In a significant breakthrough for a case that has gone unsolved for nearly four decades, Davie Police and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement have identified the suspected murderer of Marilyn Decker, whose body was discovered in a Davie canal in 1987. Advances in DNA testing led to the recent closing of the case, with the evidence pointing to Donald Lawless, who passed away in 1995 and was not previously considered as a suspect, Local 10 News reported.
On October 22, 1987, Marilyn Decker's mutilated body was found floating inside a large bag in a Davie canal; despite extensive investigations and a feature on a Broward Crime Stoppers billboard, the case went cold until detectives reopened the investigation in 2021, according to NBC Miami. By using modern forensic genealogy that built a genetic profile from hair samples found at the scene, and after painstaking months of constructing a family tree, a geneticist provided a possible suspect. They reached out to Donald Lawless's living relatives for DNA to confirm the match. This was the forensic link that finally brought resolution to the case.
Lawless, born in 1925, had an extensive criminal history that began in the 1940s, with his DNA profile suggesting possible connections to similar unsolved cases in the surrounding Broward County area, as detectives indicated to Local 10 News. Gail Demore, Decker's sister, expressed her emotions in response to the revelation, stating, "It infuriates me that my sister’s murderer, with such a long history of violent acts against innocent victims, was left unpunished," indicating a bittersweet mixture of closure and anger.
Although Lawless was never on the radar during the initial investigation, the confirmation of Lawless's DNA as a match to evidence from the crime scene, despite him having been deceased and cremated, allowed for the closed case and, as Demore told NBC Miami, "To find this out, I mean, it’s good, but unfortunately, he didn’t pay for his sins." Marilyn, the youngest of three sisters, is remembered by her family as someone who wouldn't let anyone take advantage of her. The investigative efforts have benefited from the collaborative work between various agencies and the expertise of Parabon NanoLabs, who successfully performed the DNA comparisons and confirmed the suspect, showcasing the power of persistence and scientific advancement even after many years have passed.
With the case's resolution, Davie Police are now working with other local and national agencies to investigate whether Lawless can be linked to more unsolved murders. This resolution may bring a new measure of peace to the Decker family, with Decker's story advocating for the importance of continuing efforts in cold cases through the Decker-Backmann Act, which, as covered by NBC Miami, would allow families to apply to have their loved ones' unsolved cases reviewed after five years of inactivity.
