Press release: Cold Hit Program makes arrest in 1978 case imminent

Contact person:
Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney Jeff Rose
(916) 874-6649

Thanks to funds made available to the Sacramento County Crime Lab’s Cold Hit Program by the Office of Criminal Justice Planning, another family can rest easier today, knowing that an arrest is imminent for their sister’s 1978 murder.

When 21 year-old Sharon Wilcoxson was raped and murdered in her Carmichael residence on New Year’s Eve of 1978, the technology did not exist which would eventually result in the arrest of her killer. Although Willie B. Thomas was always a prime suspect in Ms. Wilcoxson’s murder, until recently, sufficient evidence did not exist to arrest him. Today, District Attorney's Crime Lab Director Bob Jarzen, forwarded reports to District Attorney Jan Scully indicating that DNA evidence left behind 23 years ago, has been analyzed and found to contain Mr. Thomas’ unique biological markers. Mr. Thomas is currently serving a life term in the California Department of Corrections for the murder of Avon Coates on January 8, 1981.

Ms. Wilcoxson’s family will join Sacramento County Crime Lab Director Bob Jarzen, District Attorney Jan Scully and Undersheriff John McGinnis at a press conference as follows to announce Mr. Thomas’ pending arrest:

Tuesday, August 13, 2002 @ 10:00 a.m.
Sacramento County Crime Lab
4800 Broadway, Suite #200