It Could Have Been Me: Anne Croney | Full Episode + Podcast | Forensic Files

[Music] [Music] [Music] 16-year-old Sarah Sarah Yarborough is being remembered as talented, creative,
and kind. >> Sarah was an A student at the high school. >> Whenever you saw Sarah, she always had a
smile. >> This case is about a 16-year-old girl who had the right to grow up. This case is about Sarah and everything
that she should have been allowed to become. It was Friday the 13th in December of
1991. Her parents were out of town for her brother's soccer game. She stayed home.
>> I was reluctant to leave Sarah. She didn't want to come, of course, cuz she had her whole weekend planned out. So,
she had a friend come over and stay with her that weekend. We went to a basketball game, went and
got junk food at the grocery store, a little bit of fast food. You know, we're 16. We were carefree. There was
absolutely nothing that would make any of us think that the next morning everything would change.
>> So, Saturday morning, Sarah woke up kind of in a panic. >> She woke up and said, "I'm late for
practice." She put on her drill team uniform and ran out the door. >> She went to the school and discovered
that she was early, so she parked in her car and waited for the rest of her team
to show up. >> Shortly after the phone call started, where's Sarah? Do you know where she is?
Sarah was found within an hour. >> Where was her body discovered? >> So, her car was still in the parking
lot. Her body was approximately 100 yards away, still on the school property. Part of her clothing was
removed. She had nylon stockings tied in a ligature around her her neck. [Music]
I just remember just saying, "Not Sarah, not Sarah, not Sarah." over and over again.
>> The suspect is a white male, 6 feet tall, with a medium build. >> They had DNA evidence. They had
everything. They had witnesses. >> In that first week or so, it sounded like they had so much evidence for at
least a short while. It felt like he said, "Of course they're going to catch him."
And then when they didn't and they didn't, your expectations change. >> You don't know if it's your next door
neighbor. You don't know if it's some random stranger. There was that constant fear
of is this going to happen again? >> We literally had a monster in the community and we just we didn't know who
it was. [Music] [Music] How often do you think about December 14th, 1991 and what happened on that
day? quite a bit. It's a very traumatic thing to go through. [Music] >> It's been over 30 years, but the details
of that day have never faded for Drew Miller. >> I had my friend spent the night at my
house. We woke up that morning, watched cartoons, ate cereal, left to go skateboarding.
>> Drew, who was just 13 at the time, lived down the street from Federal Way High
School near Seattle, Washington. The school grounds have changed quite a bit, right?
>> Drastically, yes. The tennis court's the only thing that's still here. >> Drew often took shortcuts through the
school to go skateboarding, as he and his friend did that day. >> We used to hop the fence right here and
cut through here. It was freezing cold that day. I mean, there was ice in all of the mug bubbles.
We just, you know, started smashing them cuz it's fun. You know, it sounds like breaking glass.
That's when Drew says they noticed a man in the bushes. >> Right where you see the edge of this
dugout right here. That was all bushes that were probably this tall. So, we couldn't see him until he stood up.
He's just staring at us from the bushes. That was pretty jarring. But then he just walked out of the bushes. So, then
we just assumed he's just smoking weed or something. The mysterious man kept to himself and walked ahead of the boys.
Drew says they didn't think much of it until they came across a horrendous scene.
There in the bushes where the man had just been was the body of a young woman. It was horrible. Absolutely horrible.
The way that he left her body, she clearly fought for her life. Drew says his shock turned to fear when
he realized the man, who was still just feet in front of them, was now staring directly back at him.
>> Does that look still haunt you? >> Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's frozen in my mind. >> The boogeyman then.
>> Legitimate boogeyman. >> The boys raced to Drew's house and police were called to the scene.
[Music] When we approached the victim on one of the pieces of clothing, we saw the name
Sarah. >> Detective Scott Strathy with the King County Sheriff's Office was one of the
first officers on the scene. >> And of course, later we found out that that was Sarah Yarborough.
[Music] Even for experienced investigators, [Music] this scene was really hard to deal with.
Just the innocent nature of this young woman in her school drill team uniform with her hot curlers still in her hair.
This was just pure unadulterated evil. [Music] Investigators believed this was a
sexually motivated murder. >> She was partially clothed. Her jacket, her undergarments, her bra had been
removed and placed next to her body. >> Police discovered that the car Sarah had
driven that morning was parked in the school parking lot about 300 ft from where her body was found. There didn't
really appear to be any sort of a struggle in the car itself. >> Detective John Free with the King County
Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit would later join the investigation. >> She had a container of orange juice that
she had made that morning. It was just sitting in the front seat. Nothing was tipped over. So, the question was, how
did she get from her car to this hill? What led her there? Sarah was one of these people that would
help anyone with anything at any time. And part of our working theory was, was she coaxed into following, you know, the
suspect? Did he say something like, "I'm looking for my lost dog," or, "I can't find my
car keys." Perhaps Sarah in an attempt to assist this person may have followed him to
that area. >> Tell me about this one. >> That was less than a week, I think, before she died. I said, "Could I take
your picture cuz your great grandma really wants a picture of you and your drill team?" And she goes, "Okay."
>> It was just too incredible to believe that it could even happen. Sarah's parents, Laura and Tom Yarboro.
>> I mean, who thinks that your daughter's going to be murdered? >> Tom and Laura had the excruciating task
of having to tell their two sons the tragic news. Sarah's youngest brother, Andrew, was just 11 years old at the
time. >> At that age, you probably never seen or heard your parents cry much, but that
that pain in the voice is very, very vivid. Sarah, who had just started her junior year in high school, had big
plans for her future, starting with college. >> She didn't want to go to a state school.
She wanted to go to a school far away. She loved to travel. >> I actually would hear her say, "I can't
decide if I want to be a museum curator or an engineer like my father." Yep. >> And I was always rooting for the museum
curator. Liberty Barnes, Christy Gutierrez, Amy Pero, and Mary Beth Tommy were some of
Sarah's closest friends. >> So, this was after the last day of 10th grade, and we're just kind of goofing
around afterwards. And that totally I mean, you can see there's Sarah right in the middle of it being goofy.
