A person accused of raping and murdering a 13-year-old woman in 1982 has been discovered responsible by a California jury after DNA from his cigarette linked him to the decades-old chilly case, in response to prosecutors.
James Oliver Unickof Willows, was convicted of homicide on Friday, February 13, with the particular circumstance “associated to the sexual assault through the fee of the homicide” in reference to the loss of life of Sarah Geer, the Sonoma County District Legal professional’s Workplace stated in a information launch issued that day.
The jury’s verdict got here after Unick beforehand pleaded not responsible, courtroom information present.
“This responsible verdict is a testomony to everybody who by no means gave up looking for Sarah’s killer,” Sonoma County District Legal professional Karla Rodriguez stated in a press release. “That is the coldest case ever offered to a Sonoma County jury.”
“Whereas 44 years is just too lengthy to attend, justice has lastly been served, each to Sarah’s family members in addition to her group,” Rodriguez added.
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Unick’s protection lawyer didn’t instantly return Us Weekly’s request for touch upon Tuesday, February 17.
Unick is accused of killing Sarah the night of Might 23, 1982, after she left a pal’s house in Cloverdale, in response to prosecutors.
Whereas Sarah was strolling downtown, Unick attacked her “close to an alley off a residential road” and dragged her down the alley, the district lawyer’s workplace stated.
Unick dragged her additional to a “secluded space” subsequent to an house constructing that was behind a fence, the place he “brutally raped Sarah and strangled her to loss of life utilizing her personal shorts as a ligature,” in response to the district lawyer’s workplace.
The subsequent morning, a firefighter got here throughout Sarah’s physique whereas he was heading house from a shift, prosecutors stated.
Attributable to limits in forensic science, the case remained chilly for a number of many years, in response to the district lawyer’s workplace.
In 2003, the primary break within the case got here when a California Division of Justice criminalist developed a DNA profile of a suspect after analyzing sperm discovered on Sarah’s underwear, prosecutors stated.
Nonetheless, the DNA profile was not linked to a possible suspect till years later, in response to the district lawyer’s workplace.
After the Cloverdale police division employed personal investigator Kevin Cline to assist in 2021, the FBI additionally bought concerned to try to establish the DNA profile, prosecutors stated.
In the end, the DNA profile was found to match 4 individuals: Unick and three of his brothers, in response to the district lawyer’s workplace.
Unick was narrowed down because the suspect after FBI brokers obtained a cigarette that Unick had smoked and discarded, in response to prosecutors.
“A DNA evaluation of the cigarette butt confirmed that Unick’s DNA matched the 2003 profile, and his DNA moreover matched DNA collected on quite a few articles of clothes that Sarah had been carrying on the time of her loss of life,” the district lawyer’s workplace stated.
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Unick was arrested at his house in Willows in July 2024 in reference to Sarah’s loss of life, in response to prosecutors.
Throughout Unick’s jury trial, which lasted for a month, he accused Sarah of propositioning him for intercourse whereas he was at a Cloverdale arcade and stated “they’d consensual intercourse on a hillside,” the district lawyer’s workplace stated.
He implied Sarah “should have been assaulted and murdered later that night by a phantom man who failed to go away behind any DNA proof,” in response to the workplace.
The jury, nevertheless, didn’t purchase Unick’s story, the district lawyer’s workplace stated.
Unick is anticipated to be sentenced to life in jail with out the potential for parole, in response to prosecutors.