Bonnie Ruphard’s alleged killer lived free in Acadiana for nearly 10 years before a DNA match connected to him to her grisly murder.

The 47-year-old woman’s body was found by a jogger along Lajaunie Road on Dec. 6, 2008. She had been stabbed multiple times and struggled with her killer before her death, according to an autopsy report from the Acadiana Crime Lab.

On Wednesday, Youngsville resident Millard Hebert was indicted by a Lafayette grand jury for the her murder.

Hebert was arrested in Lafayette Parish on separate drug charges in February. During the booking process a swab of his DNA was collected and sent to the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). 

A month later, local authorities were notified that Hebert’s DNA matched that found under Ruphard’s fingernails.

On March 16, the Lafayette Police Department announced the decade-old cold case investigation’s closure.

Millard remains in the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center on a $257,000 bond on second degree murder and drug charges including distribution, possession and sale without a prescription.

His arraignment date is scheduled for July 24.