[Music] The fiery red hair. Was that her personality a lot? >> Yeah. She was artistic. She was
creative. She was smart. She was feisty, >> imaginative, >> all of those things.
>> She would be the last one to wait for someone. >> Always be there with a smile.
She would help with homework. It was her ultimate kindness. After Sarah was ripped from their lives,
they say their sense of safety was gone forever. You grow up getting all the safety
conversations with your parents and bad things can happen and it's all this sort
of like vague possibility out there and then all of a sudden it was like no no no no it can really happen. It really
did just happen. >> It was all hands on deck. The sheriff's office put everything they had into
solving this case as as soon as they could. >> And the killer left behind important
evidence. Sarah had not been raped, but the killer's DNA was found on pieces of her clothing.
>> There was semen found on her underwear and on her jacket. We had a full male DNA profile.
DNA technology was new back in 1991, but investigators hoped that DNA would someday lead them to Sarah's killer. In
the meantime, they had eyewitnesses. >> I thought for sure somebody would know him.
>> Drew and his friend who was with him the morning they found Sarah's body worked
with police and a sketch of the man they saw in the bushes was released to the public. Police would later release a
more elaborate sketch. I very vividly remember going through yearbooks going, "Okay, who looks like this sketch?"
Everyone, it felt like at one point was was a suspect. >> But as days went by and as leads dried
up, police kept coming back to Drew and his friend. >> They just made me feel like I was the
only person that could help them solve this. I know that wasn't the intent, like, you
know, the officers are just doing their best. How much pressure were you feeling?
>> It's unimaginable pressure. >> And despite everyone's best efforts, it would take years to find Sarah's killer.
>> This case was never forgotten. [Music] [Music] In early June of 1993, one and a half years after Sarah Yarro's
murder, local media were there as students gathered in the courtyard of Federal Way High School to honor her.
>> Bill Fuller, a family friend who helped spearhead the move for a memorial to remember Sarah, unveiled it with help
from Sarah's younger brother, Andrew. It was quite a day. A lot of tears as they
looked at it and could could see Sarah in that bench. >> Bill Fuller has known the Yar Bros for
years and his daughter was in Sarah's class. >> Sarah was fun to be around. That was
probably what we missed the most is she was fun to be around. >> The bench reads carpedium sees the day.
A mantra Sarah lived by. Encased in bronze are some of her favorite possessions, ballet shoes, a replica of
Sarah's beloved dog, Gibby, and books. >> Nice that people cared about her so much.
>> Andrew Yarro, now an adult, admits that he struggled as a young teenager. It was
especially difficult to see those sketches around town of the man police believed murdered his sister. You know,
there was drawings of the person's face all over in businesses in town. You know, I do recall that quite a bit. Just
having that kind of a constant reminder. >> Looking back, I feel like we didn't do a
very good job with the boys. I think that we were so consumed by our own grief that we didn't take time to help
them. >> I think we didn't really know how to help them. I mean, it wasn't something
we had experience with. We didn't know anything about grieving ourselves or how to help them through it.
>> And they weren't alone in their grief. Shannon Grant, the last friend to see Sarah alive, says she lived with
constant regret. >> I wish we could go back and do it all over again. That I would have asked the
other drill team members what time practice was, you know, maybe dropped her off. I mean,
there's a lot of the whatifs. >> The milestones were especially painful. >> There was survivor guilt.
>> Like, why am I filling out my college applications when Sarah wanted to go to
college? >> This isn't fair. >> Every joyful occasion had this >> Yes. >> sorrow that went with it. That was
There's one missing from the crowd here. Graduation Day, June 12th, 1993, was an
emotional day, but even more so since it fell on what would have been Sarah's 18th birthday. Laura Yarro came to
support her daughter's friends. >> I do not know where she found the strength to do that.
>> She loved that green dress, right? >> Yeah, she wore green quite a bit with her hair.
Lori Yarro says Sarah's friends helped ease her grief somewhat and she thinks she filled the void for them as well.
>> Sometimes they would say, "Well, I'm going to date this person and I just wanted to let you know cuz I wasn't sure
if Sarah would approve of this person." >> So, they would seek approval through you. You became sort of their surrogate.
>> Yes. >> As life slowly moved forward, investigators kept working the case. I describe it as like a relay race where
the baton was handed off from one detective to the next over the years and decades. I kind of refer to myself as
the fifth beetle in this investigation. >> By the early 2000s, investigators had
received over 3,000 leads, and advances in technology made them hopeful. They entered the DNA from the crime scene
into the recently established KOTUS system, a national DNA database that includes profiles of convicted
offenders. >> The strategy was to continually try to see if there would ever be a match while
also investigating leads. >> But over time, there appeared to be no match. >> For us to have DNA evidence from the
suspect, but not have that linked to anybody, it just didn't make sense. It it seemed hard to believe that the
suspect hadn't committed any other prior crimes where his DNA wouldn't be in the
system. >> That's when he says detectives realized they had to go in a different direction.
>> My name is Colleen Fitzpatrick and I'm one of the pioneers of forensic genetic
genealogy. In 2011, investigators reached out to Fitzpatrick to inquire about using
forensic genetic genealogy, the practice of using software to compare unknown DNA
profiles to information from public DNA databases and searching family trees to identify suspects. Genetic genealogy is
well known now and has been used to solve numerous cold cases, but at that time it was in its infancy. When I
started in this field, it didn't exist. >> Fitzpatrick says most police agencies
had been skeptical of this new investigative tool. >> The police thought I was crazy. You
know, this little old lady with a crazy idea, and I was actually almost laughed out the room,
>> but the King County Sheriff's Office took a chance on Fitzpatrick. >> It was for free. I just wanted to see if
it worked. What are you going to lose if you try something? >> The Yar Bros were encouraged. I think it
wasn't until we met Colleen Fitzpatrick that I really began to think, oh, you know, that they're going to find this
person. >> And it didn't take long before Fitzpatrick came up with the name of a
possible suspect that surprised just about everyone. Everyone went, "No way. From the beginning, it was very
promising and the story took some really bizarre twists. In 2011, 20 years after Sarah's murder,
when forensic genetic genealogologist Colleen Fitzpatrick started working the Yarborough case, she traced Sarah's
killer's family tree back to a man named Robert Fuller, whose family had come to
America on the Mayflower. I found numerous matches to the name Fuller. When Fitzpatrick gave the name Fuller to
the King County Sheriff's Office, they immediately knew of one person with that last name. Bill Fuller, the Yarro's
close family friend who helped get that memorial bench built for Sarah. >> Naturally, that piqu our interest.
