January 1, 2025 • 21 mins
Could a discarded napkin hold the key to solving a decades-old murder? On this episode we uncover the chilling story of Jeannie Childs, a vibrant 35-year-old whose life was violently taken in her Minneapolis apartment. With the advent of genetic genealogy, a breakthrough finally emerged, leading investigators to Jerry Westrom, whose DNA led to his arrest and conviction.
This is a tribute not only to Jeannie and her loved ones but also to the power of determination and the advances in forensic technology that brought closure to a haunting mystery. I invite you to be part of this compelling narrative and contribute your own stories for consideration in future episodes.
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Please send cases you want covered or stories you want read on the podcast to darkcrossroadspodcast@gmail.com. Don't forget to like, share, rate, review, and subscribe wherever you're listening to us. You can subscribe through the link in the episode notes to receive bonus content, discounts on future merchandise, and other extras.
Be Weird. Stay Different. Don't Trust Anyone!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
Welcome to Dark Crossroads Podcast, hosted by
Roxanne Fletcher.
This is your stop for allthings true crime and paranormal
.
From the infamous story of theNew Bedford Highway Killer to
the chilling tale of the BlackEyed Children, dark Crossroads
Podcast is a truly deep diveinto the stories that frighten
and fascinate you.
All links to the show will beprovided in this episode's
(01:33):
description, and don't forget tolet us know what you think of
today's episode.
Today on Dark CrossroadsPodcast, we are going to be
diving into a remarkable storyof how a decades-old murder was
finally solved through the powerof genetic genealogy.
(01:57):
On June 13th of 1993, inMinneapolis, minnesota, betty
Eakman glanced at the TV whileworking as a hospice care aide.
The channel was on the localnews.
It was detailing the gruesomediscovery of a woman who had
been murdered.
Betty's blood ran cold when sherecognized the building.
It was where her 35-year-olddaughter, jeannie Childs, lived.
(02:20):
She immediately felt a feelingno mother should ever have to a
deep dread that consumed her.
She tried to contact herdaughter, but no one picked up.
She had been the one to contactthe coroner and later had to
identify her daughter's body.
In the history of criminalinvestigations, some stories
transcend mere facts.
(02:41):
They become testaments to humanresilience, technological
innovation and the unbreakablepursuit of justice.
We must first paint the pictureof Minneapolis in 1986.
The city was a tapestry ofdiverse neighborhoods, economic
transformation and culturalvibrancy.
The Whittier neighborhood whereGianne lived was a little
(03:03):
section of urban life, a mix ofyoung professionals,
working-class families and agrowing multicultural community.
This was a time before cellphones, before the internet, a
time where investigations reliedon physical evidence, witness
statements and the intuition ofseasoned detectives.
Dna was not a scientificconcept.
(03:24):
It was more theoretical thanpractical.
Jeanne was not just a statistic.
She was a vibrant, complexindividual at the prime of her
life.
People always want to definevictims by their tragedy, but
Jeanne was much more than that.
She was ambitious and funny,incredibly kind.
She could manage a busyrestaurant with the precision of
(03:46):
a conductor and then turnaround and be the life of the
party.
At 35 years old, jeanne hadcarved out a successful career
in restaurant management.
Her apartment in the Whittierneighborhood was more than just
a living space.
It was a reflection of herpersonality Carefully curated
artwork, books that spoke to herintellectual curiosity and
(04:08):
photographs of all of her familyand friends.
The crime scene would laterreveal more than just the
brutality of her murder.
It told a story of a lifeinterrupted, of potential stolen
, of a future completely erased.
On January 6th of 1986, awinter night that would become a
frozen moment in time, multiplestab wounds, signs of a violent
(04:30):
struggle.
The intimate violence of theattack suggested something
personal, something raw andimmediate.
Dr Elena Rodriguez stated thesetypes of crimes are rarely
random.
The level of violence oftenindicates a connection, an
emotional trigger that goesbeyond a simple robbery or a
chance encounter.
