What Happened to Billy Pruin

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on a mild summer morning in June 1995. A 27-year-old television news anchor named Jody Husentrout hurriedly left her apartment in Mason City, Iowa. headed for work. But she never arrived and her disappearance has never been solved. In 2003, Two television news reporters created FindJody.com, a website dedicated to preserving Jody's memory and keeping her case alive. This is the official Find Jody podcast. Welcome back to the podcast and thank you for listening. I'm Scott Fuller.

In this episode, we'll be doing some digging into a long-standing rumor about Jody's disappearance, really surrounding Jody's case. It has to do with something that happened a couple of months before she disappeared. One of her friends in town died. of an apparent suspicious suicide. And when Jody disappeared, the timing raised some questions. Maybe the friend's suicide and Jody's disappearance had something to do with one another. Perhaps one even caused the other.

Maybe Jodi's digging into whatever had happened to her friend led to her disappearance just a few weeks later. That's been the speculation and the rumors for the last 25 years. This episode of the podcast will examine what the Fine Jody team has been able to uncover about the death of Billy Pruin. It's finally time to tell you what we've learned.

Billy Pruin was a 41-year-old man living in Mason City in the spring of 1995. He was a hard worker and a devoted father to his two daughters. He was also a friend of Jody Husentrout. Not a close friend, but they did know one another, mostly from the bar scene around town. The two were a part of some of the social groups that would gather at the hot spots.

at the time, and both Billy and Jody were known to frequent the OP bar especially. It's Monday night, April 3, 1995, about three months before Jody Husenfruit would disappear that summer. Billy Pruin is out late with friends. They were watching the NCAA Basketball Championship between UCLA and Arkansas. Billy put some money down on the Bruins, and friends say he was in good spirits after they won that night.

Billy was out until about 11.30 that night watching the West Coast game, ironically, on KIMT, the same television station Jody anchored the morning and midday newscasts on in Mason City, Iowa. The following day, Tuesday, was a beautiful day across Iowa, temperatures rising into the 60s.

and billy pruin went about his usual routine he was making final arrangements with his local bank to secure financing for a piece of farm equipment he was set to buy the next day that next day wednesday the weather was not so nice highs reaching only into the 30s Billy bundled up several layers and made the trip to the bank and then to the farm implement dealer to purchase a new tractor. He bought the tractor and drove it home that afternoon, where he would have arrived at about 12.45 p.m.

And that was after the last time Billy Pruin was ever seen alive. He'd been due at his daughter's high school event that evening, but he never showed up. Sometime later, a friend of Billy Pruin's arrived at his home. The friend noted that Billy's newly purchased tractor was parked right next to his vehicle. He noticed the door to his machine shed was also open, which would have been very unusual if Billy were not home.

The friend also noted the kitchen door to the home was left open and the keys to the door were still in the lock. That in and of itself was not unusual. According to the friend, he had a habit of leaving his keys dangling from the lock. But what was strange is Billy Pruin was nowhere in sight. The friend called out for Bill throughout the home but received no response, so the friend left without entering the house. The following day, Thursday, April 6th.

1995. Billy's concerned mother arrived at the home and tragically discovered her own son dead on the dining room floor of his house. She called the police. Jurisdiction fell to the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff's Department as Billy's home in Mason City was in the rural parts of town. They responded along with the medical examiner and the investigation into Billy Pruin's death began.

Like everyone else who knew Billy Pruin, Jodi Hoosentroot was reportedly very upset by the news that her friend had died. And like everyone else, she would have been confused by it. Word spread that Billy had died from a gunshot wound, and police were beginning to consider his death a suicide, but that didn't make sense to anyone who knew him. Billy Pruin had been in good spirits in the days prior.

And of course, if he had designs on ending his own life that afternoon, why would he have made arrangements to buy a new tractor? Billy's family, his moms, and young daughters also couldn't accept that Pruin might have wanted to kill himself. He was a devoted son and father. He enjoyed his friends, and he enjoyed his life in Mason City. No one could have imagined why Billy Pruin would have wanted to kill himself. But Pruin's death was ruled suicide by authorities and deemed closed.

Jody, who's in truth, disappeared about three months later. And Jody and Billy, having known one another, fed the local rumor mill two suspicious deaths of two people who knew one another inside of about two months. Some have wondered publicly. if there's a connection. Fine Jody has obtained copies of the original investigative reports in Billy Pruin's case. And a few years ago, Billy Pruin's family, his daughters, hired a private investigator, a man named Don Sasma, to investigate.

