Genetic genealogy cracks 1996 Tallahassee motel murder, jury convicts Alan Lefferts

A Leon County jury turned a 1996 cold case into a first-degree murder conviction, finding Alan J. Lefferts guilty in the killing of James Branner and sending him to life in prison after genetic genealogy, fingerprint work and renewed forensic testing finally put the case back together.

Branner’s body was found on July 2, 1996, in a room at the Prince Murat Motel at 745 North Monroe Street in Tallahassee. He was 44 and had worked odd jobs around town. Florida Department of Law Enforcement records said his death was ruled a homicide based on evidence recovered at the scene, and the case later landed on the agency’s unsolved list after years without an arrest.

The break came when Tallahassee police reopened the investigation in 2020 and sent evidence back through modern testing. By 2021, FDLE’s genetic genealogy team, working with Parabon NanoLabs, had developed an investigative lead pointing to Lefferts. That team compares DNA matches to relatives found in public genealogy databases, a method that has become one of the sharpest tools in cold-case work when older evidence still carries usable genetic material.

Investigators did not stop at DNA. Police said Lefferts’ fingerprints matched prints lifted from the motel room telephone, and DNA testing linked him to items recovered from the scene. Court documents also said prosecutors believed Branner and Lefferts knew each other and may have checked in together under the names Jim and Al Branner. The state accused Lefferts of strangling Branner, causing asphyxiation after what authorities described as a violent encounter.

Lefferts was arrested on May 31, 2022, in the Jacksonville area, where he was living, with help from the Baker County Sheriff’s Office and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. He was 71 at the time of arrest and 75 when the case reached trial. TPD Deputy Chief Jason Laursen said the arrest reflected the work of state and local partners and the hope that it would bring closure to Branner’s surviving loved ones. Detective Brittany Able also played a central role in reviving the case, and later reporting said she drove the investigation forward after confronting Lefferts in person.

Lefferts denied ever being in Tallahassee or knowing Branner, but jurors heard testimony from 11 witnesses during the trial, which ran from May 4 through May 7, 2026. Chief Circuit Judge Francis Allman presided, Assistant State Attorney A. Callaway Scott prosecuted the case, and Assistant Public Defender Aimee C. Lim represented Lefferts. The verdict finally converted a motel death from 1996 into a resolved homicide, with a life sentence to match the long wait for justice.