AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin Police Department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit has announced the resolution of the 1980 murder of Susan Leigh Wolfe, a 25-year-old nursing student at the University of Texas at Austin. Wolfe was kidnapped on January 9, 1980, and her body was discovered the following morning with signs of gunshot wounds and strangulation.
After decades of investigation, a breakthrough occurred on April 27, 2023, when Detective Joe Jedynak submitted DNA evidence to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Crime Laboratory. The evidence linked 78-year-old Deck Brewer Jr. to the crime. Brewer, who was already incarcerated in Massachusetts on unrelated charges, was convicted of Wolfe’s murder in the 403rd District Court on November 12, 2025, and received an eight-year sentence, according to the Austin Police Department.
The investigation, led by Detective Jedynak, involved the submission of evidence related to the sexual assault of Wolfe to the Texas DPS Crime Laboratory. The Austin Forensic Science Department and DPS Crime Laboratory evaluated the evidence, which was suitable for testing. On February 12, 2024, APD received test results that eliminated six known suspects and identified Brewer as a possible contributor to the DNA profile…