Killer In Haunting Colverdale Child Murder Case Sentenced After 44 Years

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — A haunting cold cases came to a close Friday when a Sonoma County judge sentenced a 64-year-old Willows man Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 1982 rape and murder of 13-year-old Sarah Geer.

Judge Laura Passaglia imposed the mandatory sentence after a Sonoma County jury convicted James Oliver Unick in February of first-degree murder and found true a special-circumstance allegation that the killing occurred during the commission of a sexual assault.

The conviction followed a month-long trial that centered on DNA evidence developed decades after the crime.

Sarah disappeared on May 23, 1982, after leaving a friend's home in Cloverdale to walk downtown.

Prosecutors said Unick attacked her near an alley, dragged her to a secluded area behind an apartment building, sexually assaulted her, and strangled her with her own shorts.

The Cloverdale Police Department investigated the homicide, but the case went cold because forensic technology at the time could not identify a suspect.

The investigation changed in 2003 when California Department of Justice criminalists developed a DNA profile from biological evidence collected during the investigation. The profile did not match anyone in law enforcement databases, and the case again stalled.

A second breakthrough came in 2021 after the Cloverdale Police Department brought private investigator Kevin Cline onto the case and enlisted the FBI to assist with investigative genetic genealogy.

The team formed in 2021 also included Cloverdale police Sgt. Borruso, who initially took charge of the investigation and meticulously reviewed evidence and conducted interviews. As a result, a male DNA profile was identified from the evidence. Investigators determined the DNA likely belonged to one of four brothers, including Unick.

FBI agents later recovered a discarded cigarette Unick had smoked during surveillance. Laboratory testing matched the DNA from the cigarette to the DNA profile developed from evidence collected in 1982, as well as DNA found on multiple articles of Sarah's clothing, prosecutors said.

Police arrested Unick at his Willows home in July 2024. Investigators said he denied ever knowing Sarah or having any contact with her.

During the trial, Unick testified that Sarah approached him at a Cloverdale arcade and propositioned him for sex. He claimed they had consensual sex near the Russian River before he returned her to the arcade.

Jurors rejected that account and convicted him of first-degree murder with the special circumstance of murder committed during a sexual assault.

Remembering Sarah

Sarah was described as a tall and pretty girl. She lived in a small yellow house with her mother on East Fourth Street, just two blocks from where her body was found on a Monday morning in 1982 by children. Her father lived in Marin County.

A coroner deputy at the time said Geer had been killed "at the hands of another."

Mother and daughter are now buried alongside one another in a Mendocino County cemetery.

At Friday's sentencing, Sarah's relatives described the lasting impact of the crime on their family over more than four decades. Members of the Cloverdale community also attended the hearing.

In sentencing Unick, Passaglia said he had "robbed a child of her potential, of her life, and caused her to suffer in a most brutal way." The judge also criticized his refusal to accept responsibility, saying he "had the audacity to blame the child for the things that occurred to her."

Cloverdale Police Chief Chris Parker said the outcome reflected the determination of everyone who refused to abandon the case.

"Today's sentence represents more than a conviction—it represents justice that was never abandoned," Parker said in a statement released by the Cloverdale Police Department.

"While no sentence can erase the pain suffered by Sarah's family or undo the tragedy that occurred in 1982, we hope today's outcome brings them a measure of peace. This case is a testament to the perseverance of everyone who refused to let Sarah's story be forgotten."

The police department credited advances in forensic DNA technology and the combined efforts of the Cloverdale Police Department, the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office, the California Department of Justice, the FBI, forensic scientists, and other investigators with identifying, arresting, convicting, and sentencing Unick.

In its statement, the department also extended condolences to Sarah's family and recognized the investigators, prosecutors, forensic experts, victim advocates, and support personnel whose work over four decades helped solve the case.

The department said the investigation demonstrates that "time does not diminish our commitment to victims" and reaffirmed its commitment to pursuing justice "on behalf of those who can no longer speak for themselves."

According to the Cloverdale Police Department, Sarah's death "devastated her family and left a lasting impact on our community." The department said the investigation never stopped despite the passing decades, as generations of investigators continued pursuing leads in hopes of identifying her killer.

District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said the sentence marked the end of a prosecution that began 44 years after Sarah's death.

"No sentence can undo what was taken from this child or erase the pain her family has carried for the past 44 years," Rodriguez said. "We remember a 13-year-old girl whose life was cut short, and we hope this sentence brings some measure of peace to those who have waited for so long."

Relate: Cold Case Slaying Of 13-Year-Old Bay Area Girl: PD Makes Arrest