Davie, Florida — A long-unsolved murder case from 1987 has come to a resolution as authorities have identified Donald Lawless as the person responsible for the gruesome killing of 28-year-old Marilyn Decker. The discovery was made possible through advancements in DNA technology, which linked the deceased ex-convict to the horrific crime.
Decker’s body was recovered from a canal on Flamingo Road on October 22, 1987. Officials found her in a black industrial bag, stripped of her clothing from the waist down. The evidence indicated she had suffered both asphyxiation and mutilation after her death, leading investigators to classify the crime as particularly brutal.
Lieutenant Eddy Velazquez of the Davie Police Department’s Cold Case Unit indicated that Lawless, who died in 1995, had a sordid history marked by various criminal offenses, including theft, robbery, and assault. This extensive background raised concerns that Decker might not have been Lawless’s only victim. Velazquez elaborated, suggesting that the nature of the killing bore the hallmarks of a serial offender. “I think he’s definitely involved in others,” Velazquez said emphatically.
The investigation, which had gone cold for decades, was revitalized in 2021 when the Cold Case Unit revisited Decker’s files. DNA evidence collected from hairs found on Decker’s clothing and a bloody towel was reexamined. The results confirmed male DNA linked to Lawless, leading detectives to delve deeper into his past and movements throughout Florida from the early 1980s until 1993.
Notably, Lawless lived merely half a mile from the location where Decker was last seen, raising suspicions about possible connections between the two. Decker had recently fallen into a troubled lifestyle, straying from her initial career as a veterinary technician due to drug use and unsavory associations that ultimately led to her tragic fate.
Remarkably, police were able to secure a DNA sample from a distant relative of Lawless, which matched the evidence collected at the crime scene. This led the Broward County State Attorney’s Office to conclude that there was substantial evidence for a charge, although Lawless himself could not be brought to trial due to his passing.
Velazquez expressed concern about Lawless’s potential involvement in additional murders linked by similar characteristics. He mentioned that Lawless’s criminal activities spanned various states, including Ohio, Chicago, Pennsylvania, and California, highlighting the possibility of other unsolved cases that may be connected to him.
The confirmation of Lawless as the murderer offers some measure of closure to Decker’s family, yet raises unsettling questions about the extent of his criminal activities and the lives that may still be affected by them.