Murdered Teen’s Mystery Killer Caught 28 Years Later

It's less than two weeks till Christmas, but the mood at federal way high school couldn't be more grim. This morning, a teenage girl was found strangled to death in the bushes above the parking lot. The victim's nylon stockings are tied in a ligature around her neck, and next to her partially naked body, detectives from the King County Sheriff's Office find pieces of her discarded drill team uniform. Yards away from her body are white sedans it's empty in the parking lot. When police peer through the windows, they see a drill team bag and a purse on the front passenger seat. The vehicle is unlocked, officers make entry, and using the driver's license found inside the purse, detectives identify the victim as 16-year-old federal way high school juniors Sarah Yarbrough. As crime scene technicians comb the scene for more evidence, an ambulance arrives and Sarah's body is transported to the medical examiner's office. Detectives make contact with her parents and deliver the devastating news that their only daughter has been murdered. Within hours, word of Sarah's violent death rips through federal way like wildfire. And the tight-knit community is left stunned and shaken. By all accounts, Sarah was a bright, popular, kind and conscientious young woman. For her life to end in such horrific violence is difficult to comprehend. Here and anxiety fill the air, is Sarah's killer a random stranger or an evil monster hiding in plain sight? And will he strike again? As the investigation gets underway, detectives get their first substantial lead from the two 12-year-old boys who discovered Sarah's body. The boys tell police they were skateboarding around the high school at approximately 9-30 this morning when something caught their eyes. There was a strange man standing in the bushes above the parking lot. For a moment, they locked eyes with him, then he took off on foot. Out of curiosity, the boys made their way up into the bushes to see what he was doing there. And they came upon Sarah's body, terrified they rushed home and told their parents. And their parents immediately called the police. Based on the boys' descriptions, police create two sketches of the suspect, a white male with long hair in his mid to late 20s and circulate them quickly, hoping someone will recognize him. They also speak with the last person to see Sarah alive, her friend, Shannon. Shannon was staying over at Sarah's house for the weekend while Sarah's parents were away at her younger brother's soccer tournament. According to Shannon, the last time she saw Sarah, she was dashing out the door to drill team practice. Based on Shannon's statement, police determined Sarah arrived at Federal Way High School this morning, approximately 45 minutes before practice was scheduled to start. Since there was no sign of a struggle inside her car, investigators theorized that as Sarah sat in her car waiting for the other drill team members to arrive, her killer lured her out of her car, then he attacked her, dragged her into the bushes, and killed her. During her autopsy, the medical examiner concludes Sarah was not raped, but forensic analysis of her clothing turns up major evidence. DNA is also discovered underneath Sarah's fingernails. Based on this evidence, detectives suspect Sarah's murder was sexually motivated, her killer tried to rape her. When she fought back, he strangled her to death. But in the early 1990s DNA technology is underdeveloped and CODIS, the FBI's National DNA database is in its infancy. So despite DNA evidence, the police sketches and thousands of tips. Detectives are unable to identify Sarah's killer, and the case goes cold. Two years after her death, Sarah's high school class graduates. For her loved ones, it's a difficult reminder of what should have been, and will never be. In her honor, a memorial bench is installed on campus. The bench is engraved with one of Sarah's favorite phrases, Carpe Diem, and adorned with bronze replicas of her favorite things, including her beloved dog Gibby. Researchers go by, and even with advancements in DNA testing and the FBI's CODIS database, the identity of Sarah's killer remains a mystery. But detectives never give up. In 2011, they decide it's time to think outside the box. Investigative genetic genealogy, a technique that combines advanced DNA analysis with traditional genealogy research to solve cold cases is still relatively new, but police believe it's worth a shot. So they reach out to Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick, the co-founder of the DNA Doe project, a nonprofit dedicated to solving cold cases through forensic genealogy. Dr. Fitzpatrick agrees to take on the case, and she gets to work. Using the DNA profile extracted from the crime scene evidence, Dr. Fitzpatrick builds out a family tree dating back to the 1600s, and a man named Robert Fuller. The last name immediately rings a bell with detectives. One of the Yarbrows closest family friends is a man named Bill Fuller. Only he looks nothing like the suspect. He's much older too. Even so, detectives ask him to provide a DNA sample for testing, and he readily agrees. As expected, testing results conclude that Bill Fuller's DNA does not match the DNA found at the crime scene, and he is fully cleared. However, detectives are convinced Sarah's killer lurks somewhere in his family tree, with Dr. Fitzpatrick and her team forge ahead. 