Latest news with #ClaraCountyDistrictAttorney'sOffice
Scottish Sun
21-05-2025
- Scottish Sun
My mum was brutally murdered at 24 when I was at home in bed just age six – a ciggy packet led to arrest 50 years later
The cold-blooded killer tried to set Jeanette Ralston's car on fire but it failed to burn, leaving behind the key clue on a cigarette packet POLICE PROBE My mum was brutally murdered at 24 when I was at home in bed just age six – a ciggy packet led to arrest 50 years later Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) BEAUTIFUL Jeanette Ralston, 24, was letting her hair down with pals at a local bar while her six-year-old son, Allen, was safely tucked up in bed. But tragically, the mum-of-one never made it home to her baby. She was found strangled, sexually assaulted and wedged into the back seat of her own car. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 Jeanette Ralston was found strangled, sexually assaulted and wedged into the back seat of her own car Credit: Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office 4 She left behind her son Allen, who was six-years-old at the time of her death Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk 4 Willie Eugene Sims, 69, was arrested two weeks ago and charged with the brutal murder of Jeanette Credit: Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office Jeanette was last seen alive leaving the Lion's Den bar in San Jose, California with an unidentified man just before midnight on January 31 1977. She told pals that she'd be back in 10 minutes. The following day, her body was discovered dead in the back of her Volkswagen Beetle in a carport near the bar. A medical examiner determined that she had been strangled with the long-sleeve shirt that was found wound around her neck. The cold-blooded killer then tried to set Jeanette's car on fire, but it failed to burn. He got away with the slaying for nearly five decades. Willie Eugene Sims, 69, was arrested two weeks ago and charged with the brutal murder of Jeanette in January 1977, according to Santa Clara County prosecutors. The Ohio man was finally linked to the crime through a cigarette pack in Jeanette's VW Beetle. The breakthrough came last August when police made the decision to retest fingerprints on the cigarette packet, despite testing from years prior not linking anyone to the cold case. But Santa Clara Deputy District Attorney Rob Baker said that his office decided to 'throw a Hail Mary' after the FBI updated its fingerprint database's search algorithm. 'Just about a year ago, I was like, 'hey, let's run those prints again to see if we get lucky',' he told KGO. To Baker's astonishment, the fresh search revealed a match for Sims. Further analysis found Sims' DNA under Jeanette's fingernails and on the shirt used to strangle her, according to cops. Jeanette's son Allen, who was just six-years-old when his mother was violently taken from him, has expressed gratitude for Sims' arrest. 4 The breakthrough came last August when police made the decision to retest fingerprints on the cigarette packet found in Jeanette's car Credit: AP "His birthday is coming up - he said this was such a great birthday present,' Baker said. 'We can't bring her back, but at least now we can answer some of the questions that have haunted the family and offer them the closure they've waited almost 50 years for.' Allen shared his heartfelt thanks in a social media post, acknowledging the detectives' tireless work. He wrote: 'You have undoubtedly made a six-year-old kid happy after all these years. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for a job well done.' Sims has now been arraigned on the murder charge and is due to be extradited to California, where he could face a sentence of 25 years to life behind bars.