On June 13th of 1993, propertysupervisors at an apartment
(04:54):
building in Minneapolis enteredthe unit after a neighbor
complained about a leak.
Once inside this residence,they found the shower running.
Law enforcement described thecrime scene as horrific.
Jeannie had been stabbed over65 times and many of the
injuries were caused post mortem.
The attack on Jeannie wasprolonged and occurred
throughout the apartment whichshe used for meetings with
(05:17):
customers.
Evidence collected at the scenewas foreign fluid found on the
comforter, a bathroom towel andbloody footprints.
The killer had injured himselfin this process, leaving blood
evidence behind.
The initial suspect list hadbeen vast and had included
Jeannie's boyfriend, but DNAevidence had eliminated him.
(05:38):
Jeannie had been a sex workerand had often worked from her
apartment as she felt it wassafer than meeting clients at
unknown locations.
Her neighbors had given severalwitness statements for
different men they had seenJeannie with, but detectives had
a hard time locating those men.
Jeannie's Rolodex includedphone numbers for certain
(05:59):
clients, but they quicklydiscovered that many of them had
fake names attached to them.
Jeannie's case eventually wentcold, but her mother vowed never
to stop seeking justice for herdaughter.
In 2018, the case waseventually reopened, with the
hope of using genetic genealogyto locate her killer.
However, they were delighted todiscover that a lengthy
(06:21):
genealogical investigation wouldbe unnecessary because a person
matching the DNA they werelooking for had uploaded their
DNA to a private DNA company andonline genealogy themselves.
This would likely have been acompany like Ancestrycom or
23andMecom.
In the year of 1986, forensictechnology was still very much
(06:43):
in its infancy.
Dna testing was more of ascientific dream than an
investigative tool.
Police knew that they hadsomething at the time, though
Trace evidence, a bloodstainthat seemed quite significant,
but without the technology toanalyze it, they were
essentially guardians of amystery that could not be solved
at that time.
The case file grew, interviewswere conducted, leads were
(07:07):
followed, but ultimately, theinvestigation hit the most
painful of walls.
Uncertainty For Jian's family.
Each passing year was alandscape of hope and heartache.
As time goes by, geneticgenealogy slowly enters the
equation, a forensic techniquethat would redefine criminal
investigations.
Traditional DNA matching islike looking for an exact
(07:31):
fingerprint.
Genetic genealogy is more likeconstructing an intricate family
tree, tracing genetic markers,understanding familial
connections that can lead to asuspect.
In 2018, investigators uploadedthe decades-old DNA profile to
GEDmatch, a public genealogydatabase.
What emerged was not just apotential lead, but a complex
(07:54):
network of genetic connections.
An incredible stroke of luckgave detectives the best lead in
nearly three decades.
The man, jerry Westrom ofAsante, minnesota, was the new
lead suspect in Jeannie's murder.
Jerry would have been in hismid-20s in 1993, and records
showed that he also resided inMinneapolis.
(08:16):
He didn't have a violentcriminal history, just speeding
tickets and multiple drivingunder the influence convictions,
and one other in 2016 where hehad been caught attempting to
solicit a prostitute.
He had been a well-respectedbusinessman who was married with
two children who are now adults, and he volunteered with
several junior sportsorganizations.
(08:38):
Those who knew him had no ideahe was capable of such violence.
They decided to put surveillanceon Westrom in 2019 and followed
him to a hockey rink.
They watched as he ordered ahot dog from the concession
stand and later wiped his mouthwith a napkin before discarding
it.
Officers had been able tocollect this napkin, which they
(08:58):
had later used to positivelymatch his DNA to the foreign
sample that was found inJeannie's apartment.
They later picked him up andstarted the interrogation.
Westrom denied living inMinneapolis, knowing Jeannie's
apartment.
They later picked him up andstarted the interrogation.
Westrom denied living inMinneapolis, knowing Jeannie or
having ever been to theapartment where she was killed.
He did not explain as to whyhis DNA had been found all over
the crime scene.
He was arrested in February of2019, but was released on bail
(09:24):
until further court proceedings.
