AUSTIN, Texas – Investigators have identified the man who they believe is responsible for a cold case murder in 1996.
David Paul Cady Jr., 54, was indicted for killing Mary Moore Searight, 86, in Paris, Texas — about two hours northeast of Dallas — according to a news release from the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory Division.
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Nearly 30 years after Searight’s death, Cady was indicted by a Lamar County grand jury on Dec. 12, 2024.
On the night of the murder, Searight was found inside her home by her unofficial caretaker.
DPS said she had been sexually assaulted, badly beaten and strangled. She was airlifted to a hospital in Dallas where she died three days later.
Searight owned and rented properties in the Paris community. Cady was 25 years old at the time and was one of her tenants, according to investigators.
Paris police interviewed Cady on the night of the crime and said he tried to conceal an unexplained laceration on his right hand. Investigators obtained Cady’s DNA swabs from his hand, but there were no major breakthroughs, DPS said.
In 2021, the Texas Rangers found Searight’s case eligible for the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) by DPS, a program funded by the Department of Justice/Bureau of Justice Assistance (DOJ/BJA).
“DOJ/BJA provides investigative funding for agencies across the United States to further unsolved sexual assaults and sexually related homicides with the hope of bringing justice to victims and their families,” the release stated.
In 2023, investigators determined the swabs taken from Cady were eligible to be used for further research under the SAKI Program at DPS’ crime laboratory in Garland.
The testing found Searight’s DNA on the swabs from Cady’s hand.
In February 2024, Texas Rangers and Paris police arrested Cady, who was already in the Hopkins County Jail for another crime.
DPS said Cady remains in custody.