>> From the beginning, Sarah's family and friends believed Bill Fuller had nothing
to do with Sarah's murder. He didn't look at all like the suspect. The wrong hair color. He's short. He's not tall.
He just didn't fit the profile at all. Fuller's age didn't match the profile either. He's 79 years old now, but was
48 years old at the time of Sarah's murder, at least two decades older than the man Drew Miller described.
>> There was no way that I could be even remotely connected to the case. He fully cooperated with police and
voluntarily gave them a DNA sample. It didn't match the DNA found at Sarah's crime scene. Yet, Fitzpatrick remained
optimistic. >> The good news is that we came up with a possible last name to investigate, and
this was the first break in the case in 20 years. Fitzpatrick knew that Sarah's killer was
in the Fuller family tree somewhere. So, she and her team went back to work. And
as the years went by, she knew she was only getting closer, especially after 2018 when forensic genetic genealogy was
used to identify the Golden State Killer. Golden State Killer really started the big revolution. Things had
evolved that we had the data to work with. The technology was in place that we could go for it. Then in September of
2019, Fitzpatrick's team made a breakthrough. They came up with two new possible suspects. Brothers Edward and
Patrick Nicholas, who as the DNA showed, were distant cousins of Bill Fuller. You
know, this is 8 years of on and off and looking at it, never giving up. This is it. This is exciting.
>> Edward Nicholas was a registered sex offender. His DNA was in the system. It was in COS.
But Edward's DNA wasn't a match. So they zeroed in on his brother Patrick, who in
2019 was a divorced loner who lived a couple of towns away from Federal Way. >> We learned that he was working at a at a
auto parts store. Lived alone, uh, no children, no friends or acquaintances that would even visit him. Everything
that he did was mostly by bus. He wasn't driving. Detective Re says he discovered that
when Sarah was murdered, the bus route Nicholas often took happened to go past Federal Way High School. Back then,
Nicholas was just 27 years old and around that time looked very much like the description of the sketch.
>> It looked promising at that point, but we still needed to get a DNA sample from
him to match up to the DNA evidence that we had. So, in late September 2019, investigators came up with a plan.
>> We assigned a team of undercover detectives to start doing surveillance on Patrick Nicholas in the hopes of
obtaining a surreptitious DNA sample. >> Eventually, undercover detectives followed Nicholas to a laundromat.
>> They saw him go outside and smoke a cigarette. And Patrick Nicholas was seen throwing the cigarette butt on the
ground that was collected by your detectives. >> That's what you needed right there. That
cigarette butt. >> Yes. Actually, he dropped two cigarette butts and a napkin that fell out of his
pocket and all three items were collected. >> The DNA samples were rushed to the crime
lab and within days, detectives received the call they had been waiting for. >> The DNA matched. This was our suspect.
>> Perfect match. Yes, >> Patrick Nicholas was arrested. >> There were so many suspects over the
years. Was Patrick Leon Nicholas ever named as a suspect? >> Out of 4,000 tips, he was never named.
>> I was I was pretty in shock. >> The news was a relief for Sarah's family and friends who had never given up hope
that they would get answers. One thing the detectives kept telling us was eventually technology is going to solve
this case. I trusted that and they turned out that they were right. And I remember going out to my car and
balling, >> just balling. Finally, finally they got him. When Drew Miller, who had seen Sarah's
killer back in 1991, saw Patrick Nicholas's face, he says he knew they had the right person. What did
he look like? >> The same guy, just older. Just the same evil eyes. Those evil eyes stayed the
same >> all these years later. >> Yeah. >> But it was not over yet. >> Why do you think you're here?
>> I have no clue. During his interrogation, who am I being charged for? >> When detectives specifically asked him
about Sarah's murder, he gave an alarming response. >> What we're investigating is is the death
of a young girl named Sarah the young girl. >> Interestingly, he asked what year this
was. >> And that really sent up a flag. >> Why? >> Why would you ask that? He's being told
this is a murder case. We're wondering at this point, are there other victims? >> This is it. I'm not going to say
anything. >> After one and a half hours, Nicholas asked for an attorney and stopped
talking. But his criminal record would speak volumes. >> I am the one that got away.
On a quiet morning in June 1983, 8 years before Sarah's murder, 21-year-old Anne Crony was sitting by
her car along the Columbia River in Richland, Washington, when a man approached her.
>> He seemed normal, kind of friendly, actually. Just friendly. I had asked him if he'd done
any water skiing yet because he said he had just moved to town and he said he couldn't swim. And he said, "My name is
Pat Nicholas." >> After a few minutes of small talk, she became uncomfortable. >> I noticed his voice was getting shaky
and I told him I had to go. I went to close the door and he put a knife to my throat.
Everything kind of stopped at that moment. He told me to take my clothes off. >> Nicholas stuffed Anne's underwear into
her mouth to prevent her from screaming, forced her out of the car, and led her to the riverbank.
>> We got about halfway down the bank, and he told me to stop. I ran and dove in
the river cuz I was thinking he couldn't swim. Swam as hard as I could. >> Swam for your life. I swam for my life.
>> Passers by found Ann at a dock nearby and called police. As it turns out, 19-year-old Patrick Nicholas was no
stranger to law enforcement and had a record. He had raped two women and attempted to rape a third. He'd been
convicted of rape as a juvenile >> and had actually only just been out for a few months when he attacked me.