The Fine Jody team met with him in person this month to discuss his findings in detail. Start recording and I'm going to put my phone right by you then, Don. And it's just going to roll. Was Billy Pruin's staff a suicide? Was he murdered? And what does his death have to do with the Jody who's in true disappearance? That is coming up next.

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We have you covered with bold hues, soothing neutrals, and everything in between. Visit your neighborhood Sherwin-Williams store or shop the sale online. Delivery available on qualifying orders. Click the banner to learn more. Retail sales only. Some exclusions apply. See store for details. Billy Pruin was from the area. He was married shortly after high school, and the couple had two children. But the marriage didn't last.

Even so he remained very much involved in his daughter's lives. They were 12 years old and 10 years old in 1995. Prior to his death, again, according to police and those who knew Billy Pruin, his mood was happy and upbeat. The previous weekend he'd spent with both of his children and his girlfriend, and their time together was by all accounts enjoyable.

According to police and those interviewed, Billy Pruin was not a drug user. He frequented the bars in Mason City with friends, but when he did, his alcohol consumption was limited to a few beers. He's been described as a good farmer and a level-headed businessman, but this was an area of stress in his life in the weeks leading up to his death.

as he learned a seed company he'd been working with for several years would be changing their operations and had decided not to grow in pruens area this coming season which would have been weighing heavily on his mind

What follows is read directly from the official Sheriff's Department case file. Some of the names have been changed to protect the privacy of those mentioned. William Pruin's activities for the days preceding his death were as follows. Pruin's girlfriend alleges that on Sunday, April 2, 1995, in the early morning, William Pruin asked her to marry him on the way to the church.

After church, they went to Mr. Pruin's mother's house. From there, they went to Mr. Pruin's residence. At approximately 2 p.m. that day, Mr. Pruin went to Williams, Iowa with his two girls, and his girlfriend went home to Osage. Later in the day on Sunday, William Pruin arrived at

Williams, Iowa at his ex-wife's home and dropped off the girls. He had a long talk with his former wife and it was agreed that Bill was coming down to Williams on Tuesday, April 4th to attend a function that the girls were to be in. After the talk, he headed home. That was the last time that his former wife

and the girls saw Mr. Pruin. Pruin's girlfriend advised that at approximately 8.30 p.m. on Sunday she called Bill Pruin from Osage but she received no answer. The exact time on this was 9.03 p.m. On Monday, April 3rd, 1995, approximately 4 p.m. William Pruin left with a group of individuals to a Final Four party in St. Ansgar. His girlfriend telephoned Mr. Pruin on April 3rd at approximately 7.59 p.m. and received no answer. Sometime later that evening, Mr. Pruin and his friends returned back.

from the party in St. Ansgar. Early morning on Tuesday, April 4th, 1995, Pruin's ex-wife stated she talked with William Pruin by telephone. She indicated that Bill was in a good mood and planning on attending the function for his girls later that evening. At 9 a.m. on April 4, 1995, William Pruin was at Boatmans Bank in Mason City for approximately 30 minutes.

While he was at the bank, Mr. Pruin mentioned to the president of the bank that he could not buy rounds of drinks that evening because he was going to be busy with an activity with his girls. The round of drinks Mr. Pruin referred to was because he won the pool at the Final Four party on the previous evening. left the bank.

He returned at approximately 10.30 a.m. to do some banking business and then left again. Sometime around noon on Tuesday, April 4th, William Pruin drove his pickup to the Implement dealer to pick up his tractor. He spoke with a salesman for about five minutes. The salesman recalled the last words Bill said. to him before leaving were, quote, damn corn anyway, unquote.

The salesman indicated he believed Mr. Pruin was talking about the loss of his seed corn contract, which he'd mentioned on previous occasions. Mr. Pruin left the implement dealer, driving his tractor home and leaving his pickup truck there. Pruin's girlfriend indicated she called William Pruin twice on the...

evening of Tuesday, April 4th. It should be noted she did call once on the evening of April 3rd and six times on the evening of April 5th. According to her telephone record, there were no calls on the evening of April 4th. April 4th was the evening that Mr. Pruin was to be in Williams to attend the function with his

girls, he did not make it to that function. On Wednesday, April 5th, 1995, at approximately 9 a.m., a friend of William Pruance attempted to make contact with Bill by phone. A friend was unable to make contact with him and left a message on Bill's telephone answering machine.

3 p.m. on April 5th, the friend drove to Mr. Pruin's residence. He indicated that the blazer was parked in the drive by the house and also the tractor. The friend knocked on the door. There was no response. The wooden interior door was partially open and the keys were in it. The friend opened the screen door and knocked on

the door, yelled inside to see if Mr. Pruin was home and there was no response. The friend initially thought this was somewhat strange. The doors to the shed as well as the back door of the residence were partially open. The friend assumed that Mr. Pruin was somewhere in the area and had to run a short errand. The friend indicated

He was not going to wait. He would see Mr. Pruin later. On the morning of April 6, 1995, at approximately 9.10 a.m., William Pruin's mother called the sheriff's office, indicating she had found her son deceased.

