Cold Case Murder: Sarah Yarborough
At around 7:45 am on Saturday, December 14, 1991, 16-year-old Sarah Yarborough raced out of her house in her drill team uniform and drove to her high school where she would be meeting the rest of her teammates for a competition that day. About an hour later, her murdered body was found on an embankment on the school’s campus. Wearing only her sweater and skirt, she had been strangled to death with her nylon stockings. Detectives had DNA evidence and eyewitnesses, but it would take nearly 30 years to identify Sarah’s killer.
Some of the features of this case that will be covered in the presentation include: cold case resolution; Forensic Genetic Genealogy; suspect composite sketch; sexually motivated violent crime; sex offender investigation; plea negotiation and others.
Presenter's Bio
Detective John Free
Detective John Free is a twenty-seven-year veteran of law enforcement and holds a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University. Throughout his career, he has worked countless criminal investigations at the local, state, and federal levels. Beginning his career in Michigan in 1997, his experience as a detective began in 2001, first working in an undercover capacity as a narcotics detective, before going on to work general/violent crimes investigations in 2003. Transferring to the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) in 2016, he joined the Major Crimes Unit in 2017 where he remained until recently taking on a position as the agency’s first Murdered & Missing Indigenous Persons cold case detective. In addition to his primary duties, Detective Free teaches Interview & Interrogation for Washington Homicide Investigators Association (WHIA) Basic Homicide School and KCSO Detective Schools. He also teaches Death Investigations for Post-Basic Law Enforcement Academy KCSO recruits. Detective Free is a member of WHIA, the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts, and the Washington State Cold Case Advisory Group, and is an alumnus with the Department of Justice’s Hollings National Advocacy Center.
Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Mary Barbosa
Mary Barbosa is a Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in King County. She was hired in 1997 and currently works in the Most Dangerous Offender Project (“MDOP”). Prior to MDOP, Mary worked in the Special Assault Unit, Trial Teams, the Felony Trial Unit and the Drug Unit. Mary has tried dozens of felony jury trials including over 25 murder trials. She earned her JD from the University of Washington and her BA in Political Science from UCLA.
