POMPANO BEACH, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2025 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — A 63-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a 16-year-old cold case sexual battery in Pompano Beach, the Broward Sheriff’s Office announced. Investigators say advanced DNA testing, including a familial search, identified Wisler Marcellus as the suspect who broke into a woman’s home and attacked her at gunpoint in 2009. Marcellus was arrested on Oct. 28 and faces charges of sexual battery with a weapon and armed burglary.
The attack occurred around 3:30 a.m. on June 19, 2009, when a 36-year-old mother was asleep with two of her children. According to BSO, a man broke in through a window, entered the bedroom, and held a gun to the victim’s head before sexually battering her. The children slept through the incident and were unharmed. The suspect, described as wearing a mask and gloves, then stole the victim’s purse and fled, leaving behind DNA evidence.
The case remained cold for 16 years, though BSO’s Crime Lab developed a DNA profile of the unknown attacker in 2009. In April 2025, BSO’s Cold Case Unit re-examined the evidence using new technology. Detectives asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to conduct a familial search of the state DNA database. BSO said that search identified a close male relative of the suspect, a lead that pointed investigators directly to Marcellus.
Detectives learned Marcellus was traveling in Haiti and obtained a search warrant for his DNA upon his return. On Oct. 20, the warrant was executed at Miami International Airport. BSO’s Crime Lab confirmed the DNA collected from Marcellus matched the sample from the 2009 crime scene. He was arrested days later and transported to the Broward County Main Jail.
