DAVIE, FLA. (WSVN) – After nearly four decades, the Davie Police Department said they have solved the 1987 murder of 28-year-old Marilyn Decker, identifying the suspect through advanced DNA analysis and genetic genealogy.
Decker’s body was found floating in a canal near the 3000 block of Flamingo Road on Oct. 3, 1987, with multiple stab wounds.
The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled her death a homicide caused by asphyxiation. Despite multiple suspects and years of investigation, the case went cold in the 1990s.
In 2021, Davie Police’s Cold Case Unit reopened the investigation, reexamined evidence, and partnered with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Astrea Forensics in California, and Parabon NanoLabs.
Using DNA extracted from hairs recovered from the scene, Chief Genealogist CeCe Moore built a genetic tree that led investigators to a suspect — Donald Lawless, born in 1925 in Ohio.
Police said they determined Lawless lived in Florida, including in Davie, during the 1980s and had an extensive criminal history dating back to the 1940s.
Although he died and was cremated in 1995, investigators obtained DNA from a close relative and confirmed Lawless as the man responsible for Decker’s death, police said.
The Broward County State Attorney’s Office reviewed the case and agreed there was sufficient evidence to charge Lawless, officially closing the case after 38 years.
Davie Police said they have remained in contact with Decker’s family, who have been informed that justice has finally been served.
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