[title_words_as_hashtags
ON AUGUST 19, 2015, Jan Pigman-Kruse was found dead in her Minnesota home.
Here’s everything we know about Jan Pigman-Kruse and her cause of death.
2
Who was Jan Pigman-Kruse?
Jan Pigman-Kruse was born on September 24, 1974, in Worthington, Minnesota.
She went to Worthington Community College where Pigman-Kruse received her associate’s degree.
On October 7, 1995, Jan married Christopher Kruse. The two share a daughter named Bailey Kruse.
According to Jan’s obituary, Jan enjoyed traveling, quilting, and gardening.
She was 40 years old at the time of her death.
What was her cause of death?
In the early hours of August 19, 2015, Christopher Kruse dialed 911 after discovering his wife had been shot in the chest.
Kruse claimed they were sleeping when he heard the shot in their small town home in Brewster, Minnesota.
After checking on his daughter in another room, Kruse reported the crime to law enforcement.
Kruse said the unidentified intruder came through the back door.
Jan’s autopsy revealed that Pigman-Kruse hadn’t been in any physical altercation leading up to her death but that she was most likely awake.
2
Was her killer caught?
In March 2019, Chris Kruse was indicted for the first-degree premeditated murder of his wife.
At the crime scene, two 12-gauge shotgun shells were found which matched Kruse’s shotgun.
Though Kruse claimed an intruder broke in and killed his wife, he made no attempts to increase security in the days following the murder.
However, after 12 hours of deliberation from the jury, on February 13, 2020, Kruse was found not guilty.
The investigation has since been closed.
NBC’s Dateline released a two-hour-long episode of Jan’s death in 2020 called Far From Spider Lake.
On March 19, 2023, during Dateline Weekend NBC, the network will re-air the episode.
You can watch the Far From Spider Lake episode on NBC on Sunday at 7pm ET.
