Nearly 48 years after the murder of a young woman in California, a thumbprint found on a cigarette pack has led to the arrest of the suspected killer. Willie Eugene Sims, 69, was arrested in Jefferson, Ohio, in connection with the 1977 strangulation of Jeanette Ralston, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office said. Sims, who appeared in an Ashtabula County court on Friday, will be extradited to California to face murder charges.
What happened in 1977?
On February 1, 1977, Jeanette Ralston’s body was discovered on the back seat of her Volkswagen Beetle, parked in the carport of an apartment complex in San Jose. The spot was near the bar where she was last seen. Prosecutors said Ralston was strangled with a long-sleeved shirt, and forensic evidence indicated she had been sexually assaulted. There were also signs that someone had tried, but failed, to set her car on fire. Friends recalled that Ralston left the bar the night before with a stranger, telling them she would be back in 10 minutes, but she never returned.
Breakthrough from a cigarette pack
Despite early efforts, including police sketches and multiple interviews with friends and witnesses, the case went cold. Last year, investigators rechecked a thumbprint found on a cigarette pack from Ralston’s car against the FBI’s updated database. It matched Sims, leading Santa Clara County detectives and San Jose police to Ohio, where they collected Sims’s DNA. It later matched the DNA found under Ralston’s fingernails and on the shirt used to strangle her. District Attorney Jeff Rosen said, "Forensic science keeps improving, and criminals continue to be caught. While some may forget old cases, we neither forget nor give up."
A troubled past
At the time of the murder, Sims was a private in the U.S. Army, stationed about 109 kilometers from San Jose. A year later, in 1978, he was convicted in Monterey County for attempted murder in a separate case and served four years in prison. Santa Clara County Public Defender’s Office homicide supervisor William Weigel, who is handling Sims’s defense, urged the public not to jump to conclusions as the investigation continues.
Family’s long wait for justice
Jeanette’s son, Alan Ralston, who was just six years old when his mother was killed, said the arrest brings some relief. "I'm glad someone cared about this case," he told WOIO-TV. "It shows that technology and relentless police work can solve even the oldest cases."