US EditionDNA from cigarette packet links former Fort Ord Army private to 1977 murder
- Willie Eugene Sims, a 69-year-old former Army private stationed at Fort Ord, has been charged with the 1977 murder of Jeanette Ralston in San Jose, California.
- Authorities linked Sims to the nearly 50-year-old cold case after matching a fingerprint found on Ralston's cigarette pack in August 2024 and collecting his DNA from Ohio earlier this year.
- Ralston, who was 24 years old, disappeared after exiting the Lion’s Den establishment late on January 31, 1977, accompanied by an unidentified individual, and was later discovered strangled inside her Volkswagen Beetle.
- The Santa Clara District Attorney stated, "We don’t forget, and we don’t give up," while lab results showed Sims' DNA was consistent with samples found under Ralston’s fingernails and on the strangulation shirt.
- Sims awaits extradition to California for arraignment in Ohio and faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted, highlighting advances in forensic science that aid solving cold cases.
20 Articles
20 Articles
New ballistics technology, forensic findings closes nearly 50 year old Colorado cold case
DENVER (KDVR) — Authorities say that new technology has provided "decisive evidence that conclusively links" a suspect in the 1975 murder of 20-year-old John Curtis Patterson. However, the suspect, identified as Louis Jess Locicero, then 32, had previously been suspected in the case and died in 2024. Police search for culprit in 2017 cold case homicide The case was reported on Sept. 29, 1975, in the 4500 block of North Broadway, where the …
Sheriff’s Office says evidence ‘conclusively links’ murder suspect in 1975 Boulder cold case to crime
After nearly 50 years, police say they have identified the man who killed 20-year-old John Curtis Patterson, who was found dead at a north Boulder-area gas station in September 1975. The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday there is enough evidence to support that Louis Jess Locicero, 32, murdered Patterson. Though some aspects of the case remain unconfirmed, there is now significant evidence to indicate Locicero committed the crime, a…
Man Accused of Strangling Woman With Shirt After Bar Meeting in 1977 - Miamistandard News
SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. — Authorities recently charged a 69-year-old Ohio man with squeezing to death a 24-year-old woman he met at a bar almost fifty years ago. They did this by looking at the DNA and fingerprints on a pack of cigarettes. Police in Santa Clara County say that on February 1, 1977, Jeanette Ralston, who was 24 years old, was found dead ‘wedged tightly in the trunk of her Volkswagen Beetle’ in the parking lot of an apartment co…
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 72% of the sources are Center
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
Ownership
To view ownership data please Upgrade to Vantage
