The Austin Police Department says it has identified a suspect in the 1980 murder and sexual assault of a Texas nursing student. A 78-year-old man has been charged with murder after authorities identified him as a suspect using genetics.
Police have charged Deck Brewer Jr., a man already serving time in prison for an unrelated crime, with the murder of 25-year-old Susan LeWolf.
According to a Press release From the Austin Police Department, on January 9, 1980, at approximately 10 p.m., Brewer abducted and killed Wolf as he was walking to a friend’s house one block from his residence.
At the time of her death, Wolff was four days shy of her 26th birthday and had recently started classes at the University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing.
Authorities said a witness saw a driver get out of his car, give Wolf a “bear hug” and then push him inside while covering his head with a coat. There was another passenger in the car, according to the witness, “but he did not see what he did during the kidnapping.”
The next morning, Austin authorities discovered Wolff’s body in an alley.
According to authorities, he was shot in the head and died as a result. His death was declared genocide.
Police say a medical examiner found signs of sexual assault by one of two unidentified men seen in the car.
Investigators located numerous vehicles matching witness descriptions in the years following the murder. Police say they have interviewed at least six suspects and more than 40 persons of interest over the years.
The Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Lab obtained evidence of Wolfe’s sexual assault from investigators in April 2023.
After reviewing the material, forensic experts concluded it was suitable for analysis, police said.
The test results, which gave Austin police a male profile of the perpetrator, were received in February.
According to police, six people who did not match the DNA profile of the evidence they had were removed from the investigation.
After that, according to authorities, the profile was added to national, state and municipal databases of DNA profiles involving convicted felons, unsolved crime scene evidence and missing persons maintained by the Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS.
Authorities discovered in March 2024 that the evidence matched a profile linked to Brewer in CODIS.
Officials added that Brewer’s DNA and DNA evidence discovered on Wolfe’s body during the autopsy were a direct match when a DNA search warrant was executed. Brewer told detectives he was in Austin and San Antonio at the time of Wolff’s death, according to police reports. Brewer was charged with the Aug. 14 murder of Susan Leigh Wolfe, according to police, who also issued an arrest warrant.
The search for another passenger in the car the night Wolf was abducted is still ongoing, police said.