In August of 2022, his trialbegan.
During the trial, prosecutorspresented a comprehensive
picture of Westrom's potentialconnection to this crime.
He maintained his innocence, ofcourse, but the genetic
evidence was overwhelming.
The critical evidence presentedto the jury was the numerous
places that his DNA had beenfound in the apartment, as well
(09:46):
as the very distinct barefootprints that had been found
next to the victim's body.
Expert testimony detailed thatfootprints can be as detailed as
fingerprints and each is uniqueto the person.
The jury deliberated for lessthan two hours before declaring
a unanimous guilty verdict,westrom, now 56 years old, was
(10:07):
sentenced to life in prison forthe 1993 murder of Jeannie.
He had been free on bailpending the results of this
trial, but was remanded intocustody upon the verdict.
The first-degree murderconviction by itself carries a
mandatory life sentence.
At the time, neighbors from anadjacent unit to Jeannie's
complained of bloody waterleaking from her residence on
(10:29):
June 13, 1993.
She was found dead in herbathroom shower, having been
stabbed 65 times, mostly aroundher neck and torso area.
Many of her stab wounds wereinflicted.
Post-mortem Blood also coveredthe woman's bed and her bedroom.
Prosecutors told jurors thatone of the stab wounds went
right through her heart,claiming that the vicious attack
(10:51):
was prolonged.
It was revealed during the trialthat investigators found semen
which they ultimately tied toWestrom on Jeannie's bloody
comforter, and more of the sameDNA was found on a bathroom
towel and the bathroom sink.
Police called it a horriblydifficult case to crack, with so
few leads and no witnesses.
There had been no movement inthis case for decades and the
(11:14):
case itself garnered little, ifany, press coverage.
At the time.
Officials had reopenedJeannie's case 25 years after
her murder, and the breakinvestigators needed came in
2019, when police matched DNAfrom the scene to 52-year-old
Jerry Westrom with the use ofgenetic genealogy.
He had not previously been asuspect in this case and was a
(11:38):
married father of two adultchildren.
In 2019, investigators tailedWestrom to a hockey game where
he ordered a hot dog from aconcession stand.
Investigators then collectedone of Westrom's discarded
napkins and obtained his DNA,which was determined to match
the DNA found at the crime scene.
He was arrested shortly afterthis, claiming to have no idea
(12:00):
why his DNA was found at thecrime scene.
Westrom's defense argued thatinvestigators at the time
botched the originalinvestigation, noting that a
bloody knife found in thevictim's sink was never tested
for physical evidence, andclaimed the actual murder weapon
was never recovered.
His lawyer also claimed therewere hairs found in the victim's
(12:21):
grasp which allegedly belongedto a now-deceased male roommate.
Janie's mother, betty, was inthe courtroom when Westrom was
found guilty.
She went on to state I knowthat the law is finally going to
take care of him for what hedid and I hope that he can sleep
at night.
Jeannie was a wonderful person.
Even though she had problems,she had a big heart.
(12:41):
The following is segments fromthe document of the court's
final decision and all of thefacts and evidence, a jury found
Jerry Arnold Westrom guilty offirst-degree premeditated murder
under Minneapolis State andsecond-degree intentional murder
.
The district court enteredjudgments for conviction on both
counts and imposed a sentenceof life with the possibility of
(13:03):
parole after 30 years.
On direct appeal to our court,westrom challenges the district
court's evidentiary rulingsregarding DNA evidence
alternative perpet hisconviction and that he received
ineffective assistance ofcounsel and that cumulative
(13:24):
errors denied him his right to afair trial.
Because the district court didnot commit any error requiring
reversal, westrom'sconstitutional rights were not
violated during his trial andthe state presented sufficient
evidence, we affirm Westrom'sconviction of first-degree
premeditated murder.
But because the district courtviolated when it entered a
conviction on thelesser-included second-degree
(13:46):
murder offense in addition tothe conviction of first-degree
premeditated murder, we reversethe second-degree murder
conviction and remand to thedistrict court to vacate that
conviction.
