Scientific Breakthroughs Now Leads To Texas Cold Case Murder Charge

When a long time Austin, Texas resident and community leader was murdered almost 30 years ago while in her hometown of Paris, Texas it sent shockwaves through multiple communities, and really had a lot of people on edge because who would want to harm a nice old lady in her 80s to be murdered in such a brutal way?

Read Similar: New Murder Arrest After Cold Case DNA Breakthrough In Texas

Mary Moore Searight was found in late summer of 1996 in her Paris home after being sexually assaulted, strangled, and beaten nearly to death. She was airlifted to Dallas, but at the age of 86, she was unable to overcome her injuries and passed away three days later.

Scientific Breakthroughs Now Leads To Texas Cold Case Murder Charge

David Paul Cady Jr. was interviewed the night of Searight's assault, but even as police had their suspicions, no arrest was made. Cady Jr. was a tenant of one of Searight's many properties in Paris, and even though a DNA sample was taken from him, nothing conclusive was able to be determined.

Read More: New Technology Results With Mother Arrested In Texas Cold Case

Fast forward to four years ago and the advancement of DNA technology, Searight's case was recommended for another look at the collected evidence. Then, two years ago, they did the same with the DNA collected from Cady Jr. at the time of the murder in 1996.

Once the evidence came back with a conclusive link, Cady Jr. was not difficult to find as he was already in the Hopkins County Jail.