Sarah Yarborough; Patrick Nicholas.Photo: King County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook
A Washington State man has been found guilty of killing a high school honors student and drill team member who was found beaten and strangled to death with her own stockings.
Patrick Nicholas, 55, was found guilty Wednesday of felony first-degree murder and second-degree murder in the death of 16-year-oldSarah Yarborough, theSeattle Timesreported.
Nicholas was arrested in October 2019 thanks to advances in DNA and genetic genealogy.
“She loved art, she loved to dance, what would she have become in those years that were taken from her?” Yarborough’s friend, Mary Beth Thome toldKOMO News. “I think she would’ve been a beautiful person, and I think it’s really sad that the world didn’t get to see who she would’ve become.”
The teen disappeared on Dec. 14, 1991 driving to her high school to attend a drill team event.
Police at the time had no suspects, though they were able to create a sketch of a possible suspect leaving the woods and recover DNA evidence to establish a profile.
Though more than 4,000 tips came in over the course of the investigation, none of them yielded a suspect. The field of genetic genealogy at the time was non-existent, so the case went cold.
Detectives started surveilling Nicholas and picked up cigarettes butts and a paper napkin he tossed outside a strip mall.
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They submitted the items to the state crime lab to compare the DNA on the items to DNA found at the scene nearly three decades earlier. The DNA found on the butts came back as a match to crime scene evidence.
At a press conference after Nicholas' arrest, Lori Yarborough said she still thought about her daughter every day.
“She loved life, she loved people, she loved to travel,” the grieving mother said. “She had big hopes and big dreams and was a great sister and a great daughter.”
Nicholas will be sentenced on May 25, according toKIRO7.
source: people.com
