Columbus unsolved murders of 2 college students to be topic of NPR-owned podcast
A new true crime podcast is investigating an Ohio cold case with ties to Columbus.
"Mary & Bill: An Ohio Cold Case" explores the 1970 Columbus murder of couple Mary Petry and William (Bill) Sproat, which is still unsolved over 50 years later. WKSU, an NPR station based in Kent, Ohio, is producing the podcast.
Petry, from Portsmouth, Ohio, was a student at Mount St. Joseph University when she caught a bus to Columbus to visit Sproat, who was studying at the Ohio State University, for the weekend.
The two first met when Sproat, originally from Pennsylvania, studied French at Xavier University, according to previous reporting from The Enquirer. They were known for their passion of studying the French language and had both studied in France.
The couple planned to relax and listen to music at Sproat's apartment the Friday night Petry arrived, but Sproat's roommate walked in to a gruesome sight the Saturday morning of Feb. 28, 1970.
Sproat and Petry were found stabbed, strangled and bludgeoned with no signs of forced entry into the apartment. The grisly murders were often compared to the Charles Manson murders of 1969 due to their savage nature – wire clothes hangers, a kitchen knife and a bowling ball were used in the crime.
Podcast host Justin Glanville, whose father was friends with Sproat when the murders occurred, works alongside the victims' sisters to interview the couple's friends and those involved in investigating the case to try and find answers.
The first episode, "Their Deaths Still Haunt," is available on major streaming services. New episodes will release every Wednesday until Sept. 6. Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call the Columbus Police Homicide Case Review Unit at 614-645-4036 or submit a tip on the podcast's website.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 'Mary & Bill' NPR podcast to cover murders of 2 Ohio college students
