Innocence Lost: The Murder of Sarah Yarborough

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Certain cases stand out for the way they impact those who knew the victim along with those investigating their demise.  This case is no different.  When a bright light is extinguished all too soon, all that is left are questions.  The hope is that those questions can be answered quickly but when they are not, those answers and justice may seem out of reach.  Time and technology were the hope for the family of Sarah Yarborough but just how long would they have to wait?

Discovery

Around 9:00 am on the 14th of December 1991, thirteen-year-old Drew Miller and his friend were taking a shortcut through the Federal Way High School grounds in Federal Way, Washington.  Federal Way is named after Federal Highway US 99 and is part of Seattle’s metropolitan area.  Drew would recall that it was freezing that morning, so much so, that the mud puddles had frozen over.  He and his friend were headed out to skateboard after having a sleepover the night before.  What should have been a fun relaxing outing that Saturday morning would be a moment that would have a profound impact on Drew’s life, as well as, the Federal Way community.

As the boys were breaking up the frozen puddles they passed by the tennis courts, they noticed a man in the bushes off to the side.  This man was originally crouched down and was just staring at them.  The man stood up and casually walked out of the high bush line and walked ahead of the boys.  Initially, they thought they had caught the man smoking some weed but then the boys saw what the man walked away from.

Lying on the ground was the body of a partially clothed young woman.  She was not moving.  When the boys looked in the direction the man had been walking their shock turned to fear when they saw the man had stopped and was staring back at them.  Drew and his friend took off running back home and called the police.  

Victim

One of the first officers to arrive on the scene was Detective Scott Strathy.  What investigators would come to find was that the victim was sixteen-year-old Sarah Yarborough, a student at Federal Way High School.  There was a pile of clothing near Sarah’s body, her drill team jacket, and undergarments.  Sarah still had hot curlers in a ponytail.  She looked to be strangled by nylon stockings tied in a ligature around her neck.  The stockings were her own.  Sarah’s car, her father’s vehicle, was in the high school parking lot approximately three hundred feet from where her body was found, still on the school’s property.

Detectives from the King County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit examined Sarah’s car.  Investigators could see no signs of struggle in or around the car.  There was a container of orange juice still sitting upright on the front seat.  Detectives would come to find that Sarah had made that container that morning to take with her to a drill team competition.  How did Sarah get from her car to the bush-covered hill?  After talking to family and friends, one early theory was that she had been coaxed in some way.  Perhaps the man seen emerging from the bushes had asked for her help in finding some lost keys or a dog?  Sarah was known for always being helpful.

Family & Friends

Sarah Yarborough was the oldest of three born to Tom and Laura Yarborough.  She had two younger brothers, the closest being eleven-year-old Andrew.  Sarah was in her junior year and would tell her parents that she wanted to go far away for college.  Her mother describes her as adventurous, wanting to study either engineering like her father or to become a museum curator.  Sarah is described by those who knew her best as artistic, creative, smart, imaginative, and at times feisty, but always kind.  She would be the last to wait for someone and the first to help them with their homework.  

Investigators would find that although the crime scene looked like a sexual assault had taken place, Sarah had not been raped. She had been beaten and died by strangulation from the pantyhose wrapped around her neck.  Semen would be found on her jacket and underwear also under Sarah’s fingernails proof that she had put up a fight.  Detectives were hopeful when a full DNA profile was obtained now they just needed to match that profile to their murderer.  Also in the investigation’s favor were the two witnesses who had gotten a good look at the suspect and were able to give a detailed sketch.  Drew and his friend described a white male approximately six feet tall with a medium build. He had shoulder-length straight hair.  His bangs were cut above his eyebrows. The suspect wore a dark-colored trench coat and dark colored pants  Police released their sketch to the public soon after and leads started pouring in but they would all eventually dry up.  

There was a killer among the citizens of Federal Way who now lived under constant fear if and when the killer would strike again.  