Days after Anne's attack, he was tracked down, arrested, and plead guilty to attempted rape. He told authorities, "I
realized that I have a problem concerning raping girls." At his sentencing hearing, Anne spoke
out. I was actually very angry and asked the judge for the maximum sentence and the judge did agree and sentenced him to
10 years. So I thought it was over. I thought that justice had been served. >> But Patrick Nicholas did not serve the
full 10 years in prison. He was released after just three and a half years and was never notified. She barely thought
of him again until October 2019. >> The police knocked on my door and said that there were detectives in Seattle
that wanted to talk to me about a cold case. >> They informed Anne that Patrick Nicholas
had been arrested again, this time for the murder of Sarah Yarro. >> They told me that there were
similarities in the cases and I was crushed. It had never occurred to me that what I
escaped from was a murder. >> What's more, if Nicholas had served his full prison sentence, he would have
still been behind bars that December morning in 1991, unable to murder Sarah Yarro.
>> How angry are you to hear that he was released that early? And very, it brought up a lot of the old anger and
even more anger because the system failed. King County Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys
Celia Lee and Mary Barbosa describe him as a serial predator with a clear pattern. All of the women were
approached at or near their car. He would strike up conversation and then pull a knife and tell them that they
needed to walk where he would order them to take off their clothes and then rape
them. >> Nicholas had also been convicted of sexually assaulting a minor in 1994.
3 years after Sarah's murder, five sexual assaults that investigators knew of, none of which had required him to
submit his DNA. So, there was no record of him in the Cotus database. But in pre-trial hearings, the judge ruled that
Nicholas's criminal history could not be entered in as evidence. >> She found that it would be unfairly
prejuditial to the defendant. But the prosecutors were hopeful their case was strong enough.
>> All right for the jury. >> In early 2023, more than 30 years after Sarah Yarro's murder, her accused
killer, now 59 years old, went on trial. Sarah's childhood friends were there. >> I so clearly remember the morning before
the trial started just going, I don't know if I can do this. It's like, you know, I had so many different emotions
flowing through and it was like, no, we need to be there. >> There was this absolute love for Sarah
and the Yar Bros that was so strong. >> Did you feel like they were a lifeline for you?
>> Yeah. Be seated. >> You weren't in it alone. You were all in it together. As the trial got underway,
the focus was on the DNA. >> What was your strategy then in trying this case? Well, we needed them to trust
the science. >> There was a field that was emerging called forensic genetic genealogy.
>> Patrick Nicholas's public defender, David Montes, challenged how forensic genetic genealogy was used to first
identify Nicholas. >> I want to dig into the science because >> the first time that kind of defense had
been used in Washington state. They used technology that is not only unproven, but just whack really. He's not the
person that killed Sarah. The police needed an answer more than they needed the right answer. And so they turned to
new novel, untested technology. >> Genetic genealogy is a new field. It really hasn't been tested out. Should we
be making important decisions based on something that is not well or deeply understood? But the prosecutors said
that argument was moot because Patrick Nicholas's DNA matched the DNA found at the Yarro crime scene. And Detective
Free says the numbers were astronomical. >> The odds were one in 120 quadrillion
that >> quadrillion. Yeah, >> right. That it was somebody else. If the numbers pointed to Nicholas's
guilt, law enforcement says so did evidence found at his house near the time of his arrest in 2019.
>> It was almost like a layer. There was no working electricity at this house. Stacks of pornography all throughout the
the place. We also found a newspaper from 1994 that had on his front page an article about the Serbo case. And going
through one of the kitchen drawers, we found a torn photograph taken from a magazine, a woman in a cheerleading
outfit. >> When the prosecutors showed that photo in the courtroom, the oxygen left the room.
>> Yeah. >> Montes downplayed their significance. >> I think both of those pieces of evidence
were not especially strange given the general state of his house. There were stacks and stacks of newspapers all over
his house. >> This is evidence tape. >> Patrick Nicholas didn't flinch as the evidence was shown, showing no emotion
throughout the trial. But Sarah Yarro's presence was felt, especially when now retired Captain Scott Strathy carefully
unpackaged and displayed Sarah's clothing that had been in storage for over 30 years. her drill team jacket,
shoes, sweater, even her nylon stockings. >> This was like opening a a time capsule.
>> All of a sudden, they were real things. They weren't even photographs. They were
the things she had on her body when she died. You just you sort of felt yourself
crumble. >> After nine long days of testimony, the case went to the jury. >> All eyes for the jury. It took them just
over a day to reach a verdict. >> I was shaking and like just that like there was so much adrenaline and so much
anticipation. >> We the jury find the defendant Patrick Leon >> everything just dropped and it's like
what? [Music] >> Why do you think it took law enforcement so long to identify Patrick Nicholas as
a suspect? Take a look at a timeline of the case at 48 hours.com. This is the state of Washington versus
Patrick Leon Nicholas. Sarah Yarro's loved ones had waited over 30 years for this moment.
>> We the jury find the defendant shock >> not guilty of the crime of murder in the
first degree premeditated. >> Patrick Nicholas was found not guilty of the first charge premeditated
firstdegree murder. I remember dropping my head to my hands. I was angry. I was in disbelief
>> when that first one came in not guilty. I closed my eyes. >> But there were other charges and there
was still hope of a conviction. >> Guilty of the crime of murder in the first degree. Guilty in the second
degree. >> Patrick Nicholas was found guilty of firstdegree murder and seconddegree
murder. The jury ruled both had been committed with a sexual motivation. I remember hearing the family behind me
cryur >> and I made eye contact with the jurors and nodded at them. You know, they got
it. They got it right. >> I feel so grateful for those detectives, >> for the boys, for the previous victims,
for every witness who took the stand. So grateful that all these people came together.
