Nearly 50 years after a young California woman was found strangled to death, a thumbprint on a carton of cigarettes has led to an arrest, authorities say.
Willie Eugene Sims, 69, was arrested in Jefferson, Ohio, in connection with the 1977 murder of Jeanette Ralston, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
Sims has been charged with murder and was arraigned in Ashtabula County Court before being extradited to California.
Ralston, then in her twenties, was found dead in the back seat of her Volkswagen Beetle on Feb. 1, 1977, in San Jose.
Her body was discovered in the carport of an apartment complex near the bar where friends last saw her.
Prosecutors said she had been strangled with a long-sleeve shirt and likely sexually assaulted. Her car showed signs of an attempted arson.
Friends told police that Ralston had left the bar the night before with an unknown man, saying she’d be back in 10 minutes.
She never returned. In spite of early interviews and a suspect sketch, the case eventually went cold.
In a breakthrough last fall, investigators ran a thumbprint found on a cigarette carton in Ralston’s car through the FBI’s updated database.
The print matched Sims, who in 1977 was an Army private stationed roughly 68 miles south of San Jose.
Earlier this year, Santa Clara County officials and San Jose police traveled to Ohio to collect Sims’ DNA, which prosecutors say matched DNA found under Ralston’s fingernails and on the shirt used to strangle her.
“Every day, forensic science grows better, and every day criminals are closer to being caught,” said District Attorney Jeff Rosen.
“Cases may grow old and be forgotten by the public. We don’t forget, and we don’t give up.”
Sims has a criminal record dating back to 1978, when he was convicted of assault with intent to commit murder in an unrelated case and sentenced to four years in prison.
The homicide team supervisor for the Santa Clara County Public Defender’s Office, William Weigel, confirmed that attorney Lara Wallman had been assigned to the case.
He said the defense had not yet reviewed the evidence and urged the public not to rush to judgment.
“It’s important we let the system play out and allow our side to conduct an independent review and investigation,” he said.
Jeanette Ralston’s son, Allen Ralston, who was just six years old when she was killed, told WOIO-TV that he was grateful and relieved an arrest had been made. “I’m just glad that somebody cared,” he said. (AP/NAN)