Miami Herald
06-05-2025
- Miami Herald
Fingerprint on cigarette pack helps solve cold case from 1977, CA officials say
National Fingerprint on cigarette pack helps solve cold case from 1977, CA officials say Jeanette Ralston was found dead in an apartment carport, prosecutors said. Photo from Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office Nearly five decades after a 24-year-old woman was found dead in an apartment complex carport, a former Army private has been charged, California prosecutors say. Willie Eugene Sims, 69, of Ohio was charged in the 1977 killing of Jeanette Ralston, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office said in a May 6 news release. Body found Friends last saw the San Mateo woman alive when she left Lion's Den Bar in San Jose with an unknown man shortly before midnight Jan. 31, 1977, prosecutors said. The next day, Ralston was found dead in the carport of a nearby apartment complex, prosecutors said. Her body was 'wedged tightly in the back seat of her Volkswagen Beetle,' prosecutors said. Through an autopsy, the medical examiner determined Ralston was strangled to death with the long-sleeved dress shirt that was found around her neck, according to prosecutors. The medical examiner also found signs she had been sexually assaulted, prosecutors said. Ralston's accused killer tried to set her car ablaze, but it didn't burn, prosecutors said. With no suspects, her case went cold, prosecutors said. Fingerprint offers clue Then, decades later, investigators found a fingerprint on Ralston's pack of Eve cigarettes was a match to Sims in August, prosecutors said. At the time of Ralston's death, Sims was an Army private stationed at Fort Ord in Monterey County, according to prosecutors. In 1978, Sims was convicted in an assault with intent to murder case, prosecutors said. Sims moved out of state, and his DNA was never entered into the Combined DNA Index System, a criminal justice DNA database, prosecutors said. DNA testing IDs suspect Investigators traveled to Ohio 'earlier this year' and got a DNA sample from Sims, prosecutors said. Through testing, investigators found Sims' DNA was a match to DNA found on 'Ralston's fingernails and the shirt used to strangle her,' prosecutors said. 'Every day, forensic science grows better, and every day criminals are closer to being caught,' District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in the release. 'Cases may grow old and be forgotten by the public. We don't forget and we don't give up.' Sims, who is awaiting extradition to California, was scheduled to be arraigned in Jefferson, Ohio, on Tuesday, May 6, prosecutors said. If convicted as charged, prosecutors said 'Sims faces 25-years-to-life in prison.' Daniella Segura McClatchy DC Go to X Email this person Daniella Segura is a national real-time reporter with McClatchy. Previously, she's worked as a multimedia journalist for weekly and daily newspapers in the Los Angeles area. Her work has been recognized by the California News Publishers Association. She is also an alumnus of the University of Southern California and UC Berkeley.
CNN
11-04-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators who occupied Stanford building are charged with felonies
A dozen pro-Palestinian demonstrators who were arrested at Stanford University last year after they occupied and allegedly caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to a campus building are now facing charges. The twelve people, current and former Stanford students, have been charged with felony vandalism and felony conspiracy to trespass, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office said Thursday in a news release. Those charged range in age from 19 to 32, the DA's office said. They will be arraigned later this month at the Hall of Justice in San Jose. A student journalist, who was arrested with the protesters but was not accused of participating in the vandalism, was not charged. The Stanford takeover began around dawn on June 5, 2024, the last day of spring classes at the university in California's Silicon Valley. Some protesters barricaded themselves inside the building, which houses the university president's office. Others linked arms outside, The Stanford Daily reported at the time. The group chanted 'Palestine will be free, we will free Palestine.' The takeover ended three hours later. Prosecutors accuse the demonstrators of spray-painting on the building, breaking windows and furniture, disabling security cameras and splattering a red liquid described as fake blood on items throughout the building. Damages were estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to prosecutors. Cellphones belonging to those arrested showed communications about the planning of the operation, including a 'do-it-yourself occupation guide,' prosecutors said. The AP recorded at least 86 incidents last spring in which arrests were made at college or university campus protests against the war in Gaza across the U.S.
CNN
11-04-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators who occupied Stanford building are charged with felonies
A dozen pro-Palestinian demonstrators who were arrested at Stanford University last year after they occupied and allegedly caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to a campus building are now facing charges. The twelve people, current and former Stanford students, have been charged with felony vandalism and felony conspiracy to trespass, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office said Thursday in a news release. Those charged range in age from 19 to 32, the DA's office said. They will be arraigned later this month at the Hall of Justice in San Jose. A student journalist, who was arrested with the protesters but was not accused of participating in the vandalism, was not charged. The Stanford takeover began around dawn on June 5, 2024, the last day of spring classes at the university in California's Silicon Valley. Some protesters barricaded themselves inside the building, which houses the university president's office. Others linked arms outside, The Stanford Daily reported at the time. The group chanted 'Palestine will be free, we will free Palestine.' The takeover ended three hours later. Prosecutors accuse the demonstrators of spray-painting on the building, breaking windows and furniture, disabling security cameras and splattering a red liquid described as fake blood on items throughout the building. Damages were estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to prosecutors. Cellphones belonging to those arrested showed communications about the planning of the operation, including a 'do-it-yourself occupation guide,' prosecutors said. The AP recorded at least 86 incidents last spring in which arrests were made at college or university campus protests against the war in Gaza across the U.S.
