Unsolved case: Suspect identified in 1980 Austin murder

AUSTIN, Texas – Austin police have identified a suspect in the 1980 murder of 25-year-old Susan Leigh Wolfe.

Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for 78-year-old Deck Brewer Jr. charging him with Wolfe's murder.

According to recent arrest records, Brewer Jr. is currently incarcerated in the Massachusetts Department of Corrections on other charges.

According to APD, this is an ongoing investigation and they are pursuing leads to identify a passenger who was in the car at the time of Wolfe's abduction.

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

You can submit a tip anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or calling 512-472-8477.

What happened to Susan Leigh Wolfe?

On January 9, 1980, 25-year-old Susan Leigh Wolfe enrolled in nursing school at the University of Texas at Austin. That same day, 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 observed a car pull over and the driver get out, grab Wolfe in a “bear hug,” put a coat over her head and force her into the car. The witness also said the passenger door was opened, but he did not see what the passenger did during the kidnapping.

This witness, who had worked in the automotive industry, described the car with certainty 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 signs of strangulation by a strangulator, determined the cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the head, and concluded it was homicide.

During the autopsy, the pathologist found evidence of a sexual assault left by one of the suspects. This evidence was retained by APD and the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Crime Lab throughout the duration of the investigation.

How did investigators determine that Deck Brewer Jr. was the suspect?

During the first year of the investigation, APD detectives tirelessly followed up on dozens of leads, examined and located numerous cars matching the witness' description, located over 40 suspects, and interviewed at least six suspects, some of whom lived as far away as New York State.

On April 27, 2023, detectives from the APD Cold Case Unit turned over evidence related to the sexual assault of Susan Wolfe to the Texas DPS Crime Laboratory. The Austin Forensic Science Department and the DPS Crime Laboratory evaluated the evidence and concluded that it was suitable for investigation.

On February 12, 2024, the APD received the test results, which revealed a male Short Tandem Repeat (STR) profile that excluded the six known suspects as evidence. The TX DPS entered the STR profile into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). This computer software program maintains local, state, and national databases of DNA profiles of convicted felons, unsolved crime scenes, and missing persons.

On March 11, 2024, APD received notification from TX DPS that a possible match was found in CODIS in Massachusetts. Detectives reviewed the Massachusetts State Police Forensic Services Division report dated March 7, 2024. This report identified 78-year-old Deck Brewer Jr. as a possible contributor to the STR profile developed by TX DPS.

According to recent arrest records, Deck Brewer Jr. is currently incarcerated in the Massachusetts Department of Corrections on other charges.

OTHER CRIME STORIES:

On June 10, 2024, the Travis County District Court found there was sufficient probable cause to issue a DNA search warrant and seize a DNA sample from Deck Brewer Jr. for direct comparison to evidence found during Susan Wolfe's autopsy.

On July 13, 2024, APD detectives executed the DNA search warrant in Massachusetts by obtaining the DNA sample from Deck Brewer Jr. and conducting a brief interview with Brewer. During this interview, Brewer said he was in Austin and San Antonio, Texas, at the time of the murder. Brewer invoked his right to an attorney after being informed that his DNA was found at the scene of a murder.

On July 23, 2024, APD received the results of a direct comparison of Brewer's DNA to the DNA found in the victim's body during the autopsy. Below is an excerpt from the DPS report.

Deck Brewer Jr. cannot be ruled out as the author of the partial principal component in this DNA profile. The probability of randomly selecting an unrelated person as the author of the partial principal component in this DNA profile is approximately 1 in 550.5 trillion. There are 18 zeros for every trillion.

On August 14, 2024, the Austin Municipal Court found, based on all investigations to date, that there was sufficient probable cause to issue an arrest warrant for Deck Brewer Jr. for the murder of Susan Leigh Wolfe.