A chilling double homicide from February 1970 is being reexamined in a new podcast from Ideastream Public Media in collaboration with The Ohio Newsroom. Mary & Bill: An Ohio Cold Case covers the brutal deaths of two young French scholars, Mary Petry and Bill Sproat, near the campus of Ohio State University.
Petry was a student at the College of Mount Saint Joseph in Cincinnati, and Sproat was a graduate student at Ohio State. Their lives were tragically cut short when they were found stabbed, strangled, and bludgeoned in Sproat’s Columbus apartment. Despite the gruesome nature of the crime, which involved wire hangers, a bowling ball, and a kitchen knife, there was no apparent motive or signs of struggle. In a matter of months, Columbus police had informed newspapers that they had few solid leads and didn’t expect the case to be solved.
However, Ideastream producer Justin Glanville, whose parents were acquaintances of Sproat and whose father was one of the first to arrive at the crime scene, decided to delve into the unsolved case after half a century. The program will also include insights from Glanville, who serves as the host of the podcast, as well as Martha, the surviving twin sister of Mary Petry.
The podcast encourages listeners with any information about the case to come forward. New episodes release every Wednesday through September 6th.
