DNA found on cigarette carton leads to major break in 1977 San Jose cold case murder

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- After decades of no leads, DNA and fingerprints found on a pack of cigarettes led the Santa Clara County District Attorney's office to a suspect in a decades-old cold case murder.

In 1977, 24-year-old Jeanette Ralston was found strangled to death in the back seat of her Volkswagen Beetle.

The San Mateo resident was last seen alive at a bar in San Jose.

Deputy District Attorney Rob Baker has worked closely with the Cold Case Unit.

"This is one case in particular that has haunted every cold case prosecutor... we've all looked at it and dug into it," Baker said.

Baker said it was last August when they had a breakthrough. They retested the fingerprints found on a carton of cigarettes in Ralston's car.

"Just about a year ago I was like hey, let's run those prints again to see if we get lucky," Baker said.

And they did. The prints matched to 69-year-old Willie Eugene Sims in Ohio.

He had a prior conviction in 1978 for an assault to commit murder in Monterey County.

He moved out of state after his time served.

MORE: Santa Clara man charged with murder in 1987 cold case

Earlier this year, investigators from the DA's Office and the San Jose Police Department traveled to Ohio to collect Sims' DNA.

The DA's Crime Lab found it was consistent with DNA found on Ralston's fingernails and the shirt used to strangle her.

"If we charged him and went to trial, would we be able to prove it? Do we have enough witnesses that can actually testify? And we're very fortunate in this case that all of the key witnesses in this case are still alive," Baker said.

Sims was arraigned in Ohio on Tuesday.

In the coming days, he will be transported to Santa Clara County.

If convicted, he's facing 25 years to life.

MORE: DNA evidence links NorCal man to 1983 killing of North Bay woman, detectives say

On Tuesday morning, Baker called Jeanette's son, who was just a child when he lost his mother.

"We can't bring her back, but we can answer a lot of the questions that the family may have had and try to get them some closure and hopefully justice in that way," Baker said.

Ralston's son posted on social media, thanking the detectives for their persistence and devotion. He wrote in part, "You have undoubtedly made a 6-year-old kid happy after all these years. Thank you from the bottom of my heart on a job well done."

Baker said this speaks to District Attorney's Jeff Rosen's commitment.

"The DA's Cold Case Unit has solved 30 murders since 2011, and over half of those murders have been solved in the last five years," Baker said.