1996 Searight murder names suspect

The Paris Police Department, in coordination with the Lamar County District Attorney’s Office, announces the arrest of David Paul Cady for the murder of Mrs. Mary Margaret Searight. Mrs. Searight, 81, was brutally beaten inside her home at 711 Pine Bluff on August 18, 1996. Cady was initially considered a person of interest due to an unexplained laceration to his right hand and inconsistent explanations about the injury. Investigators at that time obtained a swab of Cady’s injured hand. Mrs. Searight was air-lifted to Baylor Hospital where she succumbed to her injuries three days later on Aug. 21, 1996.

In September 2023, Paris Police Lieutenant Leigh Foreman, while reviewing the evidence in the cold murder case 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.

Cady is currently incarcerated in the Hopkins County Jail on unrelated felony charges. The case will be reviewed by the District Attorney’s Office and a Lamar County grand jury for prosecution.