Facts of the case On June 13,1993, jeannie Childs was found
stabbed to death in her SouthMinneapolis apartment.
Her body was lying face up onthe floor of her bedroom, naked
(14:09):
except for a pair of socks.
The bed was soaked with bloodand blood covered the walls of
the bedroom and the adjoiningbathroom.
While investigating the crimescene, police noted several
bloody footprints on the floorof the bedroom, a bloodstained
towel hanging on the bathroomwall and a bloodstained
washcloth on the toilet seat.
The Bureau of CriminalApprehension, or BCA, took lifts
(14:32):
of the fingerprints andcataloged several of the items
in the apartment for forensicanalysis.
Forensic analysis Jeannie'sautopsy revealed that she had
been stabbed 65 times.
She had a stab wound to herheart and several of the wounds
appeared to have been made aftershe had died.
A large, deep slash ran acrossher abdomen.
Hairs were found on her hands,which had suffered multiple
(14:55):
defensive wounds.
Police initially investigatedJeannie's boyfriend, arthur Gray
, who held the lease of theapartment where Jeannie was
killed.
Gray was unemployed, but hadbeen described as Jeannie's
trafficker or pimp.
He had allegedly physicallyabused Jeannie previously in the
apartment where she was killedand his DNA was found on the
comforter of the bed.
(15:15):
Gray had an alibi, though, ashe was purportedly with a friend
at a motorcycle rally inWisconsin at the time of the
murder.
Ultimately, this case went cold.
In 2018, the police beganworking with the FBI to review
Jeannie's murder.
They sent a DNA sample from thecrime scene to DNA Solutions
Inc to createa single nucleotidepolymorphism profile.
(15:38):
They were hoping that thiscould be compared with profiles
on commercial genealogicaldatabases to identify the
source's relatives.
After receiving the S&P profile, police arranged for it to be
uploaded to several websites,including GEDmatch, ancestrycom
and MyHeritage.
A potential match was locatedon MyHeritage that appeared to
(16:00):
be a first cousin to the sourceof the crime scene DNA.
Law enforcement then used thematch to construct a family tree
that identified Westrom as thelikely source.
After learning that Westromwould be attending a hockey game
in Wisconsin, police followedhim to the game and watched him
order food from the concessionstand.
Westrom wiped his mouth with anapkin and threw it away in the
(16:21):
trash can.
Investigators took this napkinout of the trash can and sent it
to the BCA for analysis.
The BCA generated a shorttandem repeat and SDR DNA
profile from the residue on thenapkin and found that it did
match the crime scene sample.
Police then obtained a searchwarrant to collect a known
sample of Westrom's DNA tovalidate the match and took
(16:44):
Westrom into custody.
He was subsequently chargedwith second-degree intentional
murder.
A grand jury later indictedWestrom for first-degree
premeditated murder.
All evidence stemming from thepolice's comparison of the S&P
profile created from DNAgathered from the crime scene
(17:05):
with other profiles oncommercial genealogical
databases.
His motion also contested theadmissibility of evidence
obtained through the STRanalysis of DNA taken from the
discarded napkin.
The district court deniedWestrom's motion and concluded
that no search had occurredbecause Westrom had held no
expectation of privacy in theinformation contained within his
(17:26):
DNA when police only used hisDNA for the purpose of
identification.
About four months after thehearing and shortly before trial
was scheduled to begin, westrommoved to introduce alternative
perpetrator evidence.
He named Arthur Gray as well asthree other people who had been
subjects in the originalinvestigation.
At trial, the state presentedthe DNA evidence linking him to
(17:49):
the crime scene and called anexpert witness on latent print
analysis to testify about theirfindings that connected Westrom
to the bloody footprints.
These witnesses, reports andtestimonies were precluded, and
Westrom called no forensic ormedical experts.
At trial, the jury foundWestrom guilty of both charged
accounts.
The district court sentencedWestrom to life in prison with
(18:12):
the possibility of parole after30 years.
This case is a symphony of humanelements Technological
innovation, persistentinvestigation, familial love and
the unbreakable human spirit.
