Suspect arrested 2nd time in 1997 Fort Worth slaying of prison ministry volunteer

Fort Worth police arrested Michael Puryear in connection with the killing of Verna Dennis. Puryear — who was arrested this week at his home — faces a capital murder charge, with his bail set at $500,000.

Jail records show Puryear remains in Tarrant County custody as of Tuesday evening, and it’s not clear if he has an attorney.

On Aug. 10, 1997, members of Dennis’ Bible study group had discovered her body in her home in the 4300 block of West Clayton Road, according to Dallas Morning News archives. They had gone to check on her because she missed Sunday school that day, police previously said.

Police said Dennis was found fatally beaten in her Ridglea Hills home, suffering several blunt-force injuries to her head and back along with lacerations to her neck and torso. At the time, robbery appeared to be a motive in the slaying as her car was missing along with valuable jewelry.

Authorities found her car, a 1993 Acura Legend, almost a month later in the parking lot of a 24-hour Kmart in San Antonio, according to archives.

Dennis, a prison ministry volunteer and owner of a local beauty shop, was last seen Aug. 9 when she left a state prison in Huntsville after a scheduled prison ministry appointment, according to police. She was also the mother of Puryear’s college roommate.

Two arrests

The arrest Monday was the second time police has arrested Puryear in connection with the slaying.

Court records show Puryear was first arrested in 2006. A Tarrant County grand jury charged him with capital murder in 2009.

Charges were dismissed, prosecutors said, because of Puryear’s “credible alibi, weak DNA evidence and questions about the truthfulness of a main witness,” the Associated Press reported.

According to Fort Worth police, a witness contacted a homicide detective in 2005 and gave information on a possible suspect. Puryear told a witness, who then told police, that he’d killed Dennis, the mother of his college roommate at Southwestern University in Georgetown, the AP reported.

Detectives further investigated the tip and were led to Puryear as the suspect, police said. Prosecutors said at the time the informant’s story was not credible, according to the AP

Recent advancements in DNA technology allowed for testing that was not previously available then, police said. Homicide Detective Jeff Bennett reopened the case and built on the previous work.

Police did not share details about Bennett’s investigation or what new evidence led them again to Puryear but said his investigation “was pivotal in adding to the evidence in this case.”