Overview
- Larry Dean Brown, 79, was arrested in Colorado and extradited to Tarrant County on a charge accusing him of strangling Beverly Bruneau in February 1981.
- A male DNA profile first identified from blood on Bruneau’s preserved nightgown was compared to DNA taken covertly from soda and barbecue-sauce bottles in the suspect’s trash, with lab results saying Brown could not be excluded as the source.
- Investigators collected the discarded items in February 2026 to obtain the comparison sample, and the arrest affidavit cites a very low estimated population frequency for the matching profile.
- Prosecutors cite the DNA result together with witness statements and an alleged financial dispute over a jointly owned Dallas home as the basis for probable cause, and defense lawyers are contesting chain-of-custody, testing and other forensic issues.
- Confirmatory DNA testing and pretrial litigation over bond and evidence are pending, a process that will determine whether modern forensic methods can close a 45-year-old cold case and affect the victim’s family and the wider use of abandoned-item DNA collection.