California 1977 cold-case murder suspect identified as 69-year-old former Army private living in Ohio

An arrest has been made in a grisly cold-case murder that has been "haunting" prosecutors in California’s Bay Area for more than a decade, a district attorney told Fox News Digital.  

Willie Sims, a 69-year-old former Army private now living in Jefferson, Ohio, was identified as the suspect who allegedly strangled Jeanette Ralston to death with a long-sleeved shirt in early 1977 after meeting the 24-year-old at a bar in San Jose. The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office announced Sims’ arrest this week, citing new fingerprint and DNA evidence. 

"This is a case that's been haunting all the cold-case prosecutors for literally since 2011, when [our] Cold Case Unit was established," Santa Clara Deputy District Attorney Rob Baker told Fox News Digital. "About a year ago, we decided, ‘Hey, let's have the fingerprints in this case checked again.’ We caught a break last summer when we sent the fingerprints out, and we got a hit, which led us to the front door of Mr. Sims’s home in Ohio." 

"Our guiding principle at the Cold Case Unit here in Santa Clara County is we never forget. We never forget the victims. We never forget the family of those victims, and we never forget the loved ones of those victims," he added. "And we're always going to seek justice, whether it takes 10 years, 20 years or 50 years." 

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Prosecutors in California revealed an arrest in the 1977 unsolved murder of Jeanette Ralston. (Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office)

The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office said friends of Ralston had last seen her alive on Jan. 31, 1977, "when she left the Lion’s Den Bar at 1500 Almaden Road in San Jose with an unknown man just before midnight."

"On February 1, 1977, Ralston, then 24-years-old and living in San Mateo, was found dead, wedged tightly in the back seat of her Volkswagen Beetle in the carport area of an apartment complex near the bar," the attorney’s office added. "The medical examiner concluded the cause of death was strangulation from a long-sleeve dress shirt tied around her neck. The autopsy also showed evidence of sexual assault. The killer tried to light her car on fire, but it failed to burn." 

At the time of her murder, no suspects were identified, prosecutors said. 

The case then went cold for decades "until a fingerprint found on one of Ralston’s cigarette packs was found to match Sims in August 2024," according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office. 

Baker told Fox News Digital that prosecutors previously searched for the fingerprints in this case, "but it wasn't until we searched again last year where the new FBI's fingerprint algorithm made an identification." 

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Baker told Fox News Digital that a thumbprint from a carton of cigarettes found in Ralston's car "is what led us to Ohio" and suspect Willie Sims, shown right. (Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office)

He described it as a "major break" in the hunt for Ralston’s killer.

"It was an emotional day for us when we actually made the arrest, and certainly it was an emotional day for the family," Baker added. 

"I talked to Jeanette's son. He was 6 years old when she died, and he was very appreciative of the work we did and the work that we had done in the case," Baker said.

Prosecutors said Sims was an Army private assigned to Fort Ord, a former U.S. military base in Marina, California, at the time of Ralston's murder. He "was convicted in 1978 for an assault to commit murder in Monterey County" and later "moved out of state before his DNA could be entered into CODIS, the state’s DNA database," they added. 

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A 1977 booking photo of Willie Sims, left, and a sketch of a suspect made by the San Jose Police Department after Ralston's murder. (Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office)

"Earlier this year, DA’s Bureau of Investigation and San Jose Police Department investigators traveled to Ohio to collect a DNA sample from Sims with the assistance of Ashtabula County authorities. Weeks ago, the DA’s Crime Lab found DNA consistent with Sims on Ralston’s fingernails and the shirt used to strangle her," the attorney’s office said.

Ashtabula County Prosecutor April Grabman told Fox News Digital that Sims made an initial court appearance Tuesday in Ohio and waived his right to a full extradition hearing.

"I am hopeful with Mr. Sims’ arrest the family can hold on to hope that justice will be served and, although several years later, they can finally bring some closure to their loss," she said.

Prosecutors in California said Sims faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

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"Jeanette was at a bar with two of her friends, and they were just dancing and hanging out and having a fun night out, and she ran into the man who killed her," Baker told Fox News Digital. "We don't have any apparent connection between Mr. Sims and Ms. Ralston other than they met at this bar on Feb. 1, 1977."