Ray Dell Sims

Serial Killer

Ray Dell Sims: The Fresno Serial Killer

Background and Early Violence

Ray Dell Sims was an American serial killer whose known crimes centered on teenage girls and young women in Fresno County, California, during the 1970s. Born in Oklahoma in 1935, Sims used several names during his life, including David McGown, David Reed Sims and David Sims. His changing identities later complicated the investigation into his background and initially concealed the fact that the man questioned in one murder case already had a serious criminal history. Sims demonstrated violent and sexually predatory behavior long before he was identified as a serial murderer. In 1965, he was convicted of raping his 70-year-old landlady during a burglary in East Oakland. After serving time in prison, he eventually moved to Fresno, where he married, became the father of a daughter and worked as a cook. His former wife later described him as sexually coercive and physically abusive. She testified that he forced her to have sex and, on one occasion, strangled her until she pretended to lose consciousness. Between 1974 and 1977, a series of girls and young women disappeared or were found murdered in and around Fresno. The victims were generally teenagers, several lived near Sims, and strangulation was a recurring feature of the crimes. Although Sims was ultimately convicted of only two murders, investigators linked or strongly associated him with at least five victims. DNA evidence developed decades after the killings became central to identifying him in the previously unresolved cases.

Known and Suspected Victims

• Kathy Marie Stark, 17 August 22, 1974, Fresno County, California: Stark was raped and strangled. Biological evidence preserved from the crime was later tested using modern DNA technology and linked Sims to the attack. Prosecutors charged him with her murder in 2001, but the charge was eventually dismissed after he was convicted in another cold case because an additional trial would not have increased his effective prison sentence.
• Elizabeth Ann Ortega, 15 November 9, 1974, Avocado Lake, Fresno County, California: Ortega disappeared after leaving school on November 8, 1974. Her body was discovered the following day on the bank of Avocado Lake. She was fully clothed and had visible marks around her neck. An examination determined that she had been killed by ligature strangulation, with additional evidence suggesting an attempt at manual strangulation and a recent sexual injury. DNA recovered from her clothing was later matched to Sims. He was convicted of her first-degree murder in September 2008.
• Robin McCullar, 18 November 14, 1975, Fresno, California: McCullar was raped and strangled. Investigators considered her death part of the same pattern of attacks on young women in the Fresno area. Sims was suspected in her murder, but the case against him was later dismissed rather than taken to trial. Some reports spell her surname as McCuller.
• Eva Hernandez Lucio, 16 June 9, 1976, Fresno County, California: Lucio was last seen walking home from school. Her body was found in a vineyard, and investigators concluded that she had been sexually assaulted and strangled. Sims was named as a suspect in her murder, but the charge was ultimately dropped. Some contemporary reports listed her age as 15, while later accounts identified her as 16.
• Janet Darlene Herstein, 17 May 18, 1977, near Mendota, Fresno County, California: Herstein disappeared on May 16 while delivering copies of the Fresno Guide newspaper along her regular route. Two days later, a federal water employee found her body near a canal outside Mendota. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled with a cord. Sims, then using the name David McGown, was identified as the occupant of the final residence connected to her delivery route. He was arrested, exposed as Ray Dell Sims and convicted of her first-degree murder.

...

Confirmed Victims: (5)

Janet Herstein Age: (17), Date of Death: 1977-05-18

Ray Dell Sims - Wikipedia