A decades-old cold case in South Florida has come to a close. In 1987, nearly 40 years ago, Marilyn Decker was murdered, and authorities have recently solved the case using DNA evidence, linking a Florida man with an extensive criminal record. The Davie Police Department has charged Donald Lawless with Decker’s murder. However, he died 30 years ago.
1987 Murder in Davie
On October 22, 1987, in Davie, Florida, a 28-year-old woman later identified as Decker was found floating in a canal near Flamingo Road. Her body was found with multiple stab wounds, and her death was deemed a homicide caused by asphyxiation. Davie Police stated that Lawless would have been 62 years old at the time of the murder. They also said that in the 1980s, they identified multiple suspects, but the results of the evidence collected continued to come back negative, adding to the list of cold cases.
Detectives working on the cold case believe she was killed elsewhere before her body was dumped alongside the former two-lane road. “The way she was killed it was by strangulation, and she was stabbed multiple times after she had already passed. We also believe she was killed elsewhere than she was dumped in a canal on Flamingo,” said Detective Eddy Velazquez.
Cold Case Warming Up
Decker’s case remained cold for several years before reopening in 1995. Authorities conducted interviews and processed more items from the crime scene. Though without any active leads and further negative test results, the case went cold again until decades later. In 2021, the Davie Police Department Cold Case Unit reopened it to interview more possible suspects and speak with family members. The case was also featured on the Broward County Crime Stoppers billboard.
Finally, authorities received positive DNA evidence leading to a suspect in this decades-long cold case. They found hairs on Decker’s clothing, which showed male DNA. They sent the sample to be analyzed by a genealogist who identified Lawless as a possible match. “We processed the shirt and the towel, we found multiple hairs,” Velazquez said. “We got DNA back,” he continued. “We were able to get to Lawless.”
Ex-Convict Donald Lawless
Lawless would have been 100 years old if he were still alive. He had a lengthy criminal history dating back to the 1940s, and he lived in Florida from the early 1980s until 1993. He moved to Ohio, where he died in 1995 and was cremated. The Davie Police obtained DNA evidence from one of Lawless’s close relatives and were able to confirm the match to the sample found on Decker’s shirt.
The Broward County State Attorney’s Office took over the cold case following the positive DNA match and determined there was enough evidence to charge Lawless with the 1987 murder of Marilyn Decker. Unfortunately, they do not believe Lawless’s reign of terror started or ended with Decker. Velazquez admitted he believed he might have been a serial killer. “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,” he said.
Moving Forward
Decker’s family has gone all these years waiting for an answer. They have been searching for anything that would give them a sliver of peace. With DNA confirmation, they can start moving forward. Gail DeMore has waited for this day since October 1987, when her sister was killed.
However, she still holds anger knowing the man responsible for her sister’s death will never face the consequences. When she found out that Donald Lawless, an ex-con, was her sister’s suspected killer, she said, “It infuriates me that my sister’s murderer, with such a long history of violent acts amongst innocent victims, was left unpunished.”
On a positive note, Decker’s great niece has found a way to turn a tragedy into something beneficial for future generations. Angelina DeMore, although born years after the murder, said she decided to pursue a career in crime-solving. “I plan on going to college. I plan on studying and devoting my life to this. This is what I want to do, I’m dedicated to it,” she said.
