UPDATE: Suspect Identified: Susan Leigh Wolfe — A 1980 Coed Murder
This story was originally posted on July 16, 2021, the following updates came to light on August 16, 2024. I’ll continue to update as more details emerge.
On January 9, 1980, Susan Leigh Wolfe, 25, walked from her Austin, Texas residence to a friend’s house less than a mile away. The next morning at 8:34 am, a neighbor found her partially clothed body in an alley along East 17th Street, more than four miles from her home.
Her body showed violent assault. She was naked from the waist up, beaten, bruised with a black eye, and strangled. The cause of death was unclear until the autopsy revealed Susan died from a single gunshot wound to her left temple. There was also evidence of a sexual assault.
A vigilant witness gave police a lot of early clues.
A witness saw Susan walk down her street, and two men in trench coats kidnap her. Before they grabbed her, he said Susan saw them and tried to hide, almost as if she recognized them. Unfortunately, they forced her inside a 1970 white vinyl top, maroon body, two-door Dodge Polara. The witness reported the passenger door of the suspect’s vehicle had major collision damage. The witness…
