Dallas County prosecutors announced that Edward Morgan, 64, has pleaded guilty to the 1984 murder of 21-year-old Mary Jane Thompson and will serve 30 years in prison. Morgan, who was arrested in 2022 after advances in forensic technology linked him to the crime, waived his right to appeal.
Thompson was found sexually assaulted and murdered behind a warehouse on Irving Boulevard on February 13, 1984. The case stalled for decades, though Dallas Police reopened it in 2009 and identified an unknown male DNA profile from autopsy evidence. Without a suspect, the case went cold again.
In 2018, DPD Cold Case Detective Noe Camacho revisited the file and worked with the District Attorney’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative team to pursue new forensic testing options. By 2020, the FBI joined the joint task force, and the case was submitted for investigative genetic genealogy analysis, the same method that helped identify the Golden State Killer. The results pointed investigators to Morgan, and follow-up DNA testing confirmed the match.
Dallas County Criminal District Attorney John Creuzot said the conviction highlights the purpose of the DA’s Cold Case Division. He added that nearly four decades after Thompson was killed, “her family finally received justice.”
The case also showcases the Dallas County Cold Case Initiative Project, launched in 2024 after a $2.3 million grant. The initiative strengthens collaboration between the DA’s Cold Case Division, which handles unsolved homicides, and the SAKI Unit.
The DA’s Office credited several key contributors, including Cold Case Division Chief ADA Leighton D’Antoni, Investigator Jon Wakefield, DPD Detective Noe Camacho, the FBI Dallas Violent Crimes Task Force, and the DPD CRT Team.