Two weeks after Nicholas's conviction, dozens of people who had been involved in every part of Sarah's case gathered
back at the courthouse for his sentencing hearing. Prosecutors asked the judge to impose extra time to take
into account all of Nicholas's crimes. >> The sentencing hearing was exhilarating
in a way that I never expected. M >> it was probably the most raw human courage I
have ever seen in my life. [Music] >> Sarah's death left our family broken and we've never been the same.
>> The pain in my father's voice over the phone telling me Sarah was dead. Person after person took to the
podium to say all that Patrick Nicholas had taken from them. >> Coming face to face with pure evil that
day has deeply impacted my entire life. >> He took her life and what was sure to be
a brilliant future from her. In taking Sarah, he took the innocence of every one of us
>> to face Patrick Nicholas and to say what they had been wanting to say to his face
for 30 years. Patrick Nicholas is pure evil. >> There was so much power in the room. It
was electric. >> And then Anne Crony, who wasn't allowed to testify at Sarah's trial, started
speaking. >> He just did like a double take and shuddered when Anne stood up. >> Like he saw a ghost.
>> Yes. >> I'm sure he didn't expect to ever see my face or hear my name ever again. We rely
on a system of justice that is designed to protect us from predators like Nicholas. And this system failed me. It
failed Sarah, her family, friends, and countless others. I asked the court to please not make the same mistake.
>> After everyone spoke, Judge Josephine Wigs addressed the court. And when I think about this poor child,
this poor child, what she experienced fighting for her life. >> Judge Wigs put her fist on the thing and
said, "This was a child." She kept saying that and all I could think was, >> "Oh my gosh,
>> that's right. >> We were children." >> Yep. Nicholas received a sentence of almost
46 years. For Sarah's family and friends, the sentence brought mixed emotions. I don't know that this is
justice. It is a verdict and it is putting someone away for something that they did. But he got 30 years that she
didn't get. >> It makes me mad that he was free for so many years. And who knows however many
other people were hurt during that time. I I don't know that we'll ever know and
that could have been avoided. >> Forensic genetic genealogy helped solve Sarah's case, but prosecutors say
similar technology could have identified Patrick Nicholas years earlier if only familial DNA searches were allowed in
Washington state. In a familial DNA search, an unknown DNA sample is compared against profiles already in
Kotus to search for possible family members. Remember, Patrick Nicholas's brother's DNA had been in Cotus for
years. >> The legislation just doesn't exist in this state to allow that search.
>> California uses it. the UK, as I understand, York, New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Colorado, Florida.
>> Do you think it's time to get that law changed? >> We do. We do. >> The Yarboroughs agree and hope that
Sarah's case can make a difference. >> I would like to know that other parents don't have to wait 30 years.
>> What do you hope her legacy is? I think her legacy is she was always someone who
brought people together. She's brought all the people together that attended the trial. That's the kind of person she
was. >> For Drew Miller, who at 13 found Sarah's body, the connections made at trial
finally brought him some peace. Knowing he's in prison is fantastic, but knowing
her family and friends is way more important to me cuz that's what's given me the actual healing that I needed.
>> This is probably the beginning of our junior year. >> Sarah's friends will always remain
bonded by the past and Sarah's stolen future. Not only was she beautiful, her soul was
beautiful. And the grace and the beauty that she carried and left with all of us, we won't forget her. We will never
forget her. [Music] >> New CBS Next. >> He's not breathing. A surgeon's girlfriend found dead.
>> Provided those drugs. >> Was this a case of a controlling doctor's depravity?
>> This was not just some simple accident. This was much more. >> A new 48 hours next on CBS and streaming
on Paramount Plus. [Music] And can you start by telling me your name and and who you are?
>> Sure. I'm Anne Crony and I'm the one that got away from Patrick Nicholas. Um got away alive and safe.
>> That's Anne Crony, a remarkable woman who survived an attempted attack by Patrick Nicholas back in 1983 when she
was just 21 years old. I met Anne while reporting on the story of Sarah Yarro, another young woman attacked by Nicholas
8 years later. Tragically, Sarah died. I'm Natalie Morales of 48 Hours. Now, so much of our work at 48 Hours focuses on
the stories of victims who didn't survive. But what about those like an who lived to tell from 48 hours? This is
It Could Have Been Me. [Music] And today I'm joined by 48 Hours field producer Lauren Clark. And Lauren, we're
here to talk about Anne Cron's story. But before we do, I think it's important that people understand the case of Sarah
Yarro. Yeah. So, uh, Sarah had been she was a 16-year-old girl, uh, living in kind of the suburbs of Seattle back in
1991 when she was found strangled on her high school campus. It was a horrible case
for the people of the community. Um, you know, it was a December day. It seems she had missed the time for a drill team
practice. She had thought she had to get there early, but the rest of the team wasn't arriving for another hour or so.
So, she had pulled into the parking lot in her car. Not many people, like no one
was around. And she was found just about 300 ft from her car, strangled. Uh she was still partially clothed in her drill
team uniform, and there was a pile of clothes found nearby her body in the grass. Investigators at the time
believed her murder had been sexually motivated. Uh but they didn't have really a ton to go on. They did like
rounded up the usual suspects and you know really work the case, but for almost 30 years Sarah's case went
unsolved. Yes. And it's important to note the clothing that Sarah was wearing and the clothing on the side there was
DNA evidence, but again this was 1991 and DNA technology had not evolved yet to the point where we are today. So
investigators did their part. They preserved very carefully that evidence, but they knew, Lauren, that at some
point in time that they would hopefully be able to get clues and to be able to verify and use that DNA to hopefully
find a match down the road. As you said, for a long time, the case went cold for
nearly 30 years until a forensic genetic genealogologist was able to crack the case. She was hired to track some new
leads. Yeah. In 2019, this forensic genetic genealogologist went through and basically reverse engineered finding a
match to the genetic profile that they had at the scene. And she narrowed it down to these two brothers, one of whom
had been incarcerated, so he was in the federal database. He was in Cotus, so it
wasn't him. And that's when they focused on Patrick Leon Nicholas. Uh, and what investigators did with the King County
Sheriff's Department, he still lived in the Seattle area. So they followed him. They they found him. They trailed him.
