Michael Puryear biography: 10 things about Houston, Texas man

Michael William Puryear is an American man from Houston, Texas, United States. Here are 10 more things about him:

1. Aside from Houston, he has lived in other parts of Texas including Dallas, Rosharon, Brazoria, Fort Worth and West Lake Hills.
2. He attended Southwestern University in Georgetown, Williamson County, Texas. Verna Lee Dennis‘s son was his college roommate.
3. He was 36 years younger than Dennis.
4. He allegedly used a steel pry bar to strike Dennis in the head 23 times and a butcher knife to cut her throat and stole her jewelry and 1993 Acura Legend. She was found dead inside her residence in Ridglea Hills, Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas on August 9, 1997. Her car was found in the parking lot of a 24-hour Kmart in San Antonio, Texas in September 1997.
5. In 2005, an informant told police that he had made a detailed confession to killing Dennis.
6. In 2006, he was arrested in connection with Dennis’s murder and charged with capital murder based on a confession Brian Burroughs gave to police.
7. In June 2007, he posted bail and was released from jail.
8. Represented by Larry Moore, he was set to go to trial on June 15, 2009 but on June 1, 2009, Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office prosecutor Bob Gill decided to polygraph Burroughs and subsequently, the district attorney’s office dropped all the charges against him.
9. In June 2023, he turned 46.
10. On July 31, 2023, Fort Worth Police Department officers arrested him at his residence in Fort Worth in connection with Dennis’s murder again and booked him into the Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth. Bond for him was set at $500,000.

Verna Dennis was a vivid person, passionate about her faith and helping others, who knew how to have fun, her daughter said. Fort Worth police arrested a suspect in her death this week. https://t.co/XDDAZIM3hb

— Fort Worth Star-Telegram (@startelegram) August 7, 2023