Suspect identified and charged in unsolved 1980 killing of University of Texas student

According to Austin police, a suspect has been identified in connection with the unsolved murder of a 25-year-old University of Texas nursing student more than 40 years ago.

Deck Brewer Jr., 78, was charged Wednesday with the murder of Susan Leigh Wolfe after evidence related to her sexual assault was examined and his DNA match was identified, the police department said in a news release. Brewer is already in prison in Massachusetts on other charges.

Wolfe, who was enrolled at the UT Austin School of Nursing, went to a friend's house on the evening of January 3, 1980, after spraying her house for bugs. According to a According to a witness, a 1970 Dodge Polara pulled over and a driver got out, gave her a big hug and put a coat over her head before forcing her into the car, police said. The witness also saw the car's passenger door open, “but did not see what the passenger did during the abduction.” Police are still looking for that person.

Wolfe's body was found the next morning in an Austin alley at 2000 E. 17th St. The cause of death was determined to be a gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death was determined to be homicide. There was also According to police, there are indications that she was strangled and sexually abused.

Evidence of the sexual assault left behind by one of the suspects was retained by the Austin Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory throughout the investigation.

Over the years, the investigation identified more than 40 persons of interest, resulting in six suspects being interviewed. In April 2023, investigators submitted evidence related to Wolfe's sexual assault to the Texas DPS crime lab. Nearly a year later, results eliminated the six suspects and a profile was created using DNA results.

The Texas DPS entered the profile from the results into the Combined DNA Index System, which maintains local, state and national DNA profiles of convicted felons, missing persons and unsolved crime scene evidence. In March, the APD received notification from the Texas DPS that a possible match had been found in Massachusetts. Investigators reviewed a report from the Massachusetts State Police Forensic Services Division that identified Brewer, 78, as a possible contributor to the profile created by the Texas DPS.

In July, Austin police detectives obtained a DNA sample from Brewer and interviewed him in Massachusetts. During the 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.

Brewer's DNA sample was examined and it was concluded that he “cannot be excluded as a contributor to the partial major component of this DNA profile,” an excerpt from the report said.

“The probability of randomly selecting an unrelated person who could be the contributor of the partial major component of this DNA profile is about 1 in 550.5 trillion. There are 18 zeros for every trillion,” the report said.

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.

APD is asking anyone with information about the case to contact the Cold Case Unit at (512) 974-5250. Anonymous tips can also be submitted through austincrimestoppers.org or by calling (512) 472-8477.