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A Marion Superior Court jury handed down a guilty verdict Wednesday for Bruce Mendenhall, a former truck driver accused of murdering an Indianapolis woman in 2007.
Commonly referred to as “The Truck Stop Serial Killer,” 73-year-old Mendenhall has now been convicted of three murders at long-haul truck stops in Tennessee and Indiana.
Wednesday’s verdict convicted him of killing 31-year-old Carma Purpura, whose body was found on the side of a highway in Kentucky more than four years after she was last seen, according to The Indianapolis Star.
Before her death, the mother of two was seen talking to Mendenhall at a truck stop in south Indianapolis on July 12, 2007. Advanced forensic technology was used to uncover other evidence in the case, a method that proved compelling to the jury.
“It is my hope that today’s verdict brings resolution to Carma’s family and others who have waited years for answers and accountability after losing their loved ones,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said in written remarks. “This case broke due to a hard-working detective who was dedicated to working across state lines to ensure that justice was achieved for the victims and their families.”
Mendenhall will be sentenced in the Indiana case on Feb. 13. He faces 65 years in a state prison.
He already is serving two life terms in Tennessee for a pair of murders and still faces trial for an Alabama murder.
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