Yarborough’s assailant strangled and killed her on or near a hill adjacent to her high school’s parking lot on Dec. 14, 1991, police said. The assailant left semen on several items of her clothing.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
In 2019, Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick, founder of Identifiers International, contacted the King County Sheriff’s Office and said she identified persons of interest in the case — Nicholas and his brother, according to documents. Identifiers International is a team of international forensic genealogists.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
They ruled out the brother because his DNA profile already existed within the law enforcement database, according to documents. Nicholas, age 27 at the time of Yarborough’s death, held a previous conviction of attempted rape in the first degree from 1983 in Benton County. According to documents, a 1993 case showed Nicholas lived in SeaTac approximately 6 miles from Federal Way High School.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Detectives collected Nicholas’s DNA after retrieving and testing a cigarette he had smoked outside, according to court documents. Nicholas’s DNA profile matched. Prosecutors and investigators also identified Nicholas as Yarborough’s killer based on his criminal history and circumstantial life details.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
The three charges Nicholas faces — two counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder — are all for allegedly killing Sarah, but they concern the act itself differently.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
The first count accuses him of killing her with premeditated intent; the second, that he was attempting to rape her and killed her in the course of that attempt; and the third, that he was trying to commit “indecent liberties” (sexual contact by force) against her, and in the course of doing so, caused her death.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Jurors could find him guilty on any, all or none of the charges. He is also charged in each count with a special verdict of sexual motivation.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Defense attorney Montes argued in court that the police investigation relied on the use of unreliable genealogy technology to identify Nicholas, and he sought to discredit Fitzpatrick in his cross-examination of her on April 24.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“We were talking about the possibility of false matches,” Montes said. “You acknowledge that could happen?”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“I acknowledge it happens on rare occasions,” Fitzpatrick said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“And you’re not aware of any studies that have been done that systematically determine how often (false matches occur),” Montes said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“That’s correct. I’m not aware of those,” Fitzpatrick said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Prosecutors asked Fitzpatrick about her experience as a genealogist and various cases she worked on and solved previously.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“Every year I go to the International Symposium on Human Identification,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’ve given case study presentations. … I’m a member of the American Academy of Forensic Science.”<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
Montes pressed Fitzpatrick on her lack of formal education in genetics and biology.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
She responded, telling him she worked with and learned from top experts in the field in the world.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“So your training could most accurately be described as informal, correct?” Montes said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
“I work with some of the top scientists and they work with me. … That’s my education right there. That’s better than being in a classroom,” Fitzpatrick said.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t
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