Sarah Yarborough's killer identified through DNA evidence in 2019 | "48 Hours" archives | Forensic Files

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 Koda 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 link 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 realize 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 Y Bros were encouraged I think it wasn't until we met Colleen
Fitzpatrick that I really began to think you know 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 [Music] from the beginning it was very promising and the story took some really
bizarre twist in 2011 20 years after Sarah's murder when forensic genetic genealogist
Colleen Fitz Patrick started working the yoro 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 yar's close family friend who helped get that Memorial bench built for
Sarah naturally that peat our interest from the beginning Sarah's family and friends believe 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 is no 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 eight 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 was in
cotus 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 part 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 fre 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 our detectives that's
what you needed right there that cigarette butt Yes actually he dropped two cigarette butts and a nap 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 match 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 technolog 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 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 what do you think you're here I have no clue during
his interrogation 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 her name s 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 say 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

For decades, the 1991 murder of Sarah Yarborough in Federal Way, Washington was a mystery. It wasn't until 2019 that investigators finally got a break in the case. Through the use of forensic genetic genealogy, investigators identified Patrick Nicholas as a suspect. Here's part of our report for "The Hunt for Sarah Yarborough’s Killer."

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.

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Brief Summary

Colleen Fitzpatrick uses genetic genealogy to identify Patrick Nicholas as the suspect in Sarah Yaro's cold case murder after decades of investigation.

Key points

Breakthrough in Cold Case. Forensic genetic genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick helps identify a suspect in a 20-year-old murder case.
The Arrest of Patrick Nicholas. After years of investigation, Patrick Nicholas is arrested as the prime suspect.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I was pretty in shock.

A family member reacts to the news of the suspect's arrest.

7:37WatchMar 4, 2024

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