American businessman, a real estate developer, and homicide perpetrator.
Prunty was a Cape Cod businessman whose business had fallen on hard times. Two of his three homes had fallen into foreclosure. Shortly after his mother had died in 2001 his wife Roseanne had divorced him. At about 5 PM local time on August 7, 2004, a man was shot in the head in Prunty’s home.
Prunty’s ex-wife told a reporter that he had taken up with a bad crowd. She said that Prunty had tried to help a young man, Jason Wells, age 23, by giving him some odd jobs around the house during a time that Wells was on parole from a check forgery conviction in 2003. On the day of the alleged crime, her ex-husband had had a dispute with Jason Wells, 23, over one of Prunty’s mother’s rings that had gone missing from the house. Prunty had allegedly pointed a gun at Wells’ head. At about 5 PM local time in Sandwich, MA, Wells was taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound to his head and died in the ambulance. It was not clear upon initial investigation whether Prunty had killed Wells and Prunty was initially accused only of of assault and battery in connection with a homicide. On February 7, 2006 he was on trial, charged with first degree murder, extortion, and assault and battery. A 24-year old female witness in the home at the time testified that she had a relationship with Prunty based in drug use including heroine and cocaine and that he had shot Wells. On February 15, 2006, Prunty was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after he was convicted of first-degree murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and attempted extortion.
The Pruntys have two children, the younger of whom was born on March 15, 1995. Amanda Nicole arrived at 9:47 PM in Barnstable, MA. Roseanne Pearl (Frederick) Prunty was born in Boston on September 10, 1966 (from child’s birth certificate).