Memorial 

A year-and-a-half would pass with no suspect in custody and sketches of Sarah’s killer still placed up around town. Sarah’s family and friends were still mourning their loss and worked to keep her memory alive.  They channeled their efforts into putting together a memorial for Sarah and in June 1993 a bench was placed outside Federal Way High School.  Engraved on the bench were the words, “Carpe Diem” or seize the day, a mantra Sarah embodied.  Also, beside the bench encased in bronze were some of Sarah’s favored possessions, her ballet shoes, books, and a replica of her beloved dog, “Gibby.” On the plaque to honor Sarah it read, 1975 – 1991, Seeker of knowledge, wholeness and holiness. Seer of truth, beauty, and dreams. A gift from her class of 1993, family, friends, and generous donors.”

Sarah’s friend, Shannon, was the last friend to see her alive.  In interviews years later, Shannon would say that she lived with regret.  She wishes that she would have asked other drill team members what time the team was to meet that morning for their competition.  Sarah’s drill team was to meet at the school that day at 9:00 am, not 8:00 am as Sarah had thought.  She had rushed out of the house so quickly that she hadn’t taken the time to take the curlers out of her hair.  Her parents had been out of town for her brother’s soccer tournament so she had a friend stay over the night before.  Neither had known Sarah did not need to rush out that morning.  

What would have been Sarah’s graduation day, June 12, 1993, was also her birthday. Sarah’s close friends who later say that every joyful occasion was filled with sorrow and regret.   

Early 2000s

Detective John Free joined a long line of investigators who continued to work on Sarah’s case.  Over three thousand leads were pursued and the unknown mysterious DNA profile had been entered into CODIS (the Combined DNA Index System) when it became fully operational in the 1990s but with no success.  In 2011, investigators reached out to Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick, an early pioneer in the field of forensic genetic genealogy.  Since this was a newer investigative tool Dr. Fitzpatrick offered her services for free and it wasn’t long before she came up with the name of a possible suspect.

Dr. Fitzpatrick using the DNA profile was able to identify the killer’s family tree and came up with one name, Robert Fuller.  His family tree traces back to early settlers who came over on the Mayflower.  Robert or Bill Fuller was a close family friend of the Yarboroughs. He had even helped get Sarah’s memorial bench built. From the start, the Yarboroughs didn’t believe that Bill had anything to do with Sarah’s death.  He didn’t fit the description of the killer, Bill was short and had short hair plus he was forty-eight at the time of Sarah’s murder, not a younger man.  

Bill cooperated fully with investigators and willingly gave a DNA sample that did not match the DNA left at the scene.  Dr. Fitzpatrick felt strongly that Sarah’s killer was somewhere on the Fuller family tree and went to work whittling it down.  

Suspect

In September 2019, Dr. Fitzpatrick made another breakthrough in Sarah’s case.  They had two new suspects, brothers, Edward and Patrick Nicholas, distant cousins of Bill Fuller.  Investigators ran their DNA profile against Edward Nicholas as his DNA was uploaded to CODIS due to being convicted of rape and a registered sex offender.  No match so they turned their attention to Patrick.

By 2019, Patrick Nicholas was described as a divorced loner who was working in an auto parts store.  He was still living in Washington, actually a couple of towns away from Federal Way.  Nicholas had no children and didn’t appear to have any friends or close acquaintances.  He didn’t even drive.  His main form of transportation was by bus.  What peaked Detective Free’s interest was the fact that Federal Way High School is along a bus route Nicholas often had taken. Another point of interest was that when Sarah had been murdered Nicholas was twenty-seven and looked very much like the witness sketch.  

DNA Plan

So now detectives needed to get Nicholas’s DNA. So they started to surveil him with the plan to secretly collect a DNA sample.  In late September 2019, undercover officers watched Nicholas enter a laundromat so they followed him inside.  They see him smoke two cigarettes, discarding them on the ground along with a napkin that had fallen out of his pocket. Officers quickly took the cigarettes and napkin and immediately sent them off to the crime lab.  Within days the results were in.  A perfect DNA match.  In over 4,000 tips that had been sent to authorities over the years, Patrick Nicholas’s name was never brought up.  

Patrick Leon Nicholas was taken into custody. During questioning Nicholas asked what he was being charged with.  Detectives told him that they were investigating the death of a young girl – Sarah Yarborough.  Nicholas’s response, “What year.”  This shocked detectives and Detective Free asked why he would ask that.  Nicholas responded, “This is it.  I’m not going to say anything” and after an hour-and-a-half, he asked for an attorney.

