The Hunt for Sarah Yarborough's Killer | Post Mortem + Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] [Music] [Music] 16-year-old Sarah y always 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 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 [Music] weekend we went to a basketball game went and got junk food at the grocery
store a little bit of fast food you 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 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 leature around her her neck 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 GNA 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 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 is [Music] [Music] how often do you think about December 14th 1991 and what happened on that
day quite a bit it's a very uh traumatic thing to go through it's been over 30 years but the
details of that day have never faded for Drew Miller I my friend spent the night
at my house we woke up that morning watch cartoons ate cereal left to go skateboarding Drew who was just 13 at
the time lived down the street from federalway 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 mud
puddles 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 the 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 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 [Music] yarboro even for experienced investigators 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 curler still in her hair this was just pure unadulterated [Music]
evil 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 feet 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 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 out 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 Tomy 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
afterward and that totally I mean you can see there's Sarah right in the middle of it being
[Music] goofy the fiery red hair was that her personality 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 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 seen found on her underwear and on her jacket we had a full male DNA
profile DNA technology was new back in 1991 but investigators hop 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 the 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
yarbro'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 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 yros 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 carpedm 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 Yaro 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
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 say she lived with constant regret I wish we could go back and do it all over again that I would
have asked the other AD do you members what time practice was you know maybe dropped her off I mean there's a lot of
the wh ifs 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 Lori Yarbro 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 yeah 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 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 this 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 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 AR Bros were encouraged I think it wasn't until we
met Colleen Fitzpatrick that I really be 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 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 genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick 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 Yo'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 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 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 away 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 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 but on the ground that was collected by our detectives that's what
you needed yes 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 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 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 what do you think you're there I have no clue during
his interrogation in church for when detectives specifically asked him about Sarah's murder he gave an alarming
response what we 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 to say anything after one and a half hours Nicholas
asked for an attorney and stop 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 an 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' done any water skiing yet cuz 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 Ann's underwear into
her mouth to prevent her from screaming forced her out of the car and led her to
the river bank we got about halfway down the bank and he told me to stop I ran and dove in the river because 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 an 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 an's attack he was tracked down arrested and pled guilty to attempted rape he told authorities I
realize that I have a problem concerning raping girls at his sentencing hearing an spoke
out I was actually very angry and 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 3 and A2 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 an that Patrick Nicholas had been arrested again
this time for the murder of Sarah Yarbro they told me that there was 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 Yaro 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 codus 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 prejudicial to the defendant but the prosecutors were
hopeful their case was strong enough I'll watch for the jury in early 2023 more than 30 years after Sarah
yar'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 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 Y 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 use technology that is not only unen but just whack
really he's not the person the kill the police needed an answer more than answer and so they turn to new nov
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 lair 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 Ser Ares 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 Mont has 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 yarbro's presence
was felt especially when now retired Captain Scott stray 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 a 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 body when she died you just you S Felt yourself crumble after nine long days of
testimony the case went to the jury oh I 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 yarbro's loved ones had waited
over 30 years for this moment we the jury find the defendant Patrick not guilty of the crime of Murder in the
First degree premeditated Patrick Nicholas was found not guilty of the first charge
premeditated first-degree 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
