SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. (TCN) — After testing the DNA and fingerprints on a pack of cigarettes, authorities recently charged a 69-year-old Ohio man on suspicion of fatally strangling a 24-year-old woman he met at a bar almost five decades ago.
According to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, on Feb. 1, 1977, 24-year-old Jeanette Ralston was found deceased, “wedged tightly in the backseat of her Volkswagen Beetle” in the parking area of an apartment complex. An autopsy revealed she died of strangulation from a long-sleeve shirt that had been tied around her neck, and there was evidence of sexual assault. Investigators also believe Ralston’s alleged killer tried to light the vehicle ablaze, but it didn’t burn.
Ralston’s friends reportedly said she was last seen leaving Lion’s Den Bar in San Jose with an unknown man shortly before midnight on Jan. 31, 1977. Despite authorities’ efforts, no arrests were made at the time, and the case went cold.
A break came in August 2024 when officials found a fingerprint on one of Ralston’s cigarette packs that matched Willie Sims. Sims reportedly worked as an Army private and was stationed at Fort Ord. He was convicted in 1978 for an assault to commit murder in Monterey County but moved out of state before his DNA was entered into the Combined DNA Index System.
In 2025, San Jose Police and the district attorney’s bureau of investigation went to Ohio and collected Sims’ DNA. Recently, a crime lab said Sims’ DNA was consistent with the DNA found on Ralston’s fingernails and the shirt used to kill her.
On May 6, prosecutors announced that they charged Sims with murder. He faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted. He was scheduled to be arraigned in Ohio and is awaiting extradition to California.
District Attorney Jeff Rosen said, “Every day, forensic science grows better, and every day criminals are closer to being caught. Cases may grow old and be forgotten by the public. We don’t forget, and we don’t give up.”