Latest news with #TruckStopSerialKiller
USA Today
05-03-2025
- USA Today
'Truck Stop Serial Killer' gets 65 years in prison for killing of Indianapolis woman
'Truck Stop Serial Killer' gets 65 years in prison for killing of Indianapolis woman A man dubbed the 'Truck Stop Serial Killer' has been sentenced for the 2007 killing of an Indianapolis woman. He is already serving life sentences for two other killings. Show Caption Hide Caption 'Closure becomes very sloppy' says family that's waited 17 years for justice Carma Purpura was abducted from the Flying J truck stop on the southside of Indianapolis and murdered. Her family's waited 17 years for justice. An Illinois trucker linked to the deaths of at least half a dozen women received a 65-year prison sentence for the killing of one of his victims, an Indianapolis woman. Bruce Mendenhall, a former long-haul trucker who prosecutors say used the cab of his 18-wheeler as a "killing chamber," was sentenced on Monday after being found guilty last month of murdering Carma Purpura. Her body was found alongside a Kentucky highway over four years after she was last seen at an Indianapolis truck stop. The sentence in Marion County Indiana for the killing of the 31-year-old mother is just the latest for Mendenhall, dubbed by local media as the "Truck Stop Serial Killer." The 73-year-old is already serving two life sentences for the killing of two women in Tennessee. He is also charged with murdering a woman in Alabama. Investigators believe he's behind killings in Georgia and Indiana, according to reporting by the Indianapolis Star, part of the USA TODAY Network. Mendenhall also received a 30-year prison sentence for soliciting the murder of three witnesses in the case of the murder he was first arrested for, Sara Nicole Hulbert, a 25-year-old found in a Nashville parking lot, according to the Star. The convicted serial killer's murder spree took place in 2007. Nashville police arrested him just hours after he was last seen with Purpura early on July 12 of that year. He was convicted in 2010 of killing Hulbert and in 2018 for the killing of Symantha Winters, 48, of Lebanon, Tennessee. His sentencing Monday brings an end to the 17-year wait for justice for Purpura's family. Catching a killer Mendenhall may have never been caught if not for a chance encounter with an astute detective. On the morning of July 12, 2007, police spotted a yellow truck similar to one seen on surveillance footage near a parking lot in Nashville where a woman's body was found two weeks earlier. Veteran homicide investigator Pat Postiglione approached the 18-wheeler and spied blood on the thumb of the man behind the wheel— Mendenhall. He asked to look inside. More: Family of woman murdered by suspected serial killer has waited 17 years for justice The search uncovered blood throughout the truck's cab, on a .22 caliber rifle and inside a trash bag containing women's clothing and shoes. Police also found an ATM card, cellphone and other items belonging to Purpura. He asked Mendenhall if he was the man police were looking for in connection with the body found at the truck stop. Mendenhall stared back and shrugged. 'If you say so,' he said. The interaction at the Nashville truck stop gave police a lead that connected Mendenhall to the four killings for which he was ultimately charged. Trucker charged in 4 murders, suspect in others All four women Mendenhall was charged with killing in 2007 died similarly – left nude, heads covered in plastic bags secured with tape and shot in the back of the head. He kept souvenirs from at least some of his victims, records show, including hair and a tattoo cut from one victim. The body of Symantha Winters, 48, was found June 6 stuffed into a garbage can at the Pilot Travel Center in Lebanon, a community about 25 mile east of Nashville. Mendenhall received a life sentence for the killing in 2018. Sara Nicole Hulbert, 25, was last seen alive June 25 in Nashville. Her body was found in the same parking lot where police arrested Mendenhall. He was convicted in 2010 in her killing. Mendenhall next faces charges in Alabama for the the July 1, 2007, killing of Lucille "Greta" Carter. The 44-year-old woman's body was dumped next to a trash bin on a service road in Birmingham. Purpura was last seen in the early morning hours of July 12 talking to Mendenhall at a Flying J Travel Center in south Indianapolis. Her body was found alongside a Kentucky highway four years later. More: How an alert detective and a victim named Carma ended trucker's multi-state murder spree Police suspect Mendenhall is also behind the killings of Deborah Ann Glover, 43, and Sherry Drinkard, 43, in 2007, according to the Star. Glover's body was found January 29 in a motel parking lot in Suwanee, about 30 miles northeast of Atlanta. Drinkard's body was found February 22 at a TravelCenters of America truck stop in Lake Station, outside Gary, Indiana. More: Chicago teen charged as serial murderer: 'Difficult to comprehend' six killings Who are some of the most notorious serial killers of the century? Stories of serial killers from Jack the Ripper to John Wayne Gacy can make their heinous crimes seem like a thing of the past. But cases like Mendenhall's show they are not a dying breed. Chicago authorities announced last week they caught a suspected teen serial killer. Antonio Reyes, now 21, is charged with six murders. Around the same time Mendenhall was on his killing spree in the U.S., authorities in Russia were prosecuting Alexander Pichushkin, the so-called "Chessboard Killer" because after his arrest police discovered a chessboard with dates in each square that corresponded with different killings. He was ultimately convicted of killing 48 people. Anthony Sowell, known as the Cleveland Strangler, was convicted of murdering 11 women between 2007 and his arrest in 2009. He died in prison in 2021. Police arrested and charged Rex Heuermann in 2023 in connection with the Gilgo Beach serial killings. The 61-year-old is charged with murdering seven women. Many of their remains were found on the Long Island beach in 2010 and 2011. Reta Mays, a former nursing assistant, pleaded guilty in 2020 to injecting eight veterans with lethal amounts of insulin, killing seven in 2017 and 2018. She was sentenced to multiple life sentences in prison. More: Chicago serial murder suspect charged with terrorizing guard, inmate behind bars Contributing by Tim Evans, Investigations Editor at the Indianapolis Star.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Could Kentucky get its own DOGE? Lawmakers forward proposal for KOGE
FRANKFORT, Ky. (FOX 56) — Some Kentucky lawmakers are hoping to model the new presidential administration's increased focus on transparency and eliminating waste. If Kentucky were to create its own Office of Government Efficiency under this bill, it wouldn't exactly mirror the cuts we're seeing by the similarly named DOGE in Washington, D.C. Instead, the bill would make use of the existing powers of Kentucky's auditor. Beshear confirms 24 severe weather deaths in Kentucky 'Truck Stop Serial Killer' sentenced to an additional 65 years in prison Could Kentucky get its own DOGE? Lawmakers forward proposal for KOGE 'This is a continuing effort of fiscal responsibility,' the bill's sponsor, Sen. Lindsey Tichenor (R-Smithfield), said to lawmakers at a committee meeting on Monday. Tichenor said the intent of the bill is to see more accountability and transparency with how Kentucky spends taxpayer money. Senate Bill 257 would create a dedicated Office of Government Efficiency that operates within the existing Auditor of Public Accounts office. It would require annual performance audits of state agencies to identify waste and opportunities to cut costs. 'It's been sort of left to the wayside for the last few administrations. And that's really a matter of resources. There hasn't been the staffing; there has been the funding available to do that kind of work,' Auditor Allison Ball explained to lawmakers. Ball said this is technically nothing new, and the office already has the power to do performance audits. By putting this into law, it makes them an annual requirement, with the findings required to be published in a report each year to the governor and the Legislative Research Commission. The office would not have the power to make cuts itself. Lexington high schools ranked among Kentucky's best in 2025, according to Niche 6 day hikes for spring in Kentucky Music, food, bourbon and cars: Time for Kentucky's 2025 spring festival season 'That should give people a lot of comfort that there are guidelines. We're not just making stuff up and just sort of looking through things; there are guidelines for how to figure out 'is this efficient,'' Ball explained. Ball said the office would not need any new money right now to start hiring personnel and would lean on existing money the office is able to generate but needs the legislative green light to use. Unlike the federal DOGE, this would be a permanent function of the auditor's office. Senate budget chair Chris McDaniel (R-Ryland Heights) voted in favor of the proposal, but not without underscoring the need to understand the full scope of the bill. 'This is one of those situations where if we get it right, it will do wonderful things. If we get it wrong, we will embarrass ourselves, and we have to be right,' McDaniel said. Linda McMahon confirmed as Trump's Education secretary Democrats want Trump to confront the human toll of layoffs at address to Congress Could Kentucky get its own DOGE? Lawmakers forward proposal for KOGE The bill passed committee with 9 members in favor and a single Democrat passing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
