Authorities in Austin are investigating a suspect in the unsolved 1980 killing of a University of Texas nursing student

One of the suspects in the 44-year-old killing of University of Texas nursing student Susan Leigh Wolfe has been identified as Deck Brewer, but authorities are still looking for another person in connection with the crime, according to a press release from the city of Austin.

In 1980, Wolfe was enrolled at the UT Austin School of Nursing. At around 10 p.m. local time, authorities say she was abducted about a block from her home as she walked to a friend's house after spraying her house for bugs.

A witness to the kidnapping said he saw a car pull up and the driver grab Wolfe in a “bear hug,” put a coat over her head and forced her into the car. The witness also said the passenger door opened, but he did not see what the passenger did during the kidnapping. The witness described the car as a 1970 Dodge Polara.

Wolfe's body was found early the next morning in an Austin alley at 2000 E. 17th Street. The pathologist found “evidence of strangulation by a strangulator,” determined the cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the head, and that the manner of death was homicide.

During the autopsy, the pathologist found signs of sexual assault left by one of the suspects. This evidence was retained by the Austin Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Lab throughout the investigation.

In April 2023, investigators from the APD Cold Case Unit turned over evidence related to the sexual assault to the Texas DPS Crime Lab. The Austin Forensic Science Department and the DPS Crime Lab evaluated the evidence and determined it was suitable for investigation.

APD received the test results in February and Texas DPS used the results to enter the profile into CODIS, or the Combined DNA Index System. CODIS maintains local, state and national DNA profiles of convicted felons, missing persons and unsolved crime scene evidence.

In March, APD received notification from TX DPS that a possible match had been found in CODIS in Massachusetts. Detectives investigated the Massachusetts State Police Forensic Services Division report dated March 7, 2024. That report identified 78-year-old Brewer as a possible contributor to the profile developed by TX DPS.

Arrest records show that Brewer is incarcerated in the Massachusetts Department of Corrections on other charges.

In June, the Travis County District Court found there was sufficient probable cause to issue a search warrant for Brewer's DNA sample and directly compare it to evidence found during Wolfe's autopsy.

In July, APD detectives executed the DNA search warrant in Massachusetts by obtaining Brewer's DNA sample and interviewing him. During that interview, Brewer said he was in San Antonio and Austin at the time of the murder and asserted his right to an attorney after being told his DNA was found at the scene of a murder.

APD received the results of a direct comparison of Brewer's DNA to the DNA found in the victim's body during the autopsy.

According to the DPS report: “Deck Brewer Jr. cannot be excluded as a contributor of the partial principal component in this DNA profile. The probability of randomly selecting an unrelated individual who could be the contributor of the partial principal component in this DNA profile is approximately 1 in 550.5 trillion. There are 18 zeros following one trillion.”

In August, the Austin City Court found there was sufficient probable cause to issue an arrest warrant for Brewer in Wolfe's killing.

The investigation is ongoing and APD is pursuing leads to find the passenger in the car when Wolfe was abducted.

According to CBS affiliate KEYE-TV in Austin, both of Wolfe's parents have since died, and her then-roommate appears to have died last year.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the APD Cold Case Unit at 512-974-5250.