MARENGO (AP) — Jurors have been handed the case against a federal inmate from Iowa charged with killing his fiancee, who vanished without a trace in 2000.
The case against 50-year-old Tait Purk went to the jury Tuesday afternoon. Deliberations are scheduled to resume Wednesday. He’s accused of killing Cora Okonski. Purk has told police that she left their home in Tama to walk to a store to buy cigarettes and never returned. Her body has never been found. His attorney says there’s no evidence Okonski is dead.
Purk’s been serving time on unrelated federal drug and gun charges.
The trial was moved out of Tama County because of pretrial publicity. It’s being held in Iowa County District Court in Marengo.