To Jeanne Ingress, a life cutshort but never forgotten.
To her family, who transformedhope into justice, and to the
investigators who proved thattime is not a shield for
(18:35):
criminals.
Alrighty, so it's that time,guys, to say goodbye.
But before I do so, I just wantto send a thank you to all of
my listeners for your continuedlove and support and for sending
(18:56):
in cases that you want coveredand stories that you want read
on the podcast.
We truly accept all stories,including scary, covered, and
stories that you want read onthe podcast.
We truly accept all stories,including scary, paranormal and
funny.
Any cases you want covered orstories that you want read on
the podcast, just please sendthem in to
darkcrossroadspodcasts atgmailcom.
Thank you for hanging out againtoday.
You can also find us on allsocial media platforms.
(19:17):
Don't forget to like, sharerate, review, subscribe wherever
you're listening to us.
You can subscribe to thepodcast for bonus information.
There is a link in all episodesin the notes that will send you
to our subscription page andwith that you will get bonus
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.
Every single dollar that comesthrough donations or through our
(19:38):
subscription goes straight intothe podcast, helping fund
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.
And with all of this said,please don't forget to be weird,
stay different and don't trustanyone.
Thank you,
Welcome to Dark Crossroads Podcast, hosted by
Roxanne Fletcher.
This is your stop for allthings true crime and paranormal
.
From the infamous story of theNew Bedford Highway Killer to
the chilling tale of the BlackEyed Children, dark Crossroads
Podcast is a truly deep diveinto the stories that frighten
and fascinate you.
All links to the show will beprovided in this episode's
(01:33):
description, and don't forget tolet us know what you think of
today's episode.
Today on Dark CrossroadsPodcast, we are going to be
diving into a remarkable storyof how a decades-old murder was
finally solved through the powerof genetic genealogy.
(01:57):
On June 13th of 1993, inMinneapolis, minnesota, betty
Eakman glanced at the TV whileworking as a hospice care aide.
The channel was on the localnews.
It was detailing the gruesomediscovery of a woman who had
been murdered.
Betty's blood ran cold when sherecognized the building.
It was where her 35-year-olddaughter, jeannie Childs, lived.
(02:20):
She immediately felt a feelingno mother should ever have to a
deep dread that consumed her.
She tried to contact herdaughter, but no one picked up.
She had been the one to contactthe coroner and later had to
identify her daughter's body.
In the history of criminalinvestigations, some stories
transcend mere facts.
(02:41):
They become testaments to humanresilience, technological
innovation and the unbreakablepursuit of justice.
We must first paint the pictureof Minneapolis in 1986.
The city was a tapestry ofdiverse neighborhoods, economic
transformation and culturalvibrancy.
The Whittier neighborhood whereGianne lived was a little
(03:03):
section of urban life, a mix ofyoung professionals,
working-class families and agrowing multicultural community.
This was a time before cellphones, before the internet, a
time where investigations reliedon physical evidence, witness
statements and the intuition ofseasoned detectives.
Dna was not a scientificconcept.
(03:24):
It was more theoretical thanpractical.
Jeanne was not just a statistic.
She was a vibrant, complexindividual at the prime of her
life.
People always want to definevictims by their tragedy, but
Jeanne was much more than that.
She was ambitious and funny,incredibly kind.
She could manage a busyrestaurant with the precision of
(03:46):
a conductor and then turnaround and be the life of the
party.
At 35 years old, jeanne hadcarved out a successful career
in restaurant management.
Her apartment in the Whittierneighborhood was more than just
a living space.
It was a reflection of herpersonality Carefully curated
artwork, books that spoke to herintellectual curiosity and
(04:08):
photographs of all of her familyand friends.
The crime scene would laterreveal more than just the
brutality of her murder.
It told a story of a lifeinterrupted, of potential stolen
, of a future completely erased.
On January 6th of 1986, awinter night that would become a
frozen moment in time, multiplestab wounds, signs of a violent
(04:30):
struggle.