She had gone to his residence to check on him, and she had not heard from him in a few days. When she arrived, the wooden interior door was partially open with the keys still in it. His mother went into the residence. She observed the smell inside the residence. When she walked in the dining room, she observed her son.

lying on the dining room floor next to the dining room table with a revolver a short distance away. It was apparent that Mr. Pruin was deceased. She then contacted the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff's Department by dialing 911.

The toxicology reports came back negative. William Pruin was a 43-year-old male who was basically in good health and had no history of depression. The victim was lying a few feet in the dining room to the north of the kitchen. Mr. Pruin was in a semi-fetal position with his face down.

Mr. Pruin was wearing a gray coat with a sweatshirt underneath. He was wearing brown pants and he had on boots. Mr. Pruin had his glasses on. The weapon was located approximately two feet to the southwest of the victim, pointing in a northwesterly direction. There were blood droplets on the...

kitchen to the south of the dining room. Our investigation would indicate that William Pruin was shot while standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room. He fell forward, falling against the dining room chair before he fell to the ground. Evidence would indicate that Mr. Pruin was shot in the right chest with a bullet

entering and traveling upward at approximately a 45 degree angle. This is corroborated by the medical examiner's report. The slug from the weapon continued upward, striking the kitchen ceiling in the northwest portion of the kitchen. The weapon recovered at the scene was a Ruger .44 caliber Magnum Super Blackhawk revolver. The weapon contained four live rounds and one spent cartridge. The spent round was top dead center. There was no suicide note located at the scene.

William Pruin did have a life insurance policy for $250,000. The sole beneficiaries are his two daughters. Every investigative finding has been taken into consideration in the analysis of this case. In conclusion, all matters of the death were evaluated. the analysis of the investigation would conclude that the death of William Thomas Pruin was a result of a self-inflicted single gunshot wound to the chest.

That's where things have stood officially. And a few years ago, Billy Pruin's daughters, now in their 30s, hired a private investigator to take another look into the case. Because, again, it just didn't make sense to them. No suicide note was found at the scene. Billy Pruin had just bought a brand new tractor. He had just proposed to his girlfriend, even, and had shown no outward signs of depression or otherwise unusual behavior for him.

pruin was found with his winter clothes on he'd been wearing his boots inside which everyone says he never did and while it does happen shooting oneself in the chest is a relatively rare form of suicide Rumors about Billy Pruin's murder had swirled from day one, and of course later in the summer when Jody Husentrout was abducted, a connection was made in the minds of many.

Billy and Jody hadn't been close friends, but they did know each other. And what were the odds that such a suspicious suicide and then a brazen abduction might be linked somehow? The PI hired by the family to get to the bottom of the situation is Don Sasma, a former investigator in Ramsey County, Minnesota, with 30 years of law enforcement experience. With the blessing of Bill Pruin's family,

Don met with me for several hours earlier this month to lay out everything he'd learned from the investigation. So that was the back door entering the house. The keys were in it. Door was partially open when Bill was found. And kitchen ceiling, a lot of it's not out there, but that's where the bullet hole was. It was located right by the fan up there. The bullet did not fully penetrate the ceiling at all. The slug was found on the kitchen floor, and that was located by the steps going down.

down to the back door is where they always found. As you've heard, Billy Pruin had been shot with his own .44 Magnum revolver, which was found next to his body, down near his feet. One shot had been fired from the gun. The slug traveled upward through Pruin's body and it struck the kitchen ceiling above before falling to the floor. Already this would have been problematic for a theory of suicide.

Most fatal, self-inflicted gunshot wounds are to somewhere other than the chest, and even among those suicides of gunshots to the chest, a downward bullet trajectory is present 85% of the time. according to a 2012 study, but Billy Pruin had been shot at an upward angle. And this made Don Sasma wonder from exactly what angle had Pruin been shot. So he constructed a perfect model.

and using lasers determined the bullet's trajectory. And using the crime scene photos, we marked all the areas off, you know, positioned the hands, legs, head, etc. Large black tape on this floor in this photo is showing where the table's at. These were approximates. Law enforcement never took any measurements at the time and realistically there really wasn't any need to take them.

so a device was constructed using lasers to determine the trajectory rod and lasers were about the same position as the entry and exit wounds so you can kind of see this little homemade gadget right there along with the width and everything and