When Drew Miller saw an updated picture of Nicholas he knew immediately that he was the man he saw so many years ago that they had the right guy.  He was the same guy, just older.  He would say, “Evil eyes, those eyes stayed the same.”

Criminal History

Investigators looked into Patrick Nicolas’s criminal background which confirmed their suspicion that Sarah’s attack was not his first or last.  In June 1983, eight years before Sarah’s murder, Anne Croney had been hanging out by her car one morning along the Columbia River. That’s when a man approached her and struck up a friendly conversation.  He introduced himself as Pat Nicholas telling Anne that he had just moved to town. After a few more minutes of conversation, Anne started to feel uncomfortable.  She noticed that Pat’s voice started to get shaky.  

Anne told Pat she had to go and got into her car but when she went to close the door Pat put a knife to her throat.  He ordered her to take off her clothes.  He stuffed her underwear in her mouth to prevent her from screaming.  He directed her to walk ahead of him and down the nearby riverbank.  Halfway down he told her to stop but Anne, remembering that Pat had told her he couldn’t swim, made the brave decision to dive into the water and swim away.  

Anne would be found by a passerby at a nearby dock who called the police.  Once Anne gave the name of her attacker they had little difficulty locating him as he was no stranger to police.  Nicholas at this time was 19 years old and as a juvenile had been convicted of two prior rapes and attempted rape.  He had only just been released from a detention center for a few months when he had attacked Anne.  

Criminal

Days later Nicholas was arrested and pleaded guilty to the attempted first-degree rape of Anne Croney.  Nicholas would tell the police, “I realize I have a problem concerning raping girls.”  Anne spoke at Nicholas’s sentencing asking the judge for the maximum sentence and the judge agreed.  Patrick Nicholas was sentenced to 10 years behind bars. But he didn’t serve ten years. Nicholas was released after just three-and-a-half years.  To add injury to insult, Anne was never notified by correction officials that her attacker was to or had been released.  Nicholas did not have to give a DNA sample at that time as CODIS was not launched until the 1990s.  

Anne had barely thought of Patrick Nicholas until October 2019, when police knocked on her door.  Anne’s shock turned to anger when told that Nicholas had been arrested for Sarah’s murder knowing that he would have still been behind bars in December 1991 had he had to serve his whole sentence.

Serial Predator

To King County Deputy Prosecutors, Celia Lee, and Mary Barbosa, they knew that Patrick Nicolas was a serial predator.  Even after Sarah’s murder, Nicholas had an additional conviction in 1994, three years after Sarah’s murder, of sexually assaulting his six-year-old stepdaughter.  At that time, what should have been a first-degree child molestation charge was able to be pleaded down to a gross misdemeanor that did not 

require his DNA collection.  In the attempted rape and other rape convictions, Nicholas was never required to submit his DNA which would have been uploaded into CODIS.   

To prosecutors, Nicholas had a clear pattern of behavior.  He would approach young women near or in their car.  He would start a friendly conversation then pull a knife and order them to walk ahead of him.  Once at the location of his choosing, he ordered them to take off their clothes and then rape them.  

Even though Nicholas had a criminal history the trial judge ruled that none of it could be used as evidence in his upcoming trial.    Patrick Nicholas, now fifty-nine, was being tried for first-degree felony murder in Sarah Yarborough’s death.  The prosecutor’s focus was on the DNA and the emerging field of forensic genetic genealogy.  

Genetic Genealogy

Forensic genetic genealogy involves using DNA evidence collected from crime scenes to identify potential suspects by tracing their family trees through publicly available genetic databases, such as GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA. This technique gained prominence in recent years due to its success in solving cold cases, including homicides, sexual assaults, and unidentified remains cases.

In cases where traditional investigative methods have been exhausted and DNA evidence is available but not matched to any known suspects in law enforcement databases, forensic genetic genealogy can offer a new avenue for investigation. By uploading DNA profiles from crime scenes to genetic genealogy databases, investigators can search for familial matches to the unknown suspect’s DNA, potentially identifying distant relatives who share genetic similarities.