28 years after Sarah's murder thanks to the relentless work of Dr. Fitzpatrick and her team, and advancements in DNA technology to new names emerge, Edward and Patrick Nicholas. The brothers are distant cousins of Bill Fuller. Like in 1991, both men would have fit the description of Sarah's killer. And when police learn Edward Nicholas is a convicted sex offender, they're confident they're finally on the right track. As a result of his previous crimes, Edward's DNA profile is already in codis, but to detective surprise, it is not an exact match to the DNA from the crime scene. So they turn their attention to his brother, Patrick Nicholas. The now 55-year-old divorced auto parts worker lives less than 10 miles away in Kent, Washington. Instead of bringing Patrick in for questioning, police launch and undercover surveillance operation. When they spy Patrick smoking outside a laundromat, they make their move. They collect his discarded cigarette butts and send them to the crime lab for expedited DNA extraction and testing. Within days, the results are back. Patrick Nicholas's DNA is an exact match. Less than 24 hours later, Patrick Nicholas is arrested and charged with premeditated murder in the first degree, felony murder in the first degree, predicated on rape in the second degree, and felony murder in the second degree, predicated on indecent liberties. What do you think you're here? I have no clue. No idea what's over, yeah. Really? You've done a lot to happen. A long time ago? Yeah. Yeah. I'm trying to go away. Ready. Is that a way to do it? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I get that. My brother might have done something. I don't know. What we're investigating is, is the death of a young girl, the name Serbian girl, at the federal age of 1991. Okay. We're in charge for her. We're in charge for her right now. Okay. over the best result. You're there. We know that. We are asking you to just talk to us to talk about the ability and more to tell us what the heck happened. I'm not saying that. So I'm going to tell you essentially what's going to happen to you. There's a girl that was hurt. There's a girl that said you came across on the morning. Things happened. We knew for a fact that it wasn't intended to happen. I think you probably panicked. Okay. I'm not even asking you to acknowledge me. I'm just telling you this right now. Okay. Without some way to put it to make sense of this. Without some way to make sense of this. You're going to be taught as a monster. Patrick remains defiant, so detectives appeal to his conscience. Tell us what happened so Sarah's family can finally know the truth. We'd like to get that to her parents. No, but I don't want you to do it later. I know you're able to do that with that. That would be a gift for them at this point. You're not going to be honest with you. One way or another. That's what we're asking for. We're asking just for you to give a guess to your parents. Yeah. That's a very important thing. But it's not this. This is it. I'm not going to say it. I don't know. Shall we go? We want to be charged. Oh, it's okay. No, we're going to respect that. Okay. We're going to respect that. Okay. Okay. So what's going to happen here today? You're going to be charged with murder. Right. Okay. So what we'll do. We're going to go ahead and stop the pressing. Stop the separate interview at this point in time. And we'll make a note. It's 21 or six hours. What we're going to do. We're going to get a pretty. We're going to get a picture of the holding cell right now. And then I get a lock and it's a paperwork that I need to finish. And then we'll have one of that. That piece of work will do it. Transport. And what would be cheated on to the King County jail. With Patrick Nicholas behind bars, police search his house. And they uncover evidence that suggests he's been keeping tabs on the case over the years. But it's another discovery that rocks the investigation. When detectives die even deeper into Patrick's past, they discover that when he was a juvenile, he was involved in at least two sexual assaults. And in 1983, at age 19, he was convicted of attempting to rape a 21-year-old woman and sentenced to 10 years in prison. But after serving just three and a half years of his sentence, he was released on good behavior. For Sarah's family, it's a devastating blow. If Patrick had served his full prison term, Sarah would still be alive today. 32 years after he killed Sarah, Patrick Nicholas goes on trial for her murder. The defense challenges Dr. Fitzpatrick and the validity of forensic genetic genealogy. Let me read a bit. Time has started working on this case. This is a developing area of science. Can you be more specific? What developing area of science? What area you refer to this tremendous? It was not because this was, you know, it was. I mean, it did those two orange County cases and then this was really the first case in doubt. So it was brand new. So it wasn't developing area of science? Yeah, I guess so. In fact, it's still a developing area of science. Absolutely. But what they can't do is argue the scientific facts. Patrick's DNA was an exact match to the seamen found at the crime scene. And when you did your analysis on the cutting of the jacket, were you able to obtain a DNA profile from that? Yes, I took the sample. I did a microscopic examination and I was able to detect sperm cells. So I did identify seamen in the sample. I then did extract it for DNA and obtained a male profile. I just tested with the profiler kit to show that the profiles were consistent with each other and that matched. And did it ask it all nine in the profile? Yes. After nine days of testimony, the jury returns with a verdict. In the superior court of the state of Washington, four King County. This is the state of Washington versus Patrick Leon Nicholas. Cause number 191-021-787, Kent designation. Vertic form A, we the jury find the defendant Patrick Leon Nicholas, not guilty of the crime of murder in the first degree, premeditated as charged in count one. Though the jury finds Patrick Nicholas not guilty of premeditated first degree murder, they reach a different conclusion on other charges. Vertic form B, we the jury find the defendant Patrick Leon Nicholas, guilty of the crime of murder. The crime of murder in the first degree, felony as charged in count two. Vertic form C, we the jury find the defendant Patrick Leon Nicholas, guilty of the crime of murder in the second degree as