Entry wound, exit wound, made so it could go up and down, everything else. And we'd watch through various positions throughout the house and line through with that ceiling hole. You kind of see the laser light up there. And at that position, that's... the floor so that's the trajectory it had to be going all the way up so if someone shot him they they would have had to be looking up from that dot from that dot crouched all the way down because he would have been right there

It's physically impossible. Okay. Sasma's investigation of the scene took into account measurements and information that hadn't been collected by the original police investigation, and what he found was stunning.

it was physically impossible for Billy Pruin to have been shot by another person. Given the trajectory of the bullet up through Pruin's body into the ceiling and the arrangement of the kitchen, Sasma determined another person of any size could not be crouched or consorted in such a way as to explain prune's wounds and the bullets trajectory in other words billy prune could not have been murdered that brings us back to suicide

And then those confusing circumstances of Pruin's apparently normal mental state at the time, the actions he took, buying a new tractor, proposing marriage, not usually consistent with a person who's planning to take their own life in the coming days.

But if it wasn't murder, what then could investigator Sasma's evaluation of the scene tell us about a possible suicide? To start with, Don schooled me on a phenomenon called cadaveric spasm. It's what they call cadaveric spasm. Have you guys ever heard of that?

Is that what happens when you die, basically? It's what they call it. It can be the death grip. Right. Yes. It's rare. It happens. You'll see it in drownings. If a person can be recovered, they might have weeds in their hands and stuff like that.

they drown they're grabbing right it's an almost an instantaneous is what it is okay sometimes when a person dies violently or is undergoing extreme emotions at the very moment of their death a cadaveric spasm of muscles can occur it's most commonly present in someone's forearms or their hands and fingers and unlike the process of rigor mortis which is a temporary stiffening of all the muscles in the body

When a cadaveric spasm occurs, the effects are permanent. It's much harder to reverse. A cadaveric spasm, when its presence, can freeze the last action that a person takes before death. And this effect of a cadaveric spasm was present in both of Billy Pruin's hands. So we're able to see exactly what position his hands and his fingers were in at the moment of his death.

And before we go any further, there's something unique about Billy Pruin that you need to know here. He was left-handed, but he shot with his right hand because he had to. Part of Billy Pruin's left thumb... had been amputated after a farming accident. So if Pruin were to shoot himself, it would need to be with his right hand. You notice the right hand right there? You notice how that pinky was way up?

And the finger's coming down. You see how you thumb in the index? You got the barrel right there. So you're saying when he died, he had his hand around the barrel? Hand around the barrel, right. Not on the... Don Sazma discovered that Billy Pruin's right hands, his shooting hands, had not been holding the handle of the revolver the instant he died but instead had been wrapped around the barrel of the gun which only deepens the mystery

Meanwhile, Pruin's left hand showed major swelling on the pad of the hand beneath his amputated thumb, which also needed to be explained. But if Pruin only shot with his right hand,

And if he couldn't have been shot by another person in the room, given the trajectory of the bullet, what happens to Billy Pruin? Some of us who have wondered about a possible connection between Billy Pruin's death and the Jody Who's in True case have fallen victim to something called the fallacy of limited choice. It's a false dichotomy. It's when we use a premise...

to force a choice by artificially limiting the options. It's an either-or. So in this case, Jody Who's Intrude's disappearance is our premise, and from that we force a choice. Was Billy Pruin murdered, or did he kill himself? By falling victim to this fallacy, we forget that there is a third option. There's a known history of him having skunks, and one person said, you know, it wouldn't be uncommon for him to grab the .22 in the house.

shoot through the window the weapon he would have used for rodents would have been his 22 with a rifle he entered his house left the door open because he was going to go back outside he kept his boots on normally he took them off He went through the kitchen to the dining room to obtain his .22 rifle. When he got to the secretary, he looked for his .22 rifle. Noticed it wasn't there.

A little bit puzzled as to why not. Decided to grab his .44 Meg Super Blackhawk because it was already loaded. Gripping the weapon with both hands, physically cocked the weapon. Took a few steps into the kitchen, maybe a few more. It was just a matter of seconds.

probably still wondering where's the 22 and then it occurred to him that he moved up to his bedroom because the kids were there over the weekend and decided to turn around and go get it so he turned around in the kitchen started the walk normal walking speed towards the dining room as he neared the

dining room with both hands on the handle of the 44 mig he was going to make the weapon safe again by decocking the hammer that requires one thumb on the hammer to maintain slight pressure while the trigger is being depressed so it doesn't go off

While still in the kitchen, as he neared the dining room, his left foot slipped on the wet area of the floor, causing him to lose his balance. When this happened, he tried to stabilize his weapon, or he could have even juggled it for a second. Those are unknowns.

