\u201cEverything had been done, everyone had been interviewed that could be interviewed, that kind of thing, was kind of everyone\u2019s idea,\u201d D\u2019Avignon told the Star-Telegram during a sit-down interview in May. \u201cBut with this new (technology), with FGG in particular, it provides for leads that we never could have imagined 10 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the Grapevine Police Department announced the arrest<\/a> of a suspect in a cold case homicide from 1981. Larry Dean Brown<\/a> was taken into custody in Colorado in June and later extradited to Tarrant County. The 80-year-old has been indicted<\/a> on a murder charge in the strangulation death of 35-year-old flight attendant Beverly Bruneau.<\/p>\n Grapevine police and investigators from the cold case task force worked together to solve the case, according to a statement from the Tarrant County District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n \u201cThe determination of the Grapevine Police Department and our task force ensures that justice is never forgotten,\u201d the statement reads. \u201cIt is our hope that this is the first, but not the last, case that the partnership of local law enforcement agencies and the DA Cold Case Task Force is successful in solving.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cold Case Task Force<\/p>\n The task force is composed of 14 investigators, three prosecutors \u2014 including D\u2019Avignon \u2014 and a legal assistant. According to D\u2019Avignon, the task force is the first of its kind in Tarrant County. Previously, cold case homicide investigations were always left up to each individual law enforcement agency.<\/p>\n D\u2019Avignon said the agencies would love to spend more time on cold cases, but budgetary and personnel constraints make it challenging. Most of the county\u2019s approximately 40 police departments don\u2019t even have a dedicated cold case unit.<\/p>\n The Fort Worth Police Department is the exception, and its Cold Case Unit<\/a> employs two full-time detectives and two part-time reserve officers.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to say they\u2019re not as much of a priority, but they already have investigators, so they probably won\u2019t get our investigators linked up,\u201d D\u2019Avignon said.<\/p>\n The city has nearly 1,000 unsolved homicides<\/a>, going back to the 1960s. Sgt. Joe Loughman of the Homicide Unit told the Star-Telegram in December that the department had recently begun partnering<\/a> with Texas-based forensic laboratory Othram. The lab is digitizing all of the Fort Worth Police Department\u2019s cold cases.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are trying to get ourselves in a good position where we can get these ones \u2014 where we have DNA evidence that we\u2019re able to find a genealogical tie \u2014 so we can solve these cases for these families,\u201d Loughman said at the time.<\/p>\n The DA\u2019s Office isn\u2019t able to release information about the specific cases the task force is working on, but D\u2019Avignon said investigators are reviewing 10 cold cases from departments across Tarrant County.<\/p>\n \u201cAll cases still belong to the agency,\u201d D\u2019Avignon said. \u201cWe are not in any way taking them away from the agencies, and we\u2019re not doing anything without the agencies\u2019 help.\u201d<\/p>\n All the law enforcement agencies in the county have been notified about the task force, and they have the option of reaching out for help on unsolved cases.<\/p>\n \u201cOur hope is, once they see this kind of working, they\u2019ll all start like, \u2018Hey, let\u2019s go see what we\u2019ve got,\u2019\u201d D\u2019Avignon said.<\/p>\n Advanced DNA technology<\/p>\n According to D\u2019Avignon, the task force is hoping to harness forensic genetic genealogy to track down suspects.<\/p>\n In 2018, Othram started making headlines<\/a> with technology that pairs traditional DNA testing with genealogy. This advanced testing is especially important in cases where the suspect\u2019s DNA is not in CODIS, the national law enforcement database.<\/p>\n \u201cLike, CODIS, you have to have committed a crime, right?\u201d D\u2019Avignon said. \u201cA lot of our (suspects) never got caught. It\u2019s not they didn\u2019t commit crimes \u2014 they didn\u2019t get caught.\u201d<\/p>\n Thanks to the advent of consumer genetic testing, more than 20% of the general population<\/a> has submitted DNA samples to private companies. When DNA collected from crime scenes is compared to these samples, investigators can start building a family tree of the perpetrator.<\/p>\n D\u2019Avignon said she got her first introduction to FGG when she was asked to prosecute the suspect in Carla Walker\u2019s murder<\/a>. Walker, a 17-year-old Western Hills High School cheerleader, was kidnapped from her boyfriend\u2019s car on Feb. 17, 1974. Her body was found three days later in a ditch south of Fort Worth.<\/p>\n In 2020, a trace amount of DNA left on Walker\u2019s clothing allowed investigators to build a genetic profile that eventually led them to Glen Samuel McCurley<\/a>. The 78-year-old suspect pleaded guilty to Walker\u2019s death in 2021 and was sentenced to life in prison. He died in 2023 from natural causes.<\/p>\n DNA technology has changed dramatically, but it won\u2019t solve every case, D\u2019Avignon said. Shooting cases, for example, may not have DNA if there was no physical contact between the suspect and the victim. With older cold cases, the right evidence may not have been preserved.<\/p>\n D\u2019Avignon anticipates there won\u2019t be DNA present in at least some of the cases the task force investigates. In those situations, investigators will see if there are other clues that might lead them to the guilty party. Other cases may be solved just by sending DNA off to the lab.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth of those things need to be done, and it\u2019s going to take a lot of work on all of our parts,\u201d D\u2019Avignon said.<\/p>\n Future of task force<\/p>\n D\u2019Avignon said she\u2019s applying for grants to cover DNA testing costs and other support \u2014 like getting cold case records digitized \u2014 that local law enforcement agencies need.<\/p>\n Getting those records digitized is a game changer, according to D\u2019Avignon. It puts the documents into a form other police departments can see and may show links between crimes committed by the same person across multiple jurisdictions.<\/p>\n Right now the task force members are working on a volunteer basis. According to D\u2019Avignon, it is something they are doing in addition to their regular duties, but she hopes that will change.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re still in the trickling stage, but we\u2019re very hopeful to be a solid unit within the DA\u2019s office for years to come that can be counted on by our local law enforcement agencies to be their go to,\u201d D\u2019Avignon said.<\/p>\n Families who have questions about a loved one\u2019s case are encouraged to reach out to the specific police department handling the case and not the task force.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n A photo of 35-year-old Beverly \u201cCasey\u201d Bruneau, taken two months before she was strangled in a Grapevine apartment in 1981. She was a veteran flight attendant for Braniff Airlines. Photo courtesy of her sister, Carol Bruneau STAR-TELEGRAM ARCHIVES <\/p>\n
Kim D\u2019Avignon, a Tarrant County prosecutor, talks to media after the conclusion of the capital murder trial of Glen McCurley on Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021. McCurley changed his plea from not guilty to guilty and received life in prison for the murder of Carla Walker. Amanda McCoy amccoy@star-telegram.com <\/p>\n
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