They actually went to a laundromat where he was doing laundry and watched as he smoked a cigarette
>> and then watched him discard the cigarette outside the laundromat right on the sidewalk there. And when he went
back inside, they ran, they grabbed that cigarette, packaged it up securely, and
sent it to a lab. And the DNA from that cigarette was a match to the DNA that had been found on Sarah's clothes all
those years ago. So then, Lauren, how did you come to find out and hear about Anne Cron's story?
So, in uh early 2023, Patrick Nicholas went on trial for the murder of Sarah Yarborough. And right before trial, we
had learned through some pre-trial motions that Patrick Nicholas actually had a prior criminal record. The judge
had ruled that that evidence wouldn't be allowed at trial, but we were able to read through and we knew that there had
been some previous attacks. And I heard as we were at trial talking to people, some there were kind of whispers like,
you know, one of the victims is here. And it was kind of this remarkable like, oh my gosh, how could someone be here to
take that on? I didn't know who it was at the time. Uh, but we did learn that back in the early 1980s, Patrick
Nicholas had served time as a juvenile for raping two women and attempting to rape a third. Reading through the case
files, we learned that he had approached multiple women at their cars. He would kind of casually strike up a
conversation with them and then pull a knife and order them to undress. So, this brings us now to Anne Cron's
remarkable story. And let's go back in time to 1983 in Richland, Washington. That's about
200 miles uh from where Sarah Yarborough was found dead. Now, Anne was just 21 years old at the time. She was a server
at a restaurant. She was also a lifeguard. She loved the water and specifically the Colombia River. So,
that's an important part of the story because on June 13th, 1983, the day all of this happened, Ann said she had just
tragically lost one of her really good friends and she just wanted to sit alongside the river to think. Here's her
story. So, I pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car and sat on the bumper
of my car. And you're sitting there thinking, having some time to yourself, how quickly before a man approached you?
>> It wasn't long. It was uh maybe a few minutes. And uh he walked up to me and started a conversation. I don't remember
exactly how the conversation started, but he introduced himself, said his name was Pat, and he was new in town, and he
was working on an old building in town called the Griggs building that was um empty, and
he was working on a remodel. I knew the space well. I knew the story he was talking about. I knew everything about
it. And he didn't he didn't seem to know anything. He seemed to be kind of making
things up >> as you listen to that. I mean, Lauren would struck us. I mean, already her
instinct sort of her Spidey senses are going off. Something is off here with this guy. She knows that space well that
she's talking about the Griggs building. She's like, "Nothing seems to be adding
up. He's acting strange, but you know, he's he's a good-looking guy." She described him as youngish. He's got
blondish hair, glasses, uh a mustache, but she's getting a really uh bad vibe from him, right? Her alarms were going
off in her head at that point. >> So, another fact, as they continued to talk, Nicholas told her he couldn't
swim. And again, that really struck an as being odd because that area along the Columbia River there, like it gets hot
in the summer. It is dry. and swimming and water skiing and just all sorts of activities along the water. It's what
everyone does there in the summer. So, for him to say that, it just it really stuck out to her. And overall, it's just
as he keeps talking, she's kind of placating him, but she's just getting a very weird vibe from him all along. I
noticed his voice was getting shaky. And I told him I had to go. So, I went around and got into my car and my door
was open and I had a a two-seater sports car and he knelt next in between the door and me and like got in your way.
>> I was in the car. So, I got in the car >> and the door was open and he knelt down
between the door and me >> and uh told me his name. Uh, he wanted he gave me his name and phone number and he
asked for my phone number and I gave it to him and I went to close the door and he put a knife to my throat.
>> And And what was he saying as he put the knife to your throat? >> He told me not to scream. He told me to
take my clothes off. Um, so I did take my clothes off. And as I was doing that, I noticed a couple of
people walking to a car that was parked sort of nearby. And I did scream. Um, but he put the knife to my throat a
little harder and pushed me down and laid on top of me so they couldn't see me. It's really hard to hear Ann describing
those moments just to think about the terror that must have been going through her mind. Um, she told us, you know, in
after he put the knife to her throat, he actually took her underwear and put them
in her mouth almost as a sort of gag so that she wouldn't keep screaming, so that she wouldn't be heard. Right. And
and there were people nearby pulling up into the parking lot. So, she was trying
to get people to notice and to to come help her. Um, but talk about that terrifying few minutes for her. Well, we
learned from an then what happens next? >> Um, he told me to get out of the car and
he had a shirt that he put over my head. He actually told me to put it on and I refused. So, he put it over my head and
put my left arm through it and grabbed the back of it and shoved me towards the bank of the river. Um,
and we started walking and we got about halfway down the bank and he told me to stop and I didn't. Instead of stopping,
I pulled the shirt off over my head and ran down the bank and dove into the river and swam
>> because at that time I was thinking he told me he couldn't swim. So I swam out
and swam as hard as I could. >> Swam for your life. >> I swam for my life. All I had on was my
tennis shoes >> and uh I swam to a dock and started screaming for help. >> Wow. I mean to have the presence of mind
to to be thinking in that moment he told me he can't swim >> and to see that that is your
opportunity. >> You know every time I hear that I just get goosebumps because even as she was
reliving that moment you could just see the terror the the terror in her eyes and just feel the emotion of that. Um
truly remarkable. Yeah. And just talk about all the moments of luck here. all the things that happened for her to be
able to put that together that he couldn't swim that he was leading her towards that riverbank. You know, we
went down there to film it and it is it's very steep. It's very hard to just jump right down there. So, once she swam
for her life and made it to the dock, thankfully there were people there and she was able to get help and the police
came to her help as soon as she arrived there. And so, she was able to tell police, "This happened to me and his
name is Pat." and gave them a good description of what who they were looking for. And based off of his name
and his description, the local police pretty soon realized that Pat was likely this man Patrick Nicholas, who had just
recently been released from a halfway house nearby for those previous attacks that he had committed on a juvenile. So,
police went to track him down. Uh they visited his apartment. He wasn't there. They suspected he must have fled, gotten
out of town really quickly. But they did find some key evidence there. They found
the notebook that Anne had remembered writing her number down in. And I think they actually found a piece of the page
torn out where he had tried to give her his number. So after they searched his apartment, we're like, "Okay, this is
probably our guy." They went to the airport and found out that Patrick Nicholas had hopped a flight soon
afterwards and gotten out of town. Uh they tracked him down to the Midwest and within a few weeks they arrested him and
he actually pleaded guilty to firstdegree attempted rape. He was sentenced back then to what was the
maximum sentence that he could receive and that was 10 years in prison. So an assumed rightfully so that he's safely
locked away for those 10 years all of those 10 years in Washington state prison. But it turns out in 1987
Nicholas is let out early on parole. So an was never notified. Police never told her, never sent her a letter or
anything to let her know that the guy who did this to you, he is now out. She told us though, Lauren, that she tried
really hard within those years to kind of put this out of her mind and she didn't want it to have a major impact on
her life. All of that changed though in 2019. Here's Ann again. The police knocked on my door in Portland and said
that there were detectives in Seattle that wanted to talk to me about a cold case and I had no idea what they were
talking about and they wanted to come interview me about it. So that was the first I'd heard of it. And how did you
feel hearing about what happened to Sarah? What did they tell you about her story?