first-degree murder and second degree murder the jury ruled both had been committed with a sexual
motivation I remember hearing the family behind me cry 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 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 it was probably the most raw human courage I have ever seen in my
life 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 Ed 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 an crony who
wasn't allowed to testify at Sarah's trial started speaking he just did like a double take and shuddered when an
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 Joseph wigs address the court and when I think about this poor
child this poor child and 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
y Nicholas has 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 codus to search for possible
family members remember Patrick Nicholas's Brothers DNA had been in codus for years the legislation just
doesn't exist in the 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 Y burus 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 because that's what's given me the actual healing that
I needed this is probably 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 in streaming on Paramount
[Music] plus welcome back to another episode of postmortem I'm your host an marie green
and today we're answering your biggest questions from our latest episode the hunt for Sarah Yarborough's killer
joining me are 48 Hours correspondent Natalie Morales and producers Chris Young Ritson and Lauren Clark who
reported and produced this episode welcome thank you anarie hi amarie hi thank you for having us so you know one
of the reasons why this story kind of really hits you is because you almost feel like you knew Sarah in high school
she's the kid that you wanted to be friends with she has everything going for she's an incredible young woman
everyone agrees big plans for the future and then it is ripped away from her so before we dive into postmortem I just
want to play a little bit of an overview from this week's episode we used to hop the fence right
here and cut through here on December 14th 1991 13-year-old Drew Miller and his friend were walking
through Federal Way High School outside Seattle Washington when they noticed a man in the bushes he's just staring at
us from the bushes that was pretty jarring the mysterious man walked away but he left behind a horrific
scene there in the bushes where the man had just been the boys discovered the body of a young woman 16-year-old Sarah
yarboro it was absolutely horrible Drew says his shock turned to fear when he realized the man who was now just feet
in front of him was 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 home and police were called detective Scott strathy with the
King County Sheriff's Office was one of the first on the scene even for experienced
investigators 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 Sarah had not been raped but the Killer's DNA was found on pieces of her clothing it sounded like
they had so much evidence Sarah's friend Amy pero had hoped that the killer would
quickly be found for at least a short while it felt like of course they're going to catch him and then when they
didn't and they didn't your expectations change Sarah's friend Shannon Grant 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 is this going to happen again you know Natalie Drew is an adult right as he's speaking to you and so you sort of
have to remember that he was a 13-year-old boy at the time and as he goes through the episode and describes
you know what he saw and how it changed his life one thing that I never really considered is that he felt incredible
pressure he felt because he had seen this guy he should be able to help them solve the case yeah I mean he was under
such tremendous pressure and he still feels that all these years later you know nearly 30 years later you do have
to remember he was 13 years old but yet he locked eyes with this guy he and his friend they got a clear look at him and
as he said that look would forever haunt him detectives worked with him over many
years to get what they thought was a really accurate sketch but yet at the time when you think what that picture
looked like as as Sarah's friend said when they look through their High School yearbook it could have been anyone from
those yearbook Pages because you know that's what everybody looked like back then they had the mullets that was the
style that was you know the hairstyle back then what was it like for Drew to testify a trial to lock eyes with this
man again it was it was a lot Drew had really been an Anonymous for many years cuz he was a minor at the time his name
wasn't publicly released he wasn't he kind of knew who the Yos were but he wasn't you know friends with them and he
felt kind of isolated so at the process of going into trial and knowing to have to testify and that had he'd have to be
there on the stand looking at Patrick Nicholas it was a lot but the community that developed at trial like so many of
Sarah's friends and family and neighbors just people waned to support the yoro family but they also ended up helping
Drew too for so many years he had this horrible image of Sarah in his mind he he saw her in death but then through
getting to know her family and her friends they filled in who she was in life and that has meant so much to him
um even at the sentencing hearing some of Sarah's friends gave him like a packet of photographs of Sarah and he
talks about that all the time that they the image of her in his mind has now changed and that's that's really part of
the healing that he needed for himself in his life when we did our interview with Drew we did it at federalway high
school and there in the courtyard of the high school is a memorial bench that's dedicated to Sarah and it was emotional
because Drew brought a flower and he put the flower on the bench and he sat there
and he had his head in his hands and it was a very emotional moment because you could just see him reflecting and you
could really see how this this all affected him so it didn't make the show but it was a very emotional moment it's
so interesting how these tragic moments create almost kind of a new family this one family is completely ripped apart by
the loss of their daughter and all these other people now even though the the connective tissue is tragic are now part
of her Legacy and part of that family so Nell what was your biggest takeaway from
this case for me it was you know there there was so much initially there were eyewitnesses there was DNA EV EV so why
why did it take investigators nearly 30 years to find Sarah's killer police did receive leads and tips but Patrick
Nicholas the man who ends up being the murderer was never named that's so interesting let's listen to a clip 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 CODIS 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
