BSO solves nearly 30 year old Pompano Beach murder cold case
FORT LAUDERDALE - Nearly 30 years ago, a Pompano Beach woman died in a violent attack at her home. Her murder went unsolved until recently when the Broward Sheriff's Office cracked the case and brought some closure to her family.
On a Saturday in April 1994, Lillian DeCloe was at home waiting for a visit later that day from a niece who helped care for her. That visit would never happen.
"In 1994, we had one of our residents in Pompano Beach, an 89-year-old woman named Lillian DeCloe, and she was brutally beaten and killed in her residence. For the most part, there wasn't a single clue or witness or anyone who could account for a potential suspect. But in 1999, the Broward Sheriff's Office absorbed the law enforcement responsibility for Pompano Beach and that case has been sitting with this organization since that time," said Tony on Tuesday.
The sheriff said the case was turned over to the Cold Case Homicide Unit and investigators had some success by using modern day technology, including DNA, to uncover a suspect who lived near DeCloe.
A series of breakthroughs led to Johnny Mack Brown being named as the suspect.
The first emerged from DNA evidence recovered from DeCloe's nightgown. The killer left semen on the garment after he sexually assaulted her. From that evidence, BSO's Crime Lab developed a suspect profile.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement provided a second breakthrough.
The sheriff's office asked the FDLE to conduct a Familial Search of its database. The process involves using a DNA profile to search for possible first order (parent/child or full sibling) male relatives to the contributor. That testing identified a known offender who had spent time in Florida prison and whose DNA was on file, according to the sheriff's office.
The FDLE search revealed the known offender was a possible close relative of the DNA contributor in Lillian's murder. That lead led detectives to Brown.
"Mr. Brown was a Vietnam veteran, (he) suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, he had addictions and all types of problems in terms of drug abuse," said Tony.
Detectives learned that Brown once lived a few houses away from DeCloe in the 1990s. Brown died more than a decade ago.
Last August, Brown's remains were exhumed and investigators took tissue samples.
According to a statement from the sheriff's office, "testing by BSO's Crime Lab showed that Brown's DNA was consistent with the DNA left at the crime scene. The results were more than conclusive - the DNA results are 66.8 trillion times more likely that they came from Brown and DeCloe than if they came from DeCloe and another person."
Prosecutors agreed with BSO's findings that Brown was involved in DeCloe's murder. DeCloe's family believes that she can finally rest in peace as her murder is now considered solved.