{"id":2436121,"date":"2025-05-18T10:32:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T14:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/near-50-year-old-cold-case-heats-up-after-feds-double-check-cigarette-pack\/"},"modified":"2025-05-18T10:34:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T14:34:29","slug":"near-50-year-old-cold-case-heats-up-after-feds-double-check-cigarette-pack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/near-50-year-old-cold-case-heats-up-after-feds-double-check-cigarette-pack\/","title":{"rendered":"Near 50-Year-Old Cold Case Heats Up After Feds Double-Check Cigarette Pack"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnear-50-year-old-cold-case-heats-up-after-feds-double-check-cigarette-pack%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2436121&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In a critically important progress in a nearly 50-year-old cold case, authorities have arrested Willie Eugene Sims, 69, in connection with the 1977 murder of jeanette ralston in San Jose, California. Ralston&#8217;s body was discovered in her Volkswagen Beetle, having been strangled with a shirt and showing signs of sexual assault. the case went cold for decades until recent advancements in <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >forensic science led<\/a> to the retesting of evidence, including a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/35-year-old-woman-accused-of-sexting-and-giving-drugs-to-teens-allegedly-told-authorities-she-identifies-as-15-year-old-boy\/\" title=\"35-year-old woman accused of sexting and drugging teens claims to identify as a 15-year-old boy.\">cigarette pack<\/a> found at the scene, which matched Sims&#8217; fingerprints. sims,who was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-ottawa-police-march-on-freedom-convoy-starting-to-feel-like-the-beginning-of-the-end\/\" title=\"BREAKING: Ottawa Police March On Freedom Convoy: \u2018Starting To Feel Like The Beginning Of The End\u2019\">stationed nearby<\/a> as an Army private at the time of the murder,has a prior conviction for assault. He has been charged with murder and could face 25 years to life if convicted.The Santa Clara County District Attorney emphasized the importance of forensic advancements in resolving old cases, highlighting ongoing efforts to seek justice.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>A nearly 50-year-old cold case in San Jose, California, has seen a breakthrough with the arrest of a suspect in the 1977 murder of Jeanette Ralston.<\/p>\n<p>The Santa Clara County District Attorney&rsquo;s Office <a href=\"https:\/\/da.santaclaracounty.gov\/da-cold-case-unit-charges-ohio-man-1977-murder\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">announced<\/a> the development on May 6.<\/p>\n<p>Jeanette Ralston, a 24-year-old living in San Mateo, was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/he-spent-nearly-20-years-in-prison-for-a-murder-he-didnt-commit-he-was-just-released\/\" title=\"He Spent Nearly 20 Years In Prison For A Murder He Didn\u2019t Commit. He Was Just Released.\">found dead<\/a> on February 1, 1977.<\/p>\n<p>Her body was discovered in the back seat of her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/alyssa-milano-trades-tesla-volkswagen-ev-elon-musk-shows-told-bad-news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Volkswagen<\/a> Beetle, parked near an apartment complex.<\/p>\n<p>Ralston was last seen leaving the Lion&rsquo;s Den Bar on Almaden Road just before midnight on January 31, 1977, with an unidentified man. Friends reported her missing shortly after.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"stnvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadScript(src) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=src; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.async=true; \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.body.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadScript(\"https:\/\/embed.sendtonews.com\/player3\/embedcode.js?fk=s28Az7AY\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #stnvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#stnvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Willie Eugene Sims, 69, of Ohio charged by <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SantaClaraDA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SantaClaraDA<\/a> w\/murder for using shirt to strangle Jeanette Ralston after meeting her at San Jose bar in 1977, sexually assaulting her &amp; stuffing her in her VW Beetle, per <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SanJosePD?\">@SanJosePD<\/a>,cracking case w\/his prints found on her cigarette pack <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4TrNeBMdGX\">pic.twitter.com\/4TrNeBMdGX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/henrykleeKTVU\/status\/1919808625973068129?\">May 6, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The medical examiner determined Ralston died from strangulation, with a long-sleeve dress shirt tied around her neck. An autopsy also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/civil-rights-attorneys-submit-letter-to-manhattan-da-claiming-nypd-fbi-conspired-in-malcolm-x-assassination\/\" title=\"Civil rights attorneys submit letter to Manhattan DA claiming NYPD, FBI conspired in Malcolm X assassination\">revealed evidence<\/a> of sexual assault.<\/p>\n<p>The killer attempted to set Ralston&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/stanley-president-surprises-woman-thanks-viral-video-virtually-unscathed-cup-car-fire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">car on fire<\/a>, but the vehicle did not burn.<\/p>\n<p>This left critical evidence intact, including a pack of Eve cigarettes found inside.<\/p>\n<p>No suspects were identified at the time, and the case went cold for decades. The Santa Clara County Cold Case Unit, established in 2011, revisited the case in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>In August, a fingerprint on the cigarette pack was retested and matched to Willie Eugene Sims, a 69-year-old resident of Jefferson, Ohio. This was the pivotal break in the case.<\/p>\n<p>Sims was an Army private stationed at Fort Ord in Monterey County at the time of the murder. He had a prior conviction in 1978 for assault with intent to commit murder.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators from the Santa Clara County DA&rsquo;s Bureau of Investigation and San Jose Police Department traveled to Ohio. They collected a DNA sample from Sims with assistance from Ashtabula County authorities.<\/p>\n<p>The DA&rsquo;s Crime Lab found Sims&rsquo; DNA consistent with samples from Ralston&rsquo;s fingernails and the shirt used to strangle her. This strengthened the case against him.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Every day, forensic science grows better, and every day criminals are closer to being caught,&rdquo; District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. &ldquo;Cases may grow old and be forgotten by the public. We don&rsquo;t forget and we don&rsquo;t give up.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Sims was arraigned in Ohio on May 6 and faces extradition to California. He is charged with one count of murder and could face 25 years to life if convicted.<\/p>\n<p>William Weigel, homicide team supervisor for the Santa Clara County public defender&rsquo;s office, however, urged everyone to avoid jumping to any premature conclusions.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It is kind of important that we let the system play itself out and allow our side to conduct our own independent review and investigation of the case before we rush to judgment as it were,&rdquo; he said, <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/california-cold-case-murder-dna-jeanette-ralston-e00cffb11bc475b098381d5b9500a5ea\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according<\/a> to the Associated Press.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A nearly 50-year-old cold case in San Jose, California, has made progress with the arrest of a suspect in the 1977 murder of Jeanette Ralston. The Santa Clara County District Attorney&#8217;s Office revealed this update on May 6. Ralston, a 24-year-old from San Mateo, was discovered deceased on February 1, 1977, in the back seat of her Volkswagen Beetle parked near an apartment complex. She was last seen leaving the Lion&#8217;s Den Bar shortly before midnight on January 31 with an unidentified man. Friends reported her missing soon after<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2436122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Ralston.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[32149,50403,50990,50645,3976],"class_list":["post-2436121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-cold-case","tag-crime-2","tag-evidence-2","tag-fbi-2","tag-investigation"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Ralston.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2436121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2436121"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2436121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2436129,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2436121\/revisions\/2436129"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2436122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2436121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2436121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2436121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}