wounded Heidy's temple, which initially led to confusion whether the death was a su*c*de or homicide. As per the medical examiner, Heidy's death was eventually termed as homicide. The case grew complex as there were many inconsistencies in Conrad's statements, such as he was unsure of where he was when he heard the gunshots.

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Was there a flaw in the trial of Conrad Truman as shown in the Dateline episode?

In July 2013, Conrad was arrested after being charged with first-degree murder and obstruction of justice, for the death of Heidy Truman. Investigators pointed out that the motive might be Heidy's $900,000 insurance money. On October 22, 2014, Conrad was convicted of first-degree murder and obstruction of justice.

The defense team later found evidence that proved Conrad was innocent. The most crucial finding was of the gunshot residue test taken from Conrad and Heidy. The defense retested the swabs to find that there was gunshot residue on Heidy's right hand which indicated a su*c*de. However, Conrad's swab had no residue.

Another piece of evidence was the misrepresentation of measurements by the prosecution. The prosecution used incorrect measurements that suggested Heidy's body was moved away further.

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What led to Conrad Truman's acquittal as shown in Dateline?

In 2016, the judge granted Conrad Truman a new trial stating that there was use of incorrect measurements. In 2017, he was retried with new evidence. The jury visited the location to see where Heidi had fallen dead. The defense presented corrected measurements and new findings, leading to a change in medical reports, which in turn changed the cause of death to 'uncertain.'

As per reports by Fox 13, defense attorney Mark Moffat said:

"Conrad Truman was innocent, he never killed his wife. He told police time and time again the night she passed away that he didn't shoot her, he didn't shoot her."

The jury finally acquitted Conrad Truman concluding there was no major evidence to prove Heidy's death as a homicide. However, Heidy's mother believes that it was Truman who killed her daughter. She told Fox 13:

"The murderer of my daughter has been freed. We hold true to our commitment to advocate for domestic violence awareness in my daughter's memory"

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