Once potential relatives are identified, genealogists work backward through their family trees, using publicly available records such as census data, birth and death certificates, and obituaries to build extensive family trees and identify potential suspects. Law enforcement can then use this information to narrow down their search and focus on individuals who fit the profile of the perpetrator.

Forensic genetic genealogy has been instrumental in solving several high-profile cold cases, leading to the arrest and prosecution of individuals who previously eluded law enforcement. However, its use raises ethical and privacy concerns regarding the use of genetic data for law enforcement purposes and the potential implications for individuals and their relatives who may unwittingly become part of a criminal investigation.  

This investigative tool, especially in 2018 helped crack numerous cold cases such as The Golden State Killer, Joseph D’Angelo, and a recent case we covered, Michelle Martinko.  

Evidence

Whereas the prosecution was focusing on the DNA, the defense, led by a public defender, David Montes challenged how forensic genetic genealogy was an unproven science, a junk science if you will.  This trial would also be the first in Washington state to introduce genetic genealogy into evidence in a criminal trial. Nicholas’s trial began on April 17, 2023, at the Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent Washington.   

In April 2023, Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick, president of Identifiers, testified to the privacy issues the defense raised concerning the Washington State Constitution.  The judge sided with the state that there was no violation of privacy since GEDMatch did not provide any information that included private health information and genetic makeup.  Also, any DNA left at a crime scene that yields personal familial information is not considered a “private affair per the Washington Constitution nor are the open-source (GEDMatch) materials used to identify that relationship.” 

As prosecutor Lee and Barbosa pointed out during the trial the defense argument was moot becuase Nicholas’s DNA  found at Sarah’s murder scene had a 1-in-120 quadrillion chance that it belonged to someone else.  

Other evidence presented at trial included items found in Nicholas’s home which Detective Free describes as more like a lair.  It had no working electricity and just piles of pornography.  In a kitchen drawer was found a picture torn from a magazine of a girl in a cheerleading uniform.  There was also a newspaper article from 1994 that had an article about Sarah’s murder.  

Verdict

It took over a day for the jury to render its verdict after nine days of testimony.  Thirty-one years later, Sarah Yarborough and her family and friends finally had justice.  The first charge of first-degree murder premeditated, however, Nicholas was found not guilty.  Sarah’s family and friends were in shock but there were two more charges to go.  Nicholas was found guilty of the crime of murder in the first degree and guilty of the crime of murder in the second degree.  Both were found to be committed with a sexual motivation.  

Nicholas’s sentencing took place two weeks later.  Both Sarah’s mother, Laura, and her brother Andrew spoke.  Drew Miller also confronted Nicholas about coming face-to-face with pure evil that day and how it had deeply impacted his entire life.  Each of Sarah’s close friends stood up and spoke about what Nicholas had taken from them that day.

Probably the last person Nicholas thought would stand to speak was a ghost from his past.  Anne Croney who was not allowed to testify at trial made sure she faced him one last time.  Anne told the court, “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 ask the court to please not make the same mistake.”

Judge Josephine Wiggs spoke directly to Nicholas, “ When I think about this poor child and how she fought for her life, an outrageous violation of a child. This outrageous sexual assault upon a child, culminating in her murder is the basis for an exceptional sentence.”  Judge Wiggs sentenced Patrick Nicholas to 548 months or slightly under forty-six years in prison.  Side note, the defense requested a twenty-year sentence.   

Familial DNA

During an interview after Nicholas’s sentencing prosecutors said that if forensic genetic genealogy was allowed to use familial DNA searches in Washington state Nicholas could have been identified years earlier.  Unknown samples can be compared against profiles that are already uploaded into CODIS but they are not allowed to search for possible familial matches.  Remember Edward Nicholas had been in CODIS for years.

California, New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Colorado, and Florida allow for familial searches, and even the United Kingdom allows it.  Prosecutors and Sarah’s family feel that the law in Washington state should be changed.  

Sarah Yarborough’s legacy, according to her mother, was bringing people together in life and more importantly for those left behind by her tragic end.  

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