Sonoma County convicts Northern California man in 44-year-long cold case

A photo of Sarah Geer, who was raped and murdered when she was 13-years-old in Cloverdale, California. Her murderer was convicted after four decades. (Sonoma County District Attorney's Office.

More than four decades after a teenage girl was found dead in Sonoma County, a Northern California man has been convicted.

After a month-long trial, James Oliver Unick was convicted of murdering 13-year-old Sarah Geer 44 years ago.

It's the oldest cold case to go on trial in Sonoma County.

Unick now faces a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

According to the district attorney’s office, Geer was raped and strangled in 1982 in Cloverdale.

The investigation had no significant breakthroughs until 2021, when FBI matched Unick to DNA found on Geer's clothes at the time of her death. He was arrested at his home in Willows in 2024.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 23.

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