A Sonoma County jury has found 64-year-old James Unick guilty of the 1982 murder of 13-year-old Sarah Ann Geer. The verdict, reached on what would have been Geer’s 57th birthday, closes a cold case that haunted Cloverdale for over four decades.
According to the Press Democrat, Unick was arrested in 2024 after investigators matched DNA from a discarded cigarette to evidence found at the crime scene. Despite Unick’s claims that the encounter was consensual, jurors deliberated for just two hours before convicting him of murder and sexual assault.
As the verdict was read, supporters in the courtroom whispered ‘Happy Birthday’ to the victim. Unick faces life without parole when sentenced on April 23rd.