this suspect hadn't committed any other prior crimes where his DNA wouldn't be in the
system Patrick Nicholas had a criminal record and he had attempted to rape a woman as you saw in our story The
Survivor an crony who tells her incredible and harrowing story that happened back in 1983 and while it was
on his record and he served time for it his DNA was not entered into the codus database back then he also had another
uh charge first deegree molestation of a minor back in 1994 but he was able to plead that down so he ended up not
having to submit his DNA so that's why he got away for nearly 30 years and you know at the time of an's crime and her
attack in 1983 there was no cotus database that wasn't established until 1999 so you know it seems like an
outrage now but back then it just wasn't part of of the standard it was really frustrating learning that he had
attacked another woman another young woman um and crony I want to play a little bit of her sound 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 [Music] throat everything kind of stopped at that moment he told me to take my clothes off
Nicholas stuffed an'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 it's incredible that an has a presence
of mind to know hey jump into the water I just had a conversation with this guy he says that he can't swim I'm throwing
myself in there it's really remarkable it's truly incredible in fact an is just one of the most courageous people I have
met and I've met a lot of survivors over the years of reporting on these kinds of
stories there was also a moment um that she revealed to us in our interview that
she wanted to to take back that part of her life and and in order to do that she
decided to do a triathlon over the summer diving right back into those very Waters that saved her life she swam this
time to accomplish an incredible goal completing a triathlon I think you hear a lot of survivors saying I wanted to to
get myself back my power back and in that moment she did just that I was so moved by the fact that this moment in
her life didn't Define her at all yeah um she could talk about it it's not like she was putting it a Bo in a black box
and not acknowledging it but she didn't let it be anything more than a speed bump in her life you know yeah Natalie
that's a great story after Nicholas was convicted for attempted rape of an crony
the judge sentenced him to 10 years the maximum sentence but then Nicholas is released early on parole just three and
a half years later did anyone even call an crony to let her know that he was out
or or was that not the protocol nope Amry unfortunately the answer is no she was not notified at all um and she just
told us that you know she assumed that Patrick Nicholas had served most of his sentence and that obviously wasn't the
case you know he was only in prison for three and a half years and I think this speaks to the way that victims were
treated back then you know 40 years ago and told us she was quite upset when she
found that out thinking I got Justice for what happened to me and thinking that he had served that whole time and
then finding out that that had not happened really crushed her and it's particularly devastating because if he
had served the full sentence he would have still been in prison in 1991 when he attacked Sarah yarboro and then we
wouldn't even be talking about her murder why was he released so early I mean it we got the records from you know
back then and they really you know like he went through the parole board process
they considered him you know he didn't have any major infractions on his record he admitted to everything that he done
he admitted to Ann's attack he said he had a problem he realized it and he wanted to get help so part of the terms
of his parole was that he would enter into a treatment program that he would be getting this help that he needed um
but as we see it wasn't wasn't enough but he did actually meet the standards at the time when we get back we're going
to get into Sarah Yo's trial forensic genetic genology was at the heart of this case but with Nicholas's attorney
really calling into question the technology would the jury believe the science we're going to get into that
after the break welcome back Lauren you were in the courtroom during the trial what were
her friends and Family's reaction to finally seeing this case go before a jury I mean it was it was big for them
they'd waited a long time for this and you know Natalie and Chris and I know we cover lot of Trials Court can be like a
very cold and intimidating environment but I got to say I have never seen a community come together the way they did
at this trial it was not just Sarah's friends and family it was neighbors it was members of the Y Bros church it was
Sarah's former classmates adults they're in their late 40s now they they came together from around the country people
flew back to be there for the Y Burrows and support them through this everybody kind of among Sarah's friends they all
had their little roles one friend Liberty who we interviewed she had a snack station set up outside that
courtroom every day she and her husband they had bottles of water they found out
what candy Laura Goro liked it just it made such a stark experience feel warm you know you would think that so many
people have gone on with their lives to return to this area for this special they did but also you know this was they
were teenagers when this happened a lot of them kind of carried this internally with them for so long and so I mean it
was like a therapy session almost these people are incredible and and crony showed up as well what was it like when
she came to the courthouse though well it's interesting because nobody nobody knew who she was an tells us about how
the first time she went there weren't any seats on the side of the yardboro so she sat on the other side and she could
tell like she was getting some looks that people were kind of looking her up and down trying to figure out who is
this person and then you know out in break in the hallway some of Sarah's friends actually approached her and said
like how are you connected with the kid and she introduced herself and she said you know I'm the one who got away he
attacked me back in 1983 and they all describe it as just hugs immediately and like we're here
with you we're so happy you came thank you for being here like it's so important to us that you are here and
during the sentencing hearing she shared a v a very powerful Victim Impact statement uh because she was not able to
testify at trial because none of Nicholas's previous criminal history could be entered in as evidence why
couldn't it be talked about yeah you know it's at the discretion of the judge in every case of whether prior bad acts
are going to be allowed in as testimony at trial in this case the prosecution put forward motions that they wanted to