The intimate violence of theattack suggested something
personal, something raw andimmediate.
Dr Elena Rodriguez stated thesetypes of crimes are rarely
random.
The level of violence oftenindicates a connection, an
emotional trigger that goesbeyond a simple robbery or a
chance encounter.
On June 13th of 1993, propertysupervisors at an apartment
(04:54):
building in Minneapolis enteredthe unit after a neighbor
complained about a leak.
Once inside this residence,they found the shower running.
Law enforcement described thecrime scene as horrific.
Jeannie had been stabbed over65 times and many of the
injuries were caused post mortem.
The attack on Jeannie wasprolonged and occurred
throughout the apartment whichshe used for meetings with
(05:17):
customers.
Evidence collected at the scenewas foreign fluid found on the
comforter, a bathroom towel andbloody footprints.
The killer had injured himselfin this process, leaving blood
evidence behind.
The initial suspect list hadbeen vast and had included
Jeannie's boyfriend, but DNAevidence had eliminated him.
(05:38):
Jeannie had been a sex workerand had often worked from her
apartment as she felt it wassafer than meeting clients at
unknown locations.
Her neighbors had given severalwitness statements for
different men they had seenJeannie with, but detectives had
a hard time locating those men.
Jeannie's Rolodex includedphone numbers for certain
(05:59):
clients, but they quicklydiscovered that many of them had
fake names attached to them.
Jeannie's case eventually wentcold, but her mother vowed never
to stop seeking justice for herdaughter.
In 2018, the case waseventually reopened, with the
hope of using genetic genealogyto locate her killer.
However, they were delighted todiscover that a lengthy
(06:21):
genealogical investigation wouldbe unnecessary because a person
matching the DNA they werelooking for had uploaded their
DNA to a private DNA company andonline genealogy themselves.
This would likely have been acompany like Ancestrycom or
23andMecom.
In the year of 1986, forensictechnology was still very much
(06:43):
in its infancy.
Dna testing was more of ascientific dream than an
investigative tool.
Police knew that they hadsomething at the time, though
Trace evidence, a bloodstainthat seemed quite significant,
but without the technology toanalyze it, they were
essentially guardians of amystery that could not be solved
at that time.
The case file grew, interviewswere conducted, leads were
(07:07):
followed, but ultimately, theinvestigation hit the most
painful of walls.
Uncertainty For Jian's family.
Each passing year was alandscape of hope and heartache.
As time goes by, geneticgenealogy slowly enters the
equation, a forensic techniquethat would redefine criminal
investigations.
Traditional DNA matching islike looking for an exact
(07:31):
fingerprint.
Genetic genealogy is more likeconstructing an intricate family
tree, tracing genetic markers,understanding familial
connections that can lead to asuspect.
In 2018, investigators uploadedthe decades-old DNA profile to
GEDmatch, a public genealogydatabase.
What emerged was not just apotential lead, but a complex
(07:54):
network of genetic connections.
An incredible stroke of luckgave detectives the best lead in
nearly three decades.
The man, jerry Westrom ofAsante, minnesota, was the new
lead suspect in Jeannie's murder.
Jerry would have been in hismid-20s in 1993, and records
showed that he also resided inMinneapolis.
(08:16):
He didn't have a violentcriminal history, just speeding
tickets and multiple drivingunder the influence convictions,
and one other in 2016 where hehad been caught attempting to
solicit a prostitute.
He had been a well-respectedbusinessman who was married with
two children who are now adults, and he volunteered with
several junior sportsorganizations.
(08:38):
Those who knew him had no ideahe was capable of such violence.
They decided to put surveillanceon Westrom in 2019 and followed
him to a hockey rink.
They watched as he ordered ahot dog from the concession
stand and later wiped his mouthwith a napkin before discarding
it.
Officers had been able tocollect this napkin, which they
(08:58):
had later used to positivelymatch his DNA to the foreign
sample that was found inJeannie's apartment.
They later picked him up andstarted the interrogation.
Westrom denied living inMinneapolis, knowing Jeannie's
apartment.
