California DOJ assisted in creating DNA profile

“It’s so important to review unsolved cases now that we have advances in science and technology.  This contributes to public safety, criminal justice, and a sense of closure for those who wait for answers.”

CSLEA President Alan Barcelona

SANTA ROSA – On February 13, 2026, a Sonoma County jury convicted James Oliver Unick of murdering 13-year-old Sarah Geer in 1982.

District Attorney Carla Rodriguez stated, “This guilty verdict is a testament to everyone who never gave up searching for Sarah’s killer. This is the coldest case ever presented to a Sonoma County jury. While 44 years is too long to wait, justice has finally been served, both to Sarah’s loved ones as well as her community.”

During the evening on May 23, 1982, Sarah Geer left a friend’s residence in Cloverdale to walk downtown. At some point during her walk, the she was accosted by James Unick near an alley off a residential street. Sarah was forcibly dragged down the alley to a secluded area adjacent to an apartment building and behind a fence. The defendant raped Sarah and strangled her to death using her own shorts as a ligature. Sarah’s body was discovered the following morning by a Cloverdale firefighter walking home after his shift. The homicide was investigated by the Cloverdale Police Department, but the investigation was limited by the forensic science of the day.

Consequently, the investigation into who murdered Sarah Geer went cold for several decades.

The first breakthrough in the investigation occurred in 2003, when a criminalist with the California Department of Justice was able to develop a DNA profile based upon evidence collected from Sarah’s underwear. That profile did not match anyone whose DNA was available for comparison in law enforcement databases, and the investigation remained cold. In 2021, the Cloverdale Police Department retained the services of private investigator Kevin Cline to assist with the investigation. The investigative team enlisted the FBI to help identify a matching source of the DNA profile constructed in 2003. The FBI, with its access to familial genealogical databases, concluded that the source of the DNA evidence collected from Sarah belonged to one of four brothers, including James Unick.

With the investigation considerably focused, FBI agents conducted surveillance of the defendant and collected a discarded cigarette that he had been smoking. A DNA analysis of the cigarette butt confirmed that Unick’s DNA matched the 2003 profile, and his DNA additionally matched DNA collected on numerous articles of clothing that Sarah had been wearing at the time of her death.

The Cloverdale Police Department arrested Unick at his residence in Willows in July 2024. At the time of his arrest, Unick denied ever knowing Sarah Geer or having any recollection of what happened on May 23, 1982.

During the month-long trial, the jury heard testimony from Sarah’s friends who had spent time with her during her final weekend alive. The jury also heard from Unick, who detailed for the jury the events of May 23, 1982. During his testimony, Unick explained that the 13-year-old propositioned him for sex while he had been playing a video game at the Cloverdale arcade. He claimed that they had consensual sex on a hillside near the Russian River, implying that Sarah Geer must have been assaulted and murdered later that evening by a phantom man who failed to leave behind any DNA evidence. After about two hours of deliberations, the jury rejected Unick’s fictitious account and, after more than four decades, finally held him accountable for his crimes.

As a result of the jury’s verdict of guilty and finding true that the defendant committed a special circumstance related to the sexual assault during the commission of the murder, the defendant will be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorneys Christina Stevens and Alex Fisher, and they were assisted by District Attorney Investigator Dave Kahl. Investigator Kevin Cline and Detective Katie Vanoni of the Cloverdale Police Department spearheaded the most recent portion of the investigation, with the assistance of the California Department of Justice and the FBI.