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Sarah Yarborough Murder: Man Convicted in 1991 Slaying of Washington Teen

A forensic-genealogy lead helped investigators identify Patrick Nicholas in the 1991 killing of 16-year-old Sarah Yarborough. The conviction was affirmed in 2025, but the exceptional sentence was remanded for resentencing.
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Patrick Leon Nicholas was convicted of first-degree felony murder in the 1991 killing of 16-year-old Sarah Yarborough at Federal Way High School in Washington. A forensic-genealogy lead helped investigators identify him after more than 27 years without a match to the crime-scene DNA profile. In a May 5, 2025 opinion, the Washington Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction but sent the exceptional sentence back for resentencing.

What happened to Sarah Yarborough?

Yarborough was 16 and attended Federal Way High School. On December 14, 1991, she arrived early for a drill-team competition. Around 9:20 a.m., two 12-year-old boys saw a man emerge from a hillside beside the school parking lot and then found Yarborough’s body nearby, according to the Washington Court of Appeals opinion.

The opinion says she died from ligature strangulation and blunt-force injuries to her face. Nylon stockings were wrapped around her neck. Semen recovered from clothing placed away from her body yielded a single male DNA profile.

How did investigators identify Patrick Nicholas?

Decades without a DNA match

Investigators received more than 4,000 tips, but none produced a match to the crime-scene DNA profile for more than 27 years.

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A genealogy lead and DNA comparison

On September 27, 2019, forensic genealogist Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick contacted detectives with a lead developed through genealogy comparisons. That lead directed the investigation; it was distinct from the later comparison used to test DNA attributed to Nicholas against the crime-scene profile.

On September 29, detectives observed Nicholas discard cigarette butts and a napkin and collected the items. The Court of Appeals opinion says the state confirmed a match to the crime-scene DNA on October 2. Nicholas was arrested the next day. King County announced the arrest on October 3, 2019, in its official announcement.

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What did the jury decide?

The verdict was not a conviction for premeditated first-degree murder. The jury found Nicholas guilty of first-degree murder and second-degree murder, but acquitted him of premeditated first-degree murder. The first-degree conviction was for felony murder, with a special verdict finding sexual motivation. The trial court vacated the separate second-degree murder conviction on double-jeopardy grounds.

The trial court imposed an exceptional sentence of 548 months on the first-degree felony-murder count. These are distinct outcomes: the jury’s acquittal applied to the premeditation theory, while the felony-murder conviction remained.

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What did the 2025 appeal change?

In an unpublished opinion dated May 5, 2025, the Washington Court of Appeals affirmed Nicholas’s conviction but remanded the exceptional sentence for resentencing. It rejected his challenge to the DNA statistical evidence and his claim that police violated the state constitution by collecting DNA from discarded items. The court did not affirm the exceptional sentence.

The sources cited here do not establish whether the Washington Supreme Court later accepted review or what happened at resentencing. They therefore do not support a current claim about Nicholas’s sentence or custody status.

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What does “1 in 120 quadrillion” mean?

At trial, Washington State Patrol Crime Lab scientist Jennifer Venditto testified that the random match probability (RMP) was 1 in 120 quadrillion: the estimated chance that an unrelated person selected at random from the U.S. population would have a matching DNA profile. The Court of Appeals describes this as a statistic about a coincidental match for an unrelated person, not the probability that Nicholas was innocent.

The defense argued that searching a database could affect the chance of a coincidental match and that the figure should be adjusted. The appellate court upheld admission of the state’s calculation under the applicable Frye analysis. The number is testimony about the profile comparison, not a standalone measure of guilt.

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Case timeline

  • December 14, 1991: Yarborough, 16, arrives at Federal Way High School before a drill-team competition; her body is found on the grounds.
  • More than 27 years: Investigators receive over 4,000 tips without a match to the male DNA profile.
  • September 27, 2019: Fitzpatrick gives detectives a genealogy-based lead.
  • September 29–October 2, 2019: Detectives collect discarded items attributed to Nicholas; the state reports a DNA match.
  • October 3, 2019: Nicholas is arrested.
  • 2023: The jury returns its verdicts and the trial court imposes the exceptional sentence.
  • May 5, 2025: The Court of Appeals affirms the conviction and remands for resentencing.

Sarah Yarborough’s legacy

King County’s 2019 arrest announcement says a bench honoring Yarborough is on the Federal Way High School campus. In that announcement, King County Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer said: “The message from today’s press conference is that King County will never forget the victims of crimes, nor forgive their assailants.”

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