On the morning of August 19, 2015, in Brewster, Minnesota, 40-year-old Janette Pigman-Kruse, a White woman and mother of two, was shot and killed in her bed while her husband and teenage daughter were in the house. The killing shocked the small town and left investigators searching for a motive and a suspect.

Suspicion later focused on her husband, Christopher Kruse. He was arrested in March 2019 and charged with first-degree premeditated murder, with prosecutors alleging the fatal shot came from a 12-gauge shotgun and pointing to inconsistencies in his statements and a possible life insurance dispute tied to a resort home. Christopher was tried in early 2020; the prosecution called 41 witnesses and the defense argued the evidence was circumstantial.

In February 2020 a jury acquitted Christopher Kruse of first- and second-degree murder, and a judge later granted a request to expunge the trial records. With no other suspects publicly identified, Janette Pigman-Kruse’s death remains unsolved. Did anyone in Brewster know Janette’s daily routine or have information about tensions in the household that could help explain what happened?