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Season 5 episode 13 of Accident, Suicide, or Murder will focus on the death of Judy Moilanen, who was murdered in cold blood by her husband Bruce Moilanen.
Judy's death was initially believed to be an accident but later the investigators determined that she was murdered and worked relentlessly to uncover her killer.
Ultimately, Bruce Moilanen was found guilty of premeditated first-degree murder on January 21, 1994, by an Ontonagon Jury. He was sentenced to life without chances of parole. As per prison records, he is incarcerated at the Lakeland Correctional Facility, a Security Level II prison in Michigan.
The upcoming episode that will focus on this homicide is titled The Killing Season. It will air on Oxygen on December 7 at 8 pm ET.
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The entire timeline of Judy Moilanen's death and the involvement of her husband Bruce Moilanen
Reportedly, Judy and Bruce Moilanen met each other in 1976 and got married in 1978. In 1979, they gave birth to a daughter, who they named Elise. However, the family didn’t stay happy and complete forever. On November 29, 1992, Bruce, Judy, and her parents went deer hunting post-Thanksgiving. Reportedly, Judy took her dogs along in the woods to accompany her in the hunt.
A couple of hours later, when everyone returned home, Judy was the only one who didn’t make her way back. When the search for her began, Judy’s mother Mary Ann was the first to discover her dead body.
Reportedly, Judy Moilanen was shot in the heart and the bullet exited her body. The investigators initially believed her death to be an accident, alleging that a hunter shot her mistakenly. However, Detective Bob Ball, an important figure in this case, did not agree with this theory. Ball also found the victim’s husband's (Bruce Moilanen) behavior odd after his wife’s demise, which made him suspicious.
Allegedly, Bruce Moilanen blamed Judy for her death, claiming that she wasn’t wearing a reflective orange vest, because of which she was shot in the heart by a hunter, who came steak hunting.
Shortly after her death, Bruce went on trips, enjoying his life, and supposedly showed no remorse. He also showed interest in other women including Gayle Lampinen and Judy’s friend Lee Anne Wysocki Jessop.
Bruce allegedly admitted to Gayle that he would soon receive a sizable sum of money as a result of Judy's passing. Thanks to her life insurance policies, he could purchase a fortune and earn close to $330,000.
During investigations, it was discovered that Judy had escaped a fatal accident earlier and managed to survive. Reportedly, after the first accident, the couple's house caught fire in another accident, however, Judy was lucky once more as she wasn't harmed. The detectives now suspected Bruce even more.
When the bullet in the wood, which earlier pierced Judy’s heart was discovered, forensics stated that it was from a .30 caliber rifle. Although Bruce didn’t claim to own such a gun, the detectives discovered that he owned a .39 caliber rifle, which he had listed as collateral on a bank loan.
Confession and sentencing of Bruce Moilanen
When Gayle revealed to authorities that she did not have any interest in Bruce and the detectives broke the same news to him, it crushed his ego and made him confess to the murder of his wife.
Allegedly, Bruce Moilanen claimed that Judy Moilanen was a not-so-perfect wife and she had also claimed to divorce him. He also claimed that Judy was a "tyrant" both at home and in her workplace. Hence he killed her because a divorce would be stressful for him financially as he would have to split his assets.
Although Bruce confessed to the crime initially, he later recanted and said that the confession was a forced one as the police had threatened him earlier. However, on January 21, 1994, Bruce was found guilty of the premeditated first-degree murder of Judy and sentenced to life without parole.
He got a second sentence 'Weapons Felony Firearms' on the same date for which he received a prison term of 2 years.
To learn more about this case, watch the upcoming episode of Accident, Suicide, or Murder on Oxygen, titled The Killing Season. The logline for the same reads as:
"when a woman is found dead in the woods, she is the assumed victim of a tragic hunting accident."
The Killing Season airs on Oxygen on December 7 at 8 pm ET.