have Nicholas's criminal history entered into trial and the judge ruled against allowing it because this case was going
to be decided on this crime singularly forensic genetic genealogy played a vital role in finding Sarah's killer but
the defense really put it into question let's take a listen 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 use technology
that is not only un proven but just whacky really he's not the person the kill the police needed an answer more
than they need the right answer and so they turned to new no 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 Hey listen if any of you are on any of these genealogy
databases I am I'm all into this stuff I'm on like two of them but you get notifications all the time that you got
an eighth cousin or a 10th cousin you know it's it's we're related to everyone so you can kind of see where he's coming
from in terms of this argument but is it a strong argument how reliable is the science behind genetic genealogy well
you know it it is a relatively new way of cracking cold cases perhaps the most notable being the Golden State killer
case the forensic genetic genealogist in our story Colleen Fitzpatrick she is considered one of the Pioneers at the
Forefront I think a lot of our 48 hour viewers May recognize her because she has been on a couple of past episodes as
she is so well known in this field and she spent years searching building out the genetic family tree of the possible
killer and she narrowed it down to these two brothers Edward and Patrick Nicholas
interestingly enough Edward's DNA profile was in cotus for a sex offense that he had committed but he was not a
match Patrick wasn't in cotus at the time so investigators still needed a true DNA sample and so detectives
surreptitiously collected DNA while Patrick Nicholas was at a laundromat he dropped some cigarette butts they picked
them up and it was a perfect DNA match and if anybody wants to argue with the science here is the number for an exact
match one in 120 quadrillion I can't even tell you how many zeros that is but that tells
you how exact of a match this is should viewers be concerned about law enforcement having access to their DNA I
think this is something that that Law Enforcement wants to be very clear on now because there have been a lot of
kind of guide rails put up particularly since the Golden State killer was arrested you know now it's really only
you have to opt in for your DNA to be searchable on one of these databases but like in general that like they're not
searching ancestry in 23 and me it's they have to be these certain opt-in databases that's interesting um
ultimately the fact that Nicholas's DNA match the sample found on the body rendered the defenses argument moot he
was found guilty of first and second degree murder but he wasn't found guilty of premeditated murder why is that in
this case we didn't interview any jurors um but Lauren did speak to a couple of them after trial basically they told her
that there wasn't enough evidence to prove you know how much if at all that Patrick Nicholas planned the murder but
then they also said you know after the trial they were told about Nicholas's uh previous criminal history and when they
heard about kind of his pattern of behavior they said you know maybe that could have changed things for us if we
had known that maybe we would have gone the other way on this but it's just it's
so hard to tell I want to talk about the judge judge wigs she spoke really passionately at sentencing about how
Sarah was just a child when she was murdered she sentenced Nicholas though to 46 years not life did the length of
the sentence surprise any of you this actually um is on the higher end of sentencing judge wigs who is an
incredible judge I mean you saw the power she kind of slams her hands down and says this was a child and she like
hit the table with her fist you felt that her outrage when she was looking at Patrick Nicholas um she went above the
sentencing guidelines because of Nicholas's other crimes in including the attack against an cron she was able to
share during the sentencing yeah and you know um Patrick Nicholas was 59 years old by this time so it's effectively a
life sentence for him it was bittersweet because you know Patrick Nicholas he lived a free man for 30 years you know
so yeah Sarah didn't have that time so it's a life sentence but it was bittersweet for for the family and the
friends what was it like talking to the people who knew Sarah best she's still such a huge part of their lives they
they talk about her as if it was just yesterday these memories are still so fresh in their mind was such a formative
time in their life lives for all of them they all were victims in a way these young women had to live life um thinking
that could that be the guy next door you know could it be him I walked away feeling like I could have been friends
with these these women I mean we're all somewhat of the similar age group looking through their pictures and the
photo albums it was like looking at a slideshow of my own youth growing up and just feeling like I was a part of that
in a way this murder took place on the campus of a high school so I mean it's not just the people who were friends
with Sarah but EV all of these kids had to I presume at times walk past this location I mean how did the school
handle it at the time so this crime took place on a Saturday morning and what we
learned is that school was back in session just two days later on that Monday can can you imagine so so these
kids all had to go to school walk by the police the media the yellow tape the crime scene every single day and and for
so many of them they were traumatized Sarah's friends told us that they really leaned on each other and one of one of
Sarah's friends told Natalie that her teacher basically made an announcement and said we will not be learning much
for a very long time except basically how to deal with trauma one of the things that I thought this hour kind of
reinforces is the ripple effect of a crime but instead of being defined by that moment they created a community out
of it they supported each other they pulled together closer what will you guys take away from covering this case I
think that that is the greatest takeaway right there anarie it's the people she loved the Friendship she formed those
are the people who are her Legacy and continuing her story and her journey and they are together for life in this I
mean it's really created these bonds and helped them heal in a way that um I don't think everybody gets Sarah left a
Legacy of Love Simple so true simple that is it for this week's postmortem Natalie Chris Lauren thank you so much
for joining me thank you again so much Amry be sure to watch 48 hours Saturdays at 109 Central on CBS and streaming on
Paramount plus and be sure to follow 48 Hours wherever you get your podcast and you can also listen at free on the
Amazon music or wry app