He grabbed the barrel with his right hand. His left hand was around the handle of the firearm. The front part of his right boot got caught on the ridge going into the dining room. He continued to step forward with his left leg in an attempt to regain his balance. normal reflex of a person to extend an arm and hand to break the fall and because of this reflex Bill let go of the firearm with his left hand and was going to use his left hand to break the fall.

Once he lost a grip on the firearm, the palm part of his hand was about even with the back part of the handle of the firearm. There was a slight gap between the firearm and the palm area of his hand.

pressure applied to the trigger would cause the weapon to discharge this was the actual watch on his hand on his left hand at the time and note the metal part and the part in which the band slips through we're talking about right there There was a wide enough gap, so when his left arm was extending, either of these would have easily brushed up against Traeger, causing the discharge of the weapon.

According to his professional examination of the scene, Don Sasma concluded that Billy Pruin accidentally shot himself. He was not murdered. He did not commit suicide. Every day, somebody in America is killed by the accidental discharge of a firearm, and on that one day in 1995, it was Billy Pruin of Mason City, Iowa. I was stunned. And for hours that day,

Don Sazma and I discussed every last detail of the scene, from the gun to the blood spatter, and everything before, after, and in between. So that's going to be a location, entry room, right upper chest, 1.8 centimeters right there. So that's on the left hand.

the meaty area right by the thumb and manufactured trigger point was about 3.75 pounds 240 grains soft point velocity trails at 1475 feet per second you have the 14 inches 7 inch barrel and all that strong probability that ice particles they were temporarily embedded on the bottom of his boots fell onto the kitchen floor so this would be impossible for someone else to be in front of so a 90 degree that's going to be almost straight coming down

Don Sazma admits that we may never know the scenario exactly, what exactly Billy was thinking when he fell, but the forensic evidence documented in his investigation tells the scientific story of what happened to Bill Pruin.

His death was an accident. As rumors about Pruin's death being connected to Jody Husentrude's disappearance have persisted for years, Sasma says he brought the results of his investigation to the Mason City Police Department so they could focus their efforts in Jody's case elsewhere. His findings have never been made public until now.

Seedon's family members, children and grandchildren, they see this stuff all over social media, and there's no reason for this rumor, stuff going around from these conspirators. It's been on the news stations time after time, year after year. The children of Bill.

They shouldn't have to put up with that kind of crap. All these years later. All these years later, and it keeps on getting brought up. And, you know, I talked to the one daughter last night, and, yeah, they would like this all to come to an end. The impact on the descendant's families and friends, it doesn't last for a day or two.

It's on for the rest of their lives at this point, years upon years. False statements claiming your parents associated with big-time drug dealers, you know, there's no need for that. The death of Mr. Bruin was a freak accident. The least that could be done is the Iowa Cold Case website changes death to solved by the constant listing as it unsolved.

causes amateurs and conspirators who have never seen actual reports and photographs related to an investigation causes nothing but additional rumors and speculation to get circulated to others. This results in law enforcement receiving frivolous leads from the public. These frivolous leads result in law enforcement utilizing their resources and matters that actually become more of a hinder to the investigation and does nothing more than muddy.

the waters of the investigation that should be conducted. A couple of years ago, Bill's surviving's daughter and other family members for the first time in decades finally had some closure and peace of mind to the case where they'd get on with their lives. About a year ago, once again, some conspirator theorist contacted one of the daughters when identifying himself, claiming to be working on the Jody Huson Truitt case. Last night with a phone conversation I had with one of the daughters,

that they would appreciate it. Those who don't have the facts to quit contacting them and furthermore would appreciate it if they would let their father rest in peace and quit trying to stir things up. When things get stirred up on social media, friends of Bill's daughters start contacting them and start asking them questions about their father's death. You know, there's no reason for that to happen.

There is no evidence of Billy Pruin's drug use, much less evidence of his being involved in a drug ring. While Jodi Hoosentruit certainly expressed concern and sadness to others about her friend's untimely passing, there is also no evidence that Jodi was investigating Billy Pruin's death as part of her reporting.

In fact, her bosses at the time have confirmed to find Jodi that she was not. The takeaway is there is no known connection between Bill's death and Jodi's disappearance. Thank you for listening. And keep those comments, questions, and tips coming. The team email is team at findjody.com.

Find Jody is a nonprofit organization run by volunteers. Any financial contributions are greatly appreciated. They make everything that we do, including this podcast, possible. You can find the link to donate at findjody.com. For the rest of the team at Find Jody, I'm Scott Fuller, and there's plenty more on Jody's case to come.

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