They later picked him up andstarted the interrogation.
Westrom denied living inMinneapolis, knowing Jeannie or
having ever been to theapartment where she was killed.
He did not explain as to whyhis DNA had been found all over
the crime scene.
He was arrested in February of2019, but was released on bail
(09:24):
until further court proceedings.
In August of 2022, his trialbegan.
During the trial, prosecutorspresented a comprehensive
picture of Westrom's potentialconnection to this crime.
He maintained his innocence, ofcourse, but the genetic
evidence was overwhelming.
The critical evidence presentedto the jury was the numerous
places that his DNA had beenfound in the apartment, as well
(09:46):
as the very distinct barefootprints that had been found
next to the victim's body.
Expert testimony detailed thatfootprints can be as detailed as
fingerprints and each is uniqueto the person.
The jury deliberated for lessthan two hours before declaring
a unanimous guilty verdict,westrom, now 56 years old, was
(10:07):
sentenced to life in prison forthe 1993 murder of Jeannie.
He had been free on bailpending the results of this
trial, but was remanded intocustody upon the verdict.
The first-degree murderconviction by itself carries a
mandatory life sentence.
At the time, neighbors from anadjacent unit to Jeannie's
complained of bloody waterleaking from her residence on
(10:29):
June 13, 1993.
She was found dead in herbathroom shower, having been
stabbed 65 times, mostly aroundher neck and torso area.
Many of her stab wounds wereinflicted.
Post-mortem Blood also coveredthe woman's bed and her bedroom.
Prosecutors told jurors thatone of the stab wounds went
right through her heart,claiming that the vicious attack
(10:51):
was prolonged.
It was revealed during the trialthat investigators found semen
which they ultimately tied toWestrom on Jeannie's bloody
comforter, and more of the sameDNA was found on a bathroom
towel and the bathroom sink.
Police called it a horriblydifficult case to crack, with so
few leads and no witnesses.
There had been no movement inthis case for decades and the
(11:14):
case itself garnered little, ifany, press coverage.
At the time.
Officials had reopenedJeannie's case 25 years after
her murder, and the breakinvestigators needed came in
2019, when police matched DNAfrom the scene to 52-year-old
Jerry Westrom with the use ofgenetic genealogy.
He had not previously been asuspect in this case and was a
(11:38):
married father of two adultchildren.
In 2019, investigators tailedWestrom to a hockey game where
he ordered a hot dog from aconcession stand.
Investigators then collectedone of Westrom's discarded
napkins and obtained his DNA,which was determined to match
the DNA found at the crime scene.
He was arrested shortly afterthis, claiming to have no idea
(12:00):
why his DNA was found at thecrime scene.
Westrom's defense argued thatinvestigators at the time
botched the originalinvestigation, noting that a
bloody knife found in thevictim's sink was never tested
for physical evidence, andclaimed the actual murder weapon
was never recovered.
His lawyer also claimed therewere hairs found in the victim's
(12:21):
grasp which allegedly belongedto a now-deceased male roommate.
Janie's mother, betty, was inthe courtroom when Westrom was
found guilty.
She went on to state I knowthat the law is finally going to
take care of him for what hedid and I hope that he can sleep
at night.
Jeannie was a wonderful person.
Even though she had problems,she had a big heart.
(12:41):
The following is segments fromthe document of the court's
final decision and all of thefacts and evidence, a jury found
Jerry Arnold Westrom guilty offirst-degree premeditated murder
under Minneapolis State andsecond-degree intentional murder
.
The district court enteredjudgments for conviction on both
counts and imposed a sentenceof life with the possibility of
(13:03):
parole after 30 years.
On direct appeal to our court,westrom challenges the district
court's evidentiary rulingsregarding DNA evidence
alternative perpet hisconviction and that he received
ineffective assistance ofcounsel and that cumulative
(13:24):
errors denied him his right to afair trial.
Because the district court didnot commit any error requiring
reversal, westrom'sconstitutional rights were not
violated during his trial andthe state presented sufficient
evidence, we affirm Westrom'sconviction of first-degree
premeditated murder.
