Longtime friend of Mary Moore Searight wants justice in decades-old murder case
Waiting for justice for Mary Moore Searight's murder
A longtime friend of a woman who left her mark on Austin's greenspaces wants justice for a decades-old murder case. Earlier this year, Angela Shen told you about Mary Moore Searight, who played a big role in Austin's history. The suspect's murder charge is still working its way through the court system
AUSTIN, Texas - A longtime friend of a woman who left her mark on Austin's greenspaces wants justice to be served in a decades-old murder case.
Mary Moore Searight played a big role in Austin's history, and the suspect's murder charge is working its way through the court system.
Mary Searight: 1996 Texas cold case murder solved; victim has ties to Austin
A 1996 Texas cold case murder of an elderly woman has been solved. The victim, Mary Searight, has ties to Austin.
Longtime friend speaks on Mary Searight
Barbara Simota met Searight in the 1980s and says she was passionate about land conservation and animals. She describes her as a sharp, educated woman.
"I have always mourned her passing. I mean, everybody dies. In such a way, it was problematic for me," Simota said.
The two lived down the street from each other. They connected through their love of dogs.
"Mary was a charming, sophisticated, very bright woman and she was a horsewoman. She always had horses, she participated in horse shows, and she developed the land for conservation efforts," Simota said.
Searight moved to Paris, Texas, after a land deal with the City of Austin in 1988, where they bought some of the land and she donated the rest. That's where Mary Moore Searight Metropolitan park is. Simota has done landscaping there.
"She walked everywhere. She walked the property daily. She would not allow her car to move from the fence line across the property to her house. She was a land steward and an animal steward," Simota said.
What happened to Mary Searight?
The backstory:
On August 18, 1996, she was found in her Paris, Texas home, sexually assaulted, beaten, and strangled. She was airlifted to a Dallas hospital, where she died three days later.
The case went cold until earlier this year. Texas DPS announced they believe David Paul Cady Jr., 54, is responsible. Cady, who was 25 at the time, was one of her tenants.
DPS says Cady was interviewed by police at the time, and he tried to hide a cut on his hand and kept changing his explanation. Investigators got DNA from his hand, but nothing came of it.
In 2021, Searight's case was tested through the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, funded by the Department of Justice. They help agencies across the U.S. with unsolved sexual assaults and homicides.
Mary Searight cold case murder solved
A 1996 Texas cold case murder of an elderly woman has been solved. The victim, Mary Searight, has ties to Austin.
Two years later in 2023, Cady's DNA was also submitted under the program, and Searight's DNA was found on the swabs from his hand.
Simota says she would ask him, "why? Because he was invited to her house in Paris, and she went and put the two dogs up in the bathroom upstairs and closed the door. The dogs would have attacked him when he attacked her, but she was helpless."
In February 2024, he was arrested, though he was already in the Hopkins County Jail for another crime. He is still behind bars.
Court records show a lengthy criminal history, including aggravated assaults, burglary, and traffic violations. They show he has an arraignment hearing for the murder charge on Sept. 15.
David Paul Cady Jr., 54
Simota wants him to go on trial.
"When they bring him to trial, which I hope is soon, because enough time has passed now, I hope it's soon and justice will be served, and God will forgive him for the murder of Mary Moore Searight. I have tried to forgive him, and I asked God's help," she said.
She shared stories Searight would tell, like of her on a streetcar in Paris and wanting to ride an airplane overhead.
"In my wildest dreams, I perceive her being carried by a helicopter and her enjoying the helicopter ride like she did the airplane," Simiota said.
She also shared memories of helping her since she was hard of hearing.
"For her to understand the comments from the people she met, I would have to verbalize it, and at the end of the day, the next day, I'd have such a sore throat from translating more or less, but she was a delightful, charming, sophisticated lady," she said.
The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin's Angela Shen and previous coverage