(KRON) -- An Ohio man faces up to life in prison if convicted of strangling a 24-year-old woman he met at a San Jose bar 48 years ago, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday. Willie Eugene Sims, now 69 years old, was arrested after detectives said his fingerprint was found on the victim’s pack of cigarettes.
Jeanette Ralston was last seen alive by her friends when she left the Lion’s Den Bar just before midnight on Jan. 31, 1977. She was with an unknown man whom she had just met at the bar, friends told investigators.
Ralston, a San Mateo resident, was found dead the following day. Her body was “wedged tightly” inside her Volkswagen Beetle, prosecutors said, which was found to be parked at an apartment complex near the San Jose bar. The Santa Clara County medical examiner found that Ralston died of strangulation from a long-sleeve dress shirt. Evidence, according to the DA’s office, showed she was sexually assaulted.
“The killer tried to light her car on fire, but it failed to burn,” prosecutors said.
The case went cold after no suspects were identified at the time.
Cold case homicide suspect Willie Eugene Sims pictured in 2025. (Photo: Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office)In August 2024, a fingerprint on a pack of Eve cigarettes belonging to Ralston was found to match Sims, the DA’s office said. Sims had been stationed at Fort Ord in Monterey County as a U.S. Army private and was convicted in 1978 for assault to commit murder.
The DA’s office explained that Sims moved out of California before his DNA was entered into the CODIS database. Weeks ago, investigators went to Ohio to collect a DNA sample from Sims.
Willie Eugene Sims' 1977 booking photo (L) and a San Jose Police Department sketch of the homicide suspect. (Photo: Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office)“The DA’s Crime Lab found DNA consistent with Sims on Ralston’s fingernails and the shirt used to strangle her,” the DA’s office said.
Sims is awaiting extradition to California. If convicted, he faces 25 years to life in prison.
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