But because the district courtviolated when it entered a
conviction on thelesser-included second-degree
(13:46):
murder offense in addition tothe conviction of first-degree
premeditated murder, we reversethe second-degree murder
conviction and remand to thedistrict court to vacate that
conviction.
Facts of the case On June 13,1993, jeannie Childs was found
stabbed to death in her SouthMinneapolis apartment.
Her body was lying face up onthe floor of her bedroom, naked
(14:09):
except for a pair of socks.
The bed was soaked with bloodand blood covered the walls of
the bedroom and the adjoiningbathroom.
While investigating the crimescene, police noted several
bloody footprints on the floorof the bedroom, a bloodstained
towel hanging on the bathroomwall and a bloodstained
washcloth on the toilet seat.
The Bureau of CriminalApprehension, or BCA, took lifts
(14:32):
of the fingerprints andcataloged several of the items
in the apartment for forensicanalysis.
Forensic analysis Jeannie'sautopsy revealed that she had
been stabbed 65 times.
She had a stab wound to herheart and several of the wounds
appeared to have been made aftershe had died.
A large, deep slash ran acrossher abdomen.
Hairs were found on her hands,which had suffered multiple
(14:55):
defensive wounds.
Police initially investigatedJeannie's boyfriend, arthur Gray
, who held the lease of theapartment where Jeannie was
killed.
Gray was unemployed, but hadbeen described as Jeannie's
trafficker or pimp.
He had allegedly physicallyabused Jeannie previously in the
apartment where she was killedand his DNA was found on the
comforter of the bed.
(15:15):
Gray had an alibi, though, ashe was purportedly with a friend
at a motorcycle rally inWisconsin at the time of the
murder.
Ultimately, this case went cold.
In 2018, the police beganworking with the FBI to review
Jeannie's murder.
They sent a DNA sample from thecrime scene to DNA Solutions
Inc to createa single nucleotidepolymorphism profile.
(15:38):
They were hoping that thiscould be compared with profiles
on commercial genealogicaldatabases to identify the
source's relatives.
After receiving the S&P profile, police arranged for it to be
uploaded to several websites,including GEDmatch, ancestrycom
and MyHeritage.
A potential match was locatedon MyHeritage that appeared to
(16:00):
be a first cousin to the sourceof the crime scene DNA.
Law enforcement then used thematch to construct a family tree
that identified Westrom as thelikely source.
After learning that Westromwould be attending a hockey game
in Wisconsin, police followedhim to the game and watched him
order food from the concessionstand.
Westrom wiped his mouth with anapkin and threw it away in the
(16:21):
trash can.
Investigators took this napkinout of the trash can and sent it
to the BCA for analysis.
The BCA generated a shorttandem repeat and SDR DNA
profile from the residue on thenapkin and found that it did
match the crime scene sample.
Police then obtained a searchwarrant to collect a known
sample of Westrom's DNA tovalidate the match and took
(16:44):
Westrom into custody.
He was subsequently chargedwith second-degree intentional
murder.
A grand jury later indictedWestrom for first-degree
premeditated murder.
All evidence stemming from thepolice's comparison of the S&P
profile created from DNAgathered from the crime scene
(17:05):
with other profiles oncommercial genealogical
databases.
His motion also contested theadmissibility of evidence
obtained through the STRanalysis of DNA taken from the
discarded napkin.
The district court deniedWestrom's motion and concluded
that no search had occurredbecause Westrom had held no
expectation of privacy in theinformation contained within his
(17:26):
DNA when police only used hisDNA for the purpose of
identification.
About four months after thehearing and shortly before trial
was scheduled to begin, westrommoved to introduce alternative
perpetrator evidence.
He named Arthur Gray as well asthree other people who had been
subjects in the originalinvestigation.
At trial, the state presentedthe DNA evidence linking him to
(17:49):
the crime scene and called anexpert witness on latent print
analysis to testify about theirfindings that connected Westrom
to the bloody footprints.