charged in count breathe. Special verdict form A is blank and is not used. Special verdict form B, we the jury return a special verdict. By answering as follows. Question, did the defendant Patrick Leon Nicholas commit the crime of murder in the first degree, felony as charged in count two with a sexual motivation? Answer, yes. Special verdict form C, we the jury return a special verdict by answering as follows. Question, did the defendant Patrick Leon Nicholas commit the crime of murder in the second degree as charged in count breathe with a sexual motivation? Answer, yes. Weeks later, at Patrick Nicholas' sentencing hearing, Sarah's mother, Laura Yarbro, delivers a heart-wrenching statement. Sarah was kind and gentle, but strong in a quiet way. She took tender care of her younger brothers. She helped look out for them, she encouraged them, and she was much better at helping him with her homework than I ever was. Her smile lit up a room. She was the most forgiving person I've ever known. She noticed people that others ignored. She had a way of making them feel included. Sarah should have had the opportunity to learn and grow and change, the fully blossoming as I witnessed her friends doing. She should have had the chance to go to college, marry, and have children. I never got to take Sarah shopping for a prongress or a wedding gown to see her fall in love, become a mother, and enjoy any grandchildren she might have given us. There are so many things that I could add, but there aren't enough words and there's not enough time to list all that we lost when she was so brutally and senselessing murdered. For these and too many other reasons to enumerate, I ask that you sentence the defendant to the longest sentence possible. From his teenage years and probably before that, he's left a trail of trauma and brokenness behind him. He's incapable of remorse or empathy for any of those deeds, nor is he at all repented for having murdered Sarah. He should spend the rest of his life in prison and never be curled. He should never have the chance to harm another vulnerable woman. He's had 28 years of freedom that Sarah never got. Years she would have spent enriching other people's lives, whereas he used his life to destroy others without compunction. He's been living with impunity all this time. This time is up. I respectfully ask that the court ensure he spends the remaining life in jail. Thank you. Though she was not allowed to testify during trial, 40 years after Patrick Nicholas attempted to rape her in 1983, and Crony describes in harrowing detail how she almost fell prey to him too. On June 13, 1983, at 10.30 in the morning, I was told one. I was leaning against the bumper of my car at a public cart next to the Columbia River. When Patrick Nicholas walked up to me and started a conversation, it was broad daylight, and initially I didn't feel threatened, so I was friendly and proactive. However, it didn't take me long to realize that he was acting nervous, and I got really uncomfortable. So I told him I needed to go, and I walked around to the driver's side of my car and got in. As I was getting ready to put the keys into the ignition, he reached through the open driver's window and put a knife to my throat. and told me to take off my clothes. With the knife at my throat, I did, and at this point I saw some people walking towards a car in the same parking lot and I screamed for help. But Nicolas shoved my underwear in my mouth and pushed me down across the seats and laid on top of me so that I couldn't be seen. After the other car left, he told me to get out of the car and put a shirt over my head and started pushing me towards the embankment that led down to the river. He had a hole in the back of the shirt and when we got halfway down the embankment he told me to stop. But I didn't stop. Instead, I pulled the shirt over my head that he was hanging onto and ran as fast as I could and dove into the river and I slammed harder than I've ever slammed before until I couldn't anymore. He was caught shortly after and convicted of attempted first degree rape. I found out before the sentencing that he had already been convicted of other rates. So when I went to the sentencing, I stood before the judge and asked that this man be sentenced to the maximum allowed time for the crime he committed against me. He was ultimately sentenced to the maximum of 10 years in prison and I went away feeling that justice had been served and that I and other women would be safe from this predator for a long time. But I was naive and didn't consider that not only could he have then released early but that he could have done something far worse than what was done to me until I got a knock on my door by the police in 2019. He told me he had been arrested for the murder of Sarri Yarduro in 1991, 1991. If the system had worked as it should, he should have still been in prison. In fact, should have been in prison until 1993 had he served his full sentence. And this system failed me, it failed Sarah, her family, friends and countless others who had been impacted by this person's heinous actions over the years. I keep running this over and over in my head. Why was a repeat offender allowed to be released after serving less than half his sentence? It could have been done differently to make sure he wasn't released early. I asked the court to please not make the same mistake and sentence Patrick Nicholas not own until life in prison, but life without the possibility of cruel. After this powerful testimony, the judge sentences 59-year-old Patrick Nicholas to nearly 46 years in prison. It's so cruel that someone who was so down and so generous in her spirit and concern about the safety of others would have been a victim of such predatory, decreed Honda. The cruelty and irony of that was not escaping this court. For Sarah Yarborough's loved ones, the long road to justice is finally over. Now they can focus on the legacy of love she left behind.