PARIS, Texas — An East Texas police department had made an arrest in a murder case after nearly 30 years.
According to the Paris Police Department, David Paul Cady has been arrested for the murder of Mary Margaret Searight. Police say Searight, 81, was brutally beaten inside her home at 711 Pine Bluff on Aug. 18, 1996.
"David Cady was initially considered a person of interest due to an unexplained laceration to his right hand and inconsistent explanations about the injury," the PPD said. "Investigators at that time obtained a swab of Cady’s injured hand."
Searight was then flown to a Dallas hospital where she later died from her injuries.
The PPD says in September 2023, IPPD LT. Leigh Foreman submitted the swabs taken from Cady’s right hand to the Texas DPS Crime Lab for DNA Analysis.
"The results of this analysis indicate a very high probability that Mrs. Searight’s DNA was present on David Paul Cady’s injured right hand on the day of the aggravated assault," police said.
Cady is currently incarcerated in the Hopkins County Jail on unrelated felony charges. His bond has been set at $200,000.
"The case will be reviewed by the district attorney’s office and a Lamar County grand jury for prosecution," police said.