Overview

• Jeanette Ralston, 24, was found strangled and sexually assaulted in her Volkswagen Beetle in San Jose on February 1, 1977.
• A fingerprint on Ralston's Eve cigarette pack matched Willie Eugene Sims in August 2024, marking a major breakthrough in the decades-old case.
• Further DNA analysis linked Sims to genetic material found on Ralston's fingernails and the shirt used to strangle her.
• Sims, a former Army private with a 1978 conviction for assault with intent to murder, had moved out of California before DNA databases were established.
• Sims was arrested in Ohio and faces extradition to California, where he could receive a sentence of 25 years to life if convicted.