Suspect indicted in 1980 cold case murder of Susan Leigh Wolfe

AUSTIN, Texas - A man suspected in the cold case murder of a University of Texas at Austin nursing student more than 40 years ago has been indicted.

78-year-old Deck Brewer Jr has been indicted for killing 25-year-old Susan Leigh Wolfe in 1980. No bond has been set, according to court records.

Brewer was arrested for Wolfe's murder in August this year, more than 44 years after her death. 

He had been incarcerated at the time in the Massachusetts Department of Corrections on unrelated charges, but was transferred to Austin a month later. Brewer is currently in the Travis County Jail according to jail records.

What happened to Susan Leigh Wolfe?

On January 9, 1980, 25-year-old Susan Leigh Wolfe enrolled at the University of Texas Austin School of Nursing. On the same day, at about 10 p.m., she was kidnapped about one block from her home while walking to a friend’s house after having her house sprayed for bugs.

A witness to the kidnapping watched as a car stopped, and the driver exited, grabbing Wolfe in a ''bear hug,'' placed a coat over her head, and forced her into the car. The witness also said that the passenger door opened, but he did not see what the passenger did during the abduction.

Having worked in the automotive industry, this witness confidently 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 ligature strangulation, determined the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head, and the manner of death as homicide.

During the autopsy, the pathologist found evidence of sexual assault left by one of the suspects. That evidence was retained by APD and the Texas DPS Crime Laboratory throughout the duration of the investigation.

During the first year of the investigation, APD investigators followed up on dozens of leads, investigated and tracked down numerous cars fitting the witness’s description, produced over 40 persons of interest, and interviewed at least six suspects, some as far away as New York state.

Timeline of the cold case investigation

• April 27, 2023: Cold Case Unit detectives submitted evidence related to Wolfe's sexual assault to the Texas DPS Crime Laboratory. The Austin Forensic Science Department and DPS Crime Laboratory evaluated the evidence and concluded it was suitable for testing.
• February 12, 2024: APD received results which produced a male Short Tandem Repeat (STR profile, which eliminated the six known suspects as contributors to the evidence. TX DPS entered the STR profile into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS)
• March 11, 2024: DPS notified APD that a possible match in CODIS was located in Massachusetts. Detectives reviewed a Massachusetts State Police Forensic Services Division report which identified Brewer as the possible contributor to the STR profile. Brewer was in custody with the Massachusetts Dept. of Corrections on unrelated charges.
• June 10, 2024: A DNA search warrant was issued to seize a DNA sample from Brewer to compare to the evidence found during Wolfe’s autopsy.
• July 13, 2024: APD detectives obtained the DNA sample from Brewer and conducted a short interview. Brewer allegedly told officers he had been in Austin and San Antonio around the time of the murder then invoked his right to counsel after he was told his DNA was found at the scene of a homicide.
• July 23, 2024: APD received the results of the direct comparison of Brewer's DNA to the DNA found inside Wolfe during the autopsy. DPS's report said Brewer could not be excluded as the contributor and that the probability of selecting an unrelated person at random as contributor was approximately 1 in 550.5 quintillion. One quintillion is followed by 18 zeros.
• August 14, 2024: the Austin Municipal Court issued an arrest warrant charging Brewer with Wolfe's murder.