They told me that there were similarities in the cases and uh I was crushed. It's this part in the interview I
remember this is where an just kind of paused and broke down. Um she'd been really kind of strong through that
interview and was just recounting things. But I think, you know, this is describing the realization that Sarah
Yarro's murder was in any way connected to what had happened to her so many years ago. And she, I think, was dealing
with, as she described to us, her own version of survivor's guilt, you know, once she realized how her story and
Sarah's were connected tragically. >> Yeah. Um, it had never occurred to me that what I
escaped from was a murder. I just had always figured I'd escaped from a rapist, >> which you can survive a rapist. You can
you get past it. You can't get past murder. Um, and the fact that she was only 16, um,
was really hard to hear. And then when I found out that he had been released early, and this happened when he was
supposed to be in prison >> for what he did to you, >> for what he did to me, um, really
affected me a lot. >> I bet you were angry a lot of it. I was very angry >> when he um was arrested for for what he
did to you. He confessed and he wrote in his confession, "I realize I have a problem concerning raping girls."
>> You had never heard that? >> No. No. So he says that and he ended up serving.
>> So why was he let out after three and a half years? What a little [ __ ] No, I didn't know that.
You little I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Sorry. So, that's the part you didn't hear on our 48 hours episode, obviously,
because of the language. Now, you know, we all kind of laughed a little bit at that, but usually humor is a a coping
mechanism, and that was the case here. Um this was truly a very traumatic experience and memory for an and
especially you know learning that he did not complete his full sentence and then
hearing that detail that she only heard now for the very first time that he had told police at the time that he had a
problem raping girls, trying to rape girls and yet he was able to get out early um on parole which she just was
clearly very angry, but at the same time, she had to laugh at the the insanity of it all.
>> I remember in that interview, she had been so strong and then it just kind of
broke through and yeah, you hear us laughing in the background cuz we're all crying and then hearing
>> it just gave us a moment of levity. I think just having her real life reaction. I think it just made us all so
grateful that she was able to speak so freely and to just tell it like it is with us. And I remember like we we
weren't really sure how far she'd want to go. We we'd wanted to be very sensitive with this because we knew it
was a lot for her to come forward, you know, using her name to come on TV to talk about this. We actually were in
this really incredible space because we wanted her to feel very comfortable. Um it was like a horse ranch. It was my
version of paradise and there was horse therapy right outside the door. So after this
interview, we all went out and we were petting the horses because we needed it. I mean, it was just really such a
powerful interview and she just gave us so much. >> Absolutely. I mean, her her strength
just stuck out to us all along and even going back to the trial. I mean, so I was there. We were hearing these
whispers that there was a victim there and it was almost inconceivable. I mean, like, wait, what? How could someone have
the strength to come and do this? uh and learning that it almost brought this back full circle for her that she had
thought she had done her duty back in 1983 that she had put away this bad guy that the justice system had worked for
her and then so learning that it had failed Sarah Yarbor by him being let out early so that he was able to attack
Sarah Yarborough, she felt like she had to be there. She had to see justice truly be done this time around. I mean,
she was there for as much of the trial as she could be. You were there, Lauren. I mean, there was so much emotion. It
was a packed courtroom. Her friends, her family, they were all there. They were there to witness this moment nearly 30
years later. That speaks to the kind of woman that Sarah Yarro was. She was a connector. I've actually never seen
anything like this. Um, and it was almost overflowing. everybody. Usually in a in a trial, there's like the
victim's side, the victim's family side, and then the defendant side. And in this, there were just so many people
there. So, this brings us to how Anne Crony came into the courtroom and where she sat. You know, the courtroom's full.
So, she goes and chooses to sit right behind Patrick Nicholas because that was the open spot. I was sitting there
thinking, I could easily jump up and put my hands around his neck or I could slam
his face into the table. That would be great. And I thought, no, I don't think anybody else would really appreciate
that. So, order in the court, you know. >> And so, it it's interesting because it
made me think that two of Sarah's friends said they first saw you get behind him, they're like, "Is she with
him?" No. And then they cornered you. They said they got out into the hallway and they were like,
>> "Who are you?" Like wanting to know what you were there for. Yes. >> So, they hadn't heard your story yet or
about you guys. The judge wouldn't allow that. Yeah. >> I think they they must have heard
something because uh they did ask my connection and I said I believe I told them I was the one that got away and it
took him a second and then >> Yeah. Then they full embrace. >> Yes. Wonderful people. Oh my gosh.
