Posted on 02/18/2026 12:57:04 PM PST by nickcarraway
Nearly 44 years after 13-year-old Sarah Geer was brutally raped and strangled to death in a Cloverdale alley, the girl’s murderer has been convicted, the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office announced.
On Friday, a Sonoma County jury found 66-year-old James Oliver Unick guilty of the May 23, 1982, murder and found true that he committed a sexual assault during the commission of murder. Unick was ultimately identified as the suspect and arrested on July 22, 2024, after a cigarette he had smoked was collected by FBI agents and analyzed to be a match of DNA evidence at the scene of the murder.
On the evening of the murder, Geer was walking in downtown Cloverdale after leaving a friend’s house when Unick forcibly dragged her down an alley to a secluded area, according to prosecutors. There, the DA’s office said he “brutally raped Sarah and strangled her to death using her own shorts as a ligature.”
Sarah Geer (Photo: Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office) The teen’s body was found the following morning, and the case went cold for decades due to the limited forensic science available at the time.
In 2003, a DNA profile was developed based on sperm that had been collected from Geer’s clothing. The investigation found no matches of the DNA in law enforcement databases.
Nearly 20 years after the DNA profile was made, a private investigator was hired in 2021 by the Cloverdale Police Department to investigate the case. With the assistance of the FBI, the DNA profile was matched by investigators using familial genealogical databases to one of four brothers, according to prosecutors.
James Unick, who was a resident of Willows in Glenn County, was singled out after DNA on his discarded cigarette was matched to numerous items of clothing that Geer was wearing at the time of her death.
“This is the coldest case ever presented to a Sonoma County jury,” said District Attorney Carla Rodriguez. “While 44 years is too long to wait, justice has finally been served, both to Sarah’s loved ones as well as her community.”
Unick is set to be sentenced on April 23. The DA’s office said he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Clearly a Caucasian male... /s
In case my comment perplexes
Well, he’s 66 now so even a 20 year sentence is likely to be the rest of his life.
At 22 he raped and strangled a 13 year old girl. And now his spouse, children and grandchildren know what he did.
Sarah didn’t get to grow up, marry and have children and grandchildren.
Frankly, there is no punishment too cruel and unusual for this POS.
There are likely other victims. Perhaps not murdered but likely abused.
“the DNA profile was matched by investigators using familial genealogical databases to one of four brothers”
With DNA technology and genetic genealogy cold cases can be solved and present day crimes can also be solved. Those backlogs of rape kits identify each perp.
Completely unrepentant.
“During the month-long trial, the jury heard testimony from Sarah’s friends who had spent time with her during her final weekend alive. The jury also heard from Unick, who detailed for the jury the events of May 23, 1982. During his testimony, Unick explained that the 13-year-old Sarah Geer propositioned him for sex while he had been playing a video game at the Cloverdale arcade. He claimed that they had consensual sex on a hillside near the Russian River, implying that Sarah Geer must have been assaulted and murdered later that evening by a phantom man who failed to leave behind any DNA evidence. After about two hours of deliberations, the jury rejected Unick’s fictitious account and, after more than four decades, finally held him accountable for his crimes.”
“...he committed a sexual assault during the commission of murder. “
During???
Justice would be several male relatives getting 30 minutes alone with the perp.
Yes, “during” ... and No, it doesn’t mean what you think it means.
It means the kidnapping, the rape, and the murder were all elements of the same event. As opposed to, say, committing the rape on Tuesday night and then committing the murder the following Friday night. That would be two separate events.
How many others has he raped and/or murdered. Rapists don’t stop after just one, especially over a 44 year period.
He doesn’t deserve to live another minute.
So how come nobody has run DNA on the cigarette butt that ‘DB Cooper’ left behind in the plane?
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