BOSTON, Dec. 20, 2017—A Suffolk Superior Court jury today convicted a Westwood man of all charges in a 2015 sexual assault on a woman he had stalked from a nearby supermarket, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

Jurors found MICHAEL PURPURA (D.O.B. 6/22/79) guilty of aggravated rape, indecent assault and battery, strangulation or suffocation, unarmed burglary, and larceny over $250. He faces sentencing next month.

“The evidence here was chilling,” Conley said. “The attack was terrifying and the community is safer with the perpetrator behind bars. I’d like to commend the prosecutors and police detectives who built the case step by step, from witnesses to video footage to DNA, but we would never have reached this point without the survivor, whose testimony was so critical to this verdict.”

During five days of trial, Assistant District Attorneys Amy Martin and Elizabeth Riley introduced evidence and testimony proving that Purpura followed the victim, a woman in her 20s, home after she left the Star Market on Kilmarnock Street on the night of Sept. 14, 2015, into the morning of Sept. 15. Martin proved that Purpura entered her apartment building and ambushed her as she stepped into her apartment. The evidence showed that he assaulted her, forced her to shower, and stole her phone. The woman called 911 and was transported to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where a rape kit was completed.

The investigation by detectives assigned to the Boston Police Sexual Assault Unit and prosecutors assigned to the DA’s Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Unit revealed that the unknown assailant had entered the market about 15 before the victim, exited before she did, and then followed her as she walked home. Portions of this activity were captured by the store’s surveillance camera and other cameras in the area.

Witnesses who worked at the market testified that the person shown in that video footage had recently provided his first name and email address in order to take part in online surveys. A search of related records led investigators to a store transaction in which this unknown person used a credit card. The credit card was traced to Purpura, who closely resembled the man in the store surveillance footage.

Boston Police obtained a warrant for Purpura’s arrest, and on Sept. 19 he surrendered himself to Medford Police. Investigators later obtained a DNA sample from him, which provided a forensic link to evidence from the sexual assault.

Sexual assault can happen to anyone. While the victims of any crime are asked to call 911 in an emergency, survivors of sexual violence can also call their local rape crisis center for free and confidential services and to discuss their options. Support is available for all survivors of sexual violence, regardless of whether they wish to take part in a criminal prosecution. Services by city and town can be found at www.janedoe.org/find_help/search.

In Suffolk County, the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center offers a free and confidential 24-hour hotline at 800-841-8371. The Boston Area Rape Crisis Center provides medical accompaniment and many other free services to victims of rape and sexual assault. Suffolk victim-witness advocates can assist in referrals to BARCC and a wide array of non-profit service providers who can offer additional support and services.

Anne Kelley-McCarthy was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Purpura was represented by attorney Gary Pelletier. Judge Peter Muse scheduled sentencing for Jan. 10 at 2:00 in courtroom 808.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.