COPS ALLEGEDLY USED TRASH DNA TO NAB MAN IN 1981 COLD CASE
A 79-year-old Colorado man was arrested after police allegedly tied soda-bottle DNA from his trash to a 1981 Grapevine cold case.
Larry Dean Brown was arrested in Colorado on June 8, 2026, on a murder warrant in the killing of Beverly “Casey” Bruneau, a 35-year-old Braniff Airlines flight attendant. She was found dead on February 13, 1981, in her Grapevine, Texas, apartment.
“The arrest follows an extensive investigation by detectives and represents a significant development in the case,” Grapevine police said in a statement, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
What police found in 1981
Bruneau was found on the living-room floor with an electrical cord around her neck and blood on her face and nightgown.
The medical examiner ruled her death a homicide caused by strangulation. CBS Texas reported that tests were negative for sexual assault and that her clothing was collected and preserved during the autopsy.
Years later, a forensic exam of evidence, including her blood-stained nightgown, turned up an unknown male DNA profile. It was uploaded to the CODIS database, but there was no match at that time.
How the trash cracked it
Grapevine police eventually reopened the investigation and asked the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado to help get a covert DNA sample from Brown.
Investigators collected trash left outside his Colorado home, including soda bottles. CBS Texas reported a barbecue-sauce bottle was also collected.
Swabs from the discarded containers were sent to the University of North Texas lab, according to the arrest affidavit, WHMI reported.
Results received May 28, 2026, indicated that DNA from one soda bottle could not exclude Brown as the source of the male blood on the nightgown.
WFAA reported the estimated frequency of that DNA profile was about 1 in 17 billion among Caucasian individuals. The station also reported that investigators cited DNA evidence, witness statements, an alleged motive and other evidence in establishing probable cause.
What happened next
A Tarrant County grand jury indicted Brown on a murder charge on June 29, 2026. The indictment alleges he intentionally caused Bruneau’s death by strangling her with his hands or an electrical cord.
Brown was then extradited from Colorado to North Texas and booked into Tarrant County Jail.
His defense attorney pushed back on the evidence. The attorney argued that the warrant evidence was largely circumstantial and questioned whether the DNA result could be explained by Brown and Bruneau having spent time together, the Star-Telegram reported.
In a bond-reduction motion, the attorney referred to “one stain which allegedly matches,” the paper reported.
Grapevine police said the case was not closed. “As part of the ongoing investigation, additional forensic testing, including confirmatory DNA analysis, is pending,” the department said in its statement.
“Investigators are awaiting those results before releasing further details,” police said.
Brown, who is charged with murder, posted $100,000 bond on July 21, 2026, and was released with conditions, CBS Texas reported.
