New Florida bill aims to help families of murder victims with unsolved crimes

DAVIE, Fla. – The Florida lawmakers who’re pushing for The Decker-Backmann Act to develop into state regulation in July have the families of Marilyn Decker and Clifford “Cliff” Backmann in thoughts.

Backmann used to be robbed and shot in 2009 at a development website online in Jacksonville, and he known as 911 earlier than he died. He used to be 56. Decker used to be the sufferer of a brutal assault and died of asphyxiation. Her mutilated frame became up in a canal in 1987, in Davie. She used to be 28.

“She had been there for approximately two to three days,” stated Gail Demore, Decker’s sister.

The murders stay unsolved. Decker’s oldsters died with out understanding who killed her. Demore and Backmann’s son Ryan Backmann proceed to push for solutions and recommend for a greater machine.

Decker’s chilly case reopened in 2019. Demore counts at the help of Bertha Hurtado, a forensic anthropologist-trained crime scene investigator with the Davie Police Department.

“When you open up a cold case you have to go through every single item,” Hurtado stated.

Ryan Backmann, who labored for Compassionate Families, a victims’ advocacy staff, and based Project: Cold Case to help “the victims and survivors of unsolved crimes” stated the duty is tedious however necessary.

“A lot of times the families of unsolved cases start to feel forgotten like their loved one is forgotten, and like nobody else cares and that really bothered me because I remembered that feeling,” Ryan Backmann stated.

Florida Sen. Rosalind Osgood, of Tamarac, filed State Bill 350: Cold Case Murders, in November, and Florida Rep. Christopher Benjamin, of Miami Gardens, filed House Bill 837: Cold Case Murders in December.

The regulation would permit for reinvestigation requests of unsolved murders on or after Jan. 1, 1970, with a 5-year ready duration until “materially significant evidence is discovered.” The companies would have 18 months from the time of the request to evaluate.

It would identify chilly case gadgets around the state, reinforce protocols for proof garage, order departments to stay victims’ families knowledgeable, and require coaching and information studies to the Global Forensic and Justice Center at Florida International University.

“In the event, the agency doesn’t have enough manpower or financial backing, FDLE, which is the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will take on the responsibility,” Hurtado stated.

Before the Senate’s Criminal Justice Committee individuals voted unanimously on Jan. 30 to reinforce it,
Osgood stated the Davie detectives running on Decker’s case lobbied for the bill.

The expenses are beneath evaluate by way of the Senate’s Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice and the House’s Criminal Justice Subcommittee.

Meanwhile, in Davie, Demore hopes DNA will help detectives resolve the case. In Jacksonville, Ryan Backmann stated he hopes a tip or new generation will help to find his father’s killer.

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