Delphi, St. Louis police talk about man charged with murder in Catholic Supply store

DELPHI, Ind. (WISH) — Investigators working the Delphi double homicide investigation have been in contact with police in St. Louis after a woman there was killed in a religious supplies store. 

But, officers in both Missouri and Indiana said it’s way too early to make a connection between the cases. 

Thomas Bruce, 53, of Imperial, Missouri, is charged with 17 counts, including murder, sodomy and attempted sodomy in the St. Louis case. 

According to court documents, Bruce forced three women into a back room at the Catholic Supply store. He was armed with a gun and told the women to strip. 

When one woman would not comply with his demands, investigators said Bruce shot her in the head. 

Officials said he then sexually assaulted the other women. 

Before Bruce’s arrest Wednesday and because of what police in St. Louis call “some similarities,” officers reached out about the murders in Delphi of two teenage girls in February 2017. 

Again, they said it’s too soon to know if there are any connections. 

According to St. Louis police, they looked at a couple other cases for connections as well.