DAVIE, FL – A homicide cold case out of Davie dating back nearly forty years was recently solved after an examination of DNA evidence located on the victim’s clothing pointed to a now-deceased convicted felon who, investigators believe, may have played a role in other unsolved murders.
Back on October 22nd of 1987, the body of 28-year-old Marilyn Decker was found floating in a canal within the 3000 block of Flamingo Road in Davie, with her body reportedly covered in stab wounds. Investigators would later determine Decker’s stab wounds were posthumous, as her cause of death was by strangulation.
As the years passed, all leads at the time turned up dry. When the investigation was given a fresh look again in 1995 with additional interviews conducted and crime scene items further processed, the trail went cold yet again.
However, in 2021, the Davie Police Department’s Cold Case Unit reopened the investigation utilizing modernized DNA testing.
Detective Eddy Velazquez, one of the investigators who worked on the reopened case, noted how forensics “processed the shirt and the towel” found with the victim which revealed the presence of a male’s DNA.
After handing off the DNA to a genealogist, investigators got a hit on a man named Donald Lawless, who harbored a criminal record dating back to the 1940s.
Lawless, who passed away in 1995 while living in Ohio, was reportedly 62 years old at the time he murdered Decker. Authorities say through the early 1980s up until 1993, Lawless resided in Florida at a residence roughly half a mile away from where Decker would typically hang out.
“I do believe they knew each other to some extent,” Detective Valazquez stated, adding, “because her sister had mentioned when she went to the morgue, she had noticed that her fingernail clippings were all cut. Her nails were all nicely manicured. She had obviously eaten somewhere because she had a full belly. She went somewhere with somebody and obviously felt comfortable enough to go with that person.”
Gail DeMore, Decker’s sister, expressed her frustration at the fact Lawless was able to live out his remaining years without facing the consequences for her sister’s murder, saying, “It infuriates me that my sister's murderer, with such a long history of violent acts amongst innocent victims, was left unpunished.”
While closure was found in this particular case, Detective Valazquez believes Lawless likely is responsible for other homicides, saying, “We found out areas like Fort Lauderdale, BSO, Hollywood had similar cases of women that were found dumped and kind of killed in a similar manner.”
Furthermore, aside from the homicides Detective Valazquez suspects Lawless played a role in out of Florida, he also pointed out that Lawless is “originally from Ohio. And then he spent time in Chicago, Pennsylvania, and I think in California.”
Back on October 22nd of 1987, the body of 28-year-old Marilyn Decker was found floating in a canal within the 3000 block of Flamingo Road in Davie, with her body reportedly covered in stab wounds. Investigators would later determine Decker’s stab wounds were posthumous, as her cause of death was by strangulation.
As the years passed, all leads at the time turned up dry. When the investigation was given a fresh look again in 1995 with additional interviews conducted and crime scene items further processed, the trail went cold yet again.
However, in 2021, the Davie Police Department’s Cold Case Unit reopened the investigation utilizing modernized DNA testing.
Detective Eddy Velazquez, one of the investigators who worked on the reopened case, noted how forensics “processed the shirt and the towel” found with the victim which revealed the presence of a male’s DNA.
After handing off the DNA to a genealogist, investigators got a hit on a man named Donald Lawless, who harbored a criminal record dating back to the 1940s.
Lawless, who passed away in 1995 while living in Ohio, was reportedly 62 years old at the time he murdered Decker. Authorities say through the early 1980s up until 1993, Lawless resided in Florida at a residence roughly half a mile away from where Decker would typically hang out.
“I do believe they knew each other to some extent,” Detective Valazquez stated, adding, “because her sister had mentioned when she went to the morgue, she had noticed that her fingernail clippings were all cut. Her nails were all nicely manicured. She had obviously eaten somewhere because she had a full belly. She went somewhere with somebody and obviously felt comfortable enough to go with that person.”
Gail DeMore, Decker’s sister, expressed her frustration at the fact Lawless was able to live out his remaining years without facing the consequences for her sister’s murder, saying, “It infuriates me that my sister's murderer, with such a long history of violent acts amongst innocent victims, was left unpunished.”
While closure was found in this particular case, Detective Valazquez believes Lawless likely is responsible for other homicides, saying, “We found out areas like Fort Lauderdale, BSO, Hollywood had similar cases of women that were found dumped and kind of killed in a similar manner.”
Furthermore, aside from the homicides Detective Valazquez suspects Lawless played a role in out of Florida, he also pointed out that Lawless is “originally from Ohio. And then he spent time in Chicago, Pennsylvania, and I think in California.”
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