What it took to close the case of a high school student found murdered on campus.

Watch "The Hunt for Sarah Yarborough's Killer" and then catch up with "48 Hours" contributor Natalie Morales and producers Chris Young Ritzen and Lauren Clark on "Post Mortem" as they discuss the case of Sarah Yarborough, who was murdered at her high school campus on a cold December morning in 1991. Despite DNA evidence left at the crime scene and two eyewitnesses, Sarah’s case went cold. The team discusses how a man who’d been in and out of prison for crimes against women was able to slip through the cracks for decades, and how forensic genetic genealogy ultimately connected him to Sarah’s murder.

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

The episode details Sarah Yarborough's murder, the investigation, and the eventual capture of her killer, Patrick Nicholas, using genetic genealogy.

Key points

The Tragic Case of Sarah Yarbro. A 16-year-old girl’s life is tragically cut short, leaving a community in fear.
A Horrific Discovery. Two boys stumble upon the body of Sarah, leading to a chilling realization.
Breakthrough in the Case. Forensic genetic genealogy leads investigators to a possible suspect after decades.
The Arrest of Patrick Nicholas. After years of searching, detectives finally arrest Sarah's killer, Patrick Nicholas.
The Attack. A survivor recounts the terrifying moment she was attacked by Patrick Nicholas.
The Criminal History. Patrick Nicholas's past crimes reveal a pattern of violence against women.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Not Sarah, not Sarah, not Sarah!

A mother’s anguish upon hearing the news of her daughter’s murder.

2:45WatchApr 11, 2025

Tension

80/ 100High tension

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