Judge to issue verdict in Tait Purk murder trial Dec. 8

TOLEDO - A District Court judge will issue his verdict in the first-degree murder trial of Tait Purk at 2:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8.

Purk, 51, is accused of killing his fiancee Cora Okonski on Palm Sunday, April 16, 2000. Okonski was 23 years old the day she went missing from the couple's home in Tama. Her body has never been found, a point the defense has brought up repeatedly at trial.

Prosecutors say Purk killed Okonski by and buried her body in a remote area.

Purk was found guilty in May by an Iowa County jury - the trial was moved from Tama County - only to have the conviction overturned by 6th Judicial District Judge Mitchell Turner, who ordered a new trial for Purk.

Turner later recused himself from presiding over the new trial, for which Purk waived his right to have a jury decide his fate. Judge Ian Thornhill was then assigned to preside over the new trial, which took place in Tama County earlier this month.

Thornhill will issue his verdict at the Tama County Courthouse in Toledo.