Purkey then proceeded to drive Long to his home, before raping and then stabbing her to death. He dismembered her body with a chainsaw, burning her remains and smashing and scattering her bones in a septic pond to avoid detection.

Later in 1998, Purkey, then working as a plumber, beat 80-year-old Mary Bales to death with a claw hammer. After he returned to her home to start a fire – meant to cover his tracks – he was seen by Bales’ neighbors, who grew suspicious and called the police.

Purkey was eventually arrested and pleaded guilty to the murder of Bales. Yet after being sentenced to life in state prison, he voluntarily gave up information about the murder of Long in a bid to serve out his sentence in federal prison instead.