5 key details about Judy Moilanen's murder 

Judy Moilanen’s death in 1992 will be replayed in the upcoming episode of Accident, Suicide, or Murder. The case was initially thought to be an accident but was later solved with the help of hardworking detectives, who didn’t give up till the end.

On January 21, 1994, Judy's murderer Bruce Moilanen was sentenced to life when found guilty of premeditated first-degree murder.

Season 5 episode 13 of Accident, Suicide, or Murder which is centered on this case is titled The Killing Season and it premieres on December 7 at 8 pm ET on Oxygen.

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5 important details surrounding Judy Moilanen's murder

1) Judy Moilanen was killed by her husband

Judy Diane Blake met Bruce Moilanen in 1976. The couple got married in 1978 and soon gave birth to a daughter named Elise. However, the marriage didn’t stay happy forever as in 1992 Bruce shot his wife while she was out in the forest deer hunting.

It was Judy Moilanen's mother who discovered her blood-covered, lifeless body in the woods. Bruce allegedly killed his wife because she wanted to file for divorce, which would have required him to divide his assets. Thus, he killed her to avoid any financial hassle. Reportedly, Judy had many life insurance policies too, and her husband would receive a lump sum payment in the event of her untimely death.

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2) The bullet pierced through Judy Moilanen's heart

The bullet pierced through her heart (Image by Ali Hajiluyi/Unsplash)

Reportedly, Judy was shot in the heart by her husband. The gun that was used to shoot her was a .30 caliber rifle. Initially, the bullet was nowhere to be found as it pierced her heart and got lost in the wilderness. However, when an investigator finally found the bullet, it was discovered that the bullet was fired from a gun that Judy's husband Bruce Moilanen originally owned.

Later, when Bruce confessed to the crime, he stated that he had spotted Judy through the trees twice but couldn’t gather the courage to shoot, therefore he closed his eyes the third time and pulled the trigger.

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3) Bruce Moilanen recanted his confession

Although Bruce initially confessed to the crime, he later recanted all his previous statements and said that he didn’t kill his wife and the previous confession was a forced out of him by the authorities.

However, the jury ultimately found him guilty based on other circumstantial evidence, and also the bullet that was fired was from Bruce’s gun, which linked him straight to the crime.

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4) Bruce Moilanen blamed Judy Moilanen for her death, even though he shot her

Bruce blamed Judy Moilanen for her demise when her death was initially deemed an accident. He claimed that she died as a result of her negligence as she had entered the woods without wearing a luminous vest, leading a hunter to believe that she was prey.

A 1992 Associate Press article, which was titled Carelessness Hunters Equal a Deadly Season also called her death an accident and stated:

"Judy Moilanen, 35, was walking her dogs last weekend in a wooded area frequented by hunters when she was struck by a bullet. She was the fourth hunting-related fatality in Michigan this season."

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5) Bruce Moilanen ensued chaos in jail

Reportedly, Bruce was sentenced to life on January 21, 1994. However, he appealed his sentence in 1996, claiming that the police interrogated him wrongly.

He also claimed that he was moved from a two-prison to a seven-man open-type cell because of his previous appeal. Allegedly, the staff of the jail also damaged his cassette player and word processor and he also could not sleep well and was mentally unfit because of the confined environment. He also got some of the jail employees fired after he complained about them.

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To learn more about Judy Moilanen's death watch the upcoming episode of Accident, Suicide, or Murder on Oxygen. It airs on December 7 at 8 pm ET.