Wonderful people. Sarah's been gone a long time, but they could hug Anne and they have remained friends with Anne
Crony, which is remarkable. The thing that I heard in court was that one of his survivors is here and she's a
badass. And then I remember I just gave her my card very tactfully. I don't know
if you want to talk. Um, but then I remember at your interview with her, Natalie, we were sitting there and we're
just like, she's a badass. Like totally I get it. Yep. And Natalie, in your interview, you asked her what Nicholas
looked like when she saw him in court, and here was her response. >> Can I say him?
>> Yes. Go ahead. >> He looked like a piece of >> I mean, he just looked like an old piece
of um you know, he was young when I saw him. He was young, vital comes to mind. Um fairly attractive, and he's just an
old piece of now. Sorry. >> You heard the anger there. she was still, you know, living in that moment.
But she, even though she was struck by the fact that his appearance had changed, um, but she said looking at him
and staring at him in the eyes, she saw those same evil eyes staring back at her. They were the same.
So, after the jury found Patrick Nicholas guilty of the murder of Sarah Yarro, Anne was able to finally speak
her truth by giving a victim impact statement during the sentencing hearing. Let's listen to some of that.
>> We rely on a system of justice that is designed to protect us from predators like Nicholas. And this system failed
me. It failed Sarah, her family, friends, and countless others. I asked the court to please not make the same m
mistake. >> And I don't know if Nicholas knew that she was there until this moment. And she
stood up and she gave it to him and she told the judge like, "Hey, don't mess this up again." Uh, I can't imagine the
feeling that she had inside of her to do that. It must have been so scary and so
intimidating at first, but she told you like it was really that community and that love from Sarah's friends and
family that really helped her get up there and put it all out there. >> Yeah. >> And he was, you know, and the judge did
sentence him to 46 years in prison. Um, so he's not going to get out anytime soon. And and I think an important
detail was that an has a daughter as well at the time of the trial who was Sarah Yarro's age, 16 years old, and how
much that probably impacted her as she was saying those words. Yeah. And she talked with you in her interview about
how like they have had talks about how when something happens, what to do when you're attacked that you fight. And if
you're lucky, really like the luck here is so essential. If you can put those pieces together, you can get away. Uh
she was able to really follow her instincts there and again the luck of being near the water and knowing that he
couldn't swim, her gut telling her that something was off. Uh she was able to have the presence of mind to recall all
of this to get away. So I mean just her thinking that all right, I've got to protect my kid here,
>> give her the tools she could use. I it's really really impactful. >> Yeah. I mean truly everything sort of
lined up in order for her to be able to survive. Um there was also a moment what
I love about an is that she told us um she wanted to take back that part of her life. She decided to do a triathlon that
summer after Nicholas's murder trial, diving right back into those very waters of the Columbia River that saved her
life. and she started by parking in the exact same spot that she did in that parking lot in the park where the attack
occurred. Take a listen. The parking lot's the same. The trees have grown up, so it looks different, but the the bank
is a lot steeper than I thought it was. And further up from the river, it's about 10 ft. So, I was surprised. um
pretty proud of myself for what I'd done because it was it was pretty amazing that I was able to do that. There was a
reason that I was meant to do that and I was able to do that. But doing the triathlon was interesting. I didn't have
any I didn't have any odd or bad feelings. Swimming in the river was great. Uh >> do you feel like you reclaimed that
>> though? I I do because the swim took off at the same dock that I was rescued on.
So, um I do I felt like I reclaimed all of that and there's no fear to stop me from doing
what I love to do. >> I just we just loved that moment so much. Even after going through hearing
about Sarah Yarro's death, going through the trial, stepping forward, she was like, you know what? I want to get back
there and I want to show that I can do this and I'm going to reclaim this. It's just incredible. And I think you hear a
lot of survivors who say that. They say, "I wanted to, you know, get myself back,
take my power back." And in doing that triathlon, she did. I think it's so important that we tell these survivors
stories because I think we can all learn so much from them as well. What it takes
to do something when something feels off or doesn't feel right. What it takes to
speak up. What it takes to fight back. to scream as loud as you can possibly scream. She did all of that and then
some. And then at the end of the day, she got her peace with justice. Lauren, I have to thank you so much for joining
me. And of course, I have to say our thanks as well to Anne Crony. And thanks to all of you who have listened. And be
sure to stay tuned for more stories from courageous individuals like an by following and listening to 48 hours it
could have been me on Tuesdays on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. If you like this episode,
please rate and review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. I'm Natalie Morales for 48 hours.
[Music]

Anne Croney said she is the "one that got away" when she survived an attempted attack by Patrick Nicholas back in 1983. Years later, she learned that Nicholas was charged with the murder of 16-year-old Sarah Yarborough. "48 Hours" correspondent Natalie Morales spoke with Anne about how she made her escape from her attacker and what happened when she came face-to-face with him again in court for his murder trial. You’ll also hear behind-the-scenes details about the interview from "48 Hours" producer Lauren Clark.

Get early, ad-free access to all episodes of "It Could've Been Me" by subscribing to 48 Hours+ on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/it-couldve-been-me/id1821265269. The series is widely available everywhere else you get your podcasts.

Crime. Social justice. Impact. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

For video licensing inquiries, contact: licensing@veritone.com

Brief Summary

The episode details the murder of Sarah Yarborough and the eventual capture of her killer, Patrick Nicholas, through DNA evidence.

Key points

The Discovery of Sarah's Body. Sarah's body was found just yards from her parked car, raising questions about what happened.
The Investigation Begins. Investigators faced a daunting task with DNA evidence but no immediate leads.
A New Direction in the Case. Forensic genetic genealogy offers a new hope in solving Sarah's murder after years of dead ends.
The Arrest of Patrick Nicholas. After years of investigation, Patrick Nicholas is arrested as the prime suspect in Sarah's murder.
The Alarming Interrogation. Patrick Nicholas's response during interrogation raises suspicions about his involvement in Sarah's murder.
The Trial. After 30 years, Patrick Nicholas goes on trial for Sarah's murder, with DNA evidence as a key focus.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This case is about a 16-year-old girl who had the right to grow up.

0:39WatchJul 11, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

More from 48 Hours

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.