SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. — Authorities recently charged a 69-year-old Ohio man with squeezing to death a 24-year-old woman he met at a bar almost fifty years ago. They did this by looking at the DNA and fingerprints on a pack of cigarettes.

Police in Santa Clara County say that on February 1, 1977, Jeanette Ralston, who was 24 years old, was found dead ‘wedged tightly in the trunk of her Volkswagen Beetle’ in the parking lot of an apartment complex. An autopsy showed that she died from being strangled by a long-sleeved shirt that was around her neck. There were also signs of sexual abuse. Investigators also think that the person who they think killed Ralston tried to set the car on fire, but it didn’t catch fire.

Friends of Ralston said she was last seen leaving San Jose’s Lion’s Den Bar with an unknown guy just before midnight on January 31, 1977. Even though the police tried, no one was arrested at the time, and the case went cold.

A break came in August 2024 when a fingerprint that matched Willie Sims was found on one of Ralston’s cigarette packs. Sims was said to be a private in the Army and to have been stationed at Fort Ord. In 1978, he was found guilty of assault with the intent to kill in Monterey County. However, he left the state before his DNA was added to the Combined DNA Index System.

The San Jose Police Department and the district attorney’s office of investigations went to Ohio in 2025 to get Sims’ DNA. This past week, a crime lab said that Sims’ DNA matched DNA found on Ralston’s fingernails and the shirt that was used to kill her.

On May 6, authorities said Sims was being charged with murder. If found guilty, he could spend 25 years to life in jail. He was supposed to be arraigned in Ohio and is now going to be sent to California.

DA Jeff Rosen said, “Forensic science gets better every day, which means criminals are closer to being caught every day.” A case may get old and people forget about it. We won’t forget or give up.”