http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/o/okonski_cora.html
New Developments in Tama Disappearance Case
http://www.whotv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1462613&nav=2HABIGBu
http://www.tamatoledonews.com/page/...ed-from-Tama--Iowa-16-years-ago.html?nav=5006Sixteen years ago tomorrow - April 16, 2000, Cora Ann Okonski, a then 23-year-old mother of a two-year- old boy, vanished from Tama. Her disappearance was reported to Tama Police two days later, on April 18, by her fiance, Tait Otis Purk.
Since that time Tama Police and the Tama County Sheriff's Office have been agencies focusing on what happened to Okonski and the case remains active.
However, Tama Police Chief Jason Bina said Monday there has been no recent information received in the case.
Law enforcement sources involved with the 2000 disappearance of Cora Ann Okonski in Tama told The Chronicle / News-Herald on Thursday, Nov., 10, the case is now classified as a homicide.
Recently investigators have returned to the scene several times and have interviewed both previous witnesses and new ones, the source said.
A joint task force of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Tama County Sheriff's Office, Tama Police and Tama County Attorney's Office is involved in the homicide investigation and have concluded Okonski's disappearance was not voluntary.
A federal inmate from Iowa has been charged with murder in the death of his fiancee, who vanished without a trace in 2000.
A state grand jury returned an indictment against Tait Purk in the disappearance of Tama waitress and mother Cora Okonski, whose body has never been found.
A Tama man, charged in the homicide of his fiancé who went missing in 2000, is asking for his trial to be moved out of Tama County District Court.
Tait Purk, 50, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Cora Okonski, 23, of Tama, who disappeared in 2000. A grand jury indicted Purk on Dec. 2.
Scott Hunter, Purks attorney, filed a motion for the change of venue Thursday, claiming there is a such a degree of prejudice that exists in Tama County which would prevent a fair and impartial jury from being selected.
Purk has pleaded not guilty in the case and remains in jail pending trial.
Due to numerous factors, such a degree of prejudice exits in Tama County there is a substantial likelihood a fair and impartial trial cannot be preserved with a jury selected from Tama County, Hunter argued in a January court filing.
Prosecutors agreed, and on Tuesday following a phone hearing, District Court Judge Mitchell Turner ordered the trial be moved to Marengo, in Iowa County.
The trial is currently scheduled for May 1.
Trial for Tait Otis Purk, 50, charged with 1st degree murder, is set to begin Monday, May 1, on a change of venue from Tama County to Iowa County District Court in Marengo. Court records show the trial is expected to take six to eight days.
A former co-worker of Tait Purk testified Thursday he didnt believe it at first when Purk told him he had killed his girlfriend after she threatened to expose him for stealing a Chevy pickup and for robbing a convenience store.
It just seemed too far out there, Chad Rogers, 49, told jurors as testimony entered the second day in Purks first-degree murder trial in an Iowa County District courtroom...
John Carr, who retired from the Tama Police Department in 2012, said he had been at the home three times for relationship issues in late 1999 and early 2000. Twice, Okonski was upset but denied anything physical had happened, and the officer gave her a ride to an acquaintances house.
Tait Purk took the stand Monday, saying more than once he didnt kill his fiancée Cora Okonski and doesnt know what happened to her in April 2000.
Purk said he and Okonski, 23, had relationship problems and he thought Okonskis drug issues were to blame. Now, he said, he thinks she had mental health issues. Later in testimony, he said their relationship was good they just had arguments.
I wasnt violent, Purk said. She got violent.
During testimony on Monday, Purk explained the large bruise on Okonskis back that a dispatcher testified about last week, was from her falling, and the scratch on the top of her arm was from a cat, not the result of domestic abuse as Okonski claimed. In another incident that witnesses testified about last week involving him setting her belongings on fire and her getting burned, Purk admitted to burning the items but said Okonski slipped near the fire and was injured.
Purk said Monday he and Okonski got into an argument on April 16, 2000, over the discussion of a wedding dress. He wanted to slow things down because he didnt have the money. Purk said Okonski was upset and went for walk about 10 or 11 a.m.
Her 2-year-old son, Austin, stayed with him and Okonski didnt return until 8 or 8:30 p.m., Purk said. She was still upset and eventually went to borrow a writing pad from a neighbor.
Purk said he could see her in the bedroom when she returned and she was writing a letter. She then asked him for money to buy cigarettes. She then took the money and left.
Purk watched her go out the back door, around the side of the house to Fifth Street and walk west toward the store. He said it was the last time he saw her.
Purk denied telling Sean Ward and Chad Rogers, who testified last week, that he killed Okonski. He began tearing up and wiped his eyes with a tissue in refuting their testimony.
I dispute (that) story 100 percent, Purk said. I didnt kill her.