‘Truck Stop Serial Killer’ fails to persuade court that he was wrongfully convicted of fatally shooting Indianapolis woman

An Illinois man implicated in the deaths of women in multiple states will remain on the hook for killing a Hoosier victim — an Indianapolis woman named Carma Purpura — thanks to the work of Attorney General Todd Rokita’s appeals team. 

On March 12, the Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed the murder conviction of Bruce Mendenhall. 

“Monsters walk among us,” Attorney General Rokita said. “It’s the job of our criminal justice system to identify them, hold them accountable, and keep our communities safe. For the sake of Carma Purpura and all Hoosier victims, our team will continue doing its part on the appeals front.” 

Attorney General Rokita expressed particular gratitude to Deputy Attorney General Michelle Hawk Kazmierczak for her work on this case, as well as Criminal Appeals Section Chief Kelly Loy and Chief Counsel of Appeals Angela Sanchez. 

In 2007, after getting stopped by a Tennessee police officer at a truck stop in Nashville, Mendenhall consented to a search of his semi-truck. The officer found women’s clothing covered in blood. Mendenhall admitted to police that he had picked up a woman at an Indianapolis truck stop the night before and that she had been shot in the head with his rifle. Carma Purpura’s remains were later found in southern Kentucky near I-65. 

The State of Indiana paused its prosecution of Mendenhall while he was tried in Tennessee for the deaths of two other women. He was convicted in those cases and sentenced to two life sentences. In 2021, the State of Indiana resumed its prosecution, and Mendenhall was convicted of Purpura’s murder.  

In his appeal, Mendenhall argued that evidence was insufficient to establish that Indiana had territorial jurisdiction — i.e., that Purpura’s murder occurred in Indiana — and that the trial court erred in admitting evidence stemming from the search of his semi-truck in Tennessee because he was not advised of his right to consult with an attorney before consenting to the search. The Indiana Court of Appeals rejected these arguments. 

Mendenhall is also suspected of several other women’s deaths. 

The Indiana Court of Appeals decision is linked here.