A young woman from California was strangled to death almost 50 years ago. Now, an arrest has been made based on a thumbprint found on a box of cigarettes.
As of Friday, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said that Willie Eugene Sims had been caught in Jefferson, Ohio, for the murder of Jeanette Ralston.
Sims, who is 69 years old, was charged with murder on Friday and sent to California after being tried for the crime.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office says Ralston was found dead in the back seat of her Volkswagen Beetle in San Jose on February 1, 1977. In the parking lot of an apartment building, near the bar where her friends say she was last seen, her body was found.
Prosecutors say there was proof she was sexually assaulted and that she was strangled with a long-sleeved dress shirt. There were signs that someone tried to set fire to her car but failed.
At the time, her friends said they saw her leave the bar the night before with an unknown guy. She said she would be back in 10 minutes, but she never came back. The police talked to the friends and other witnesses and drew a sketch of the suspect. But there was no more crime.
When police asked the FBI to run the print through their new system last autumn, they found that the thumbprint on Ralston’s cigarette box in her car matched Sims’s.
The San Jose cops and people from the District Attorney’s office went to Ohio earlier this year to get Sims’ DNA. DNA from Ralston’s fingernails and the shirt that was used to choke her were found to match.
D.A. Jeff Rosen said in a statement, “Every day, forensic science gets better, and every day, criminals are closer to being caught.” “People may forget about cases as they get old.” We won’t forget or give up.
William Weigel, who is in charge of the homicide team for the public defender’s office in Santa Clara County, revealed on Monday that the case had been given to Lara Wallman. He said that their office couldn’t say anything about the information yet because they hadn’t seen it. However, he warned people not to jump to conclusions.
He said, “It’s kind of important that we let the system work itself out and let our side do our own independent review and investigation of the case before we jump to conclusions.”
Prosecutors say Sims was a private in the army in 1977 and was sent to a base about 68 miles south of San Jose.
Court records show that a year after Ralston’s death, Sims was found guilty of assault with the intent to murder in Monterey County and given a four-year prison term.
Allen Ralston, her son, was 6 years old when she died. He told WOIO-TV that he was thankful and glad that someone was finally caught.
He said about the case, “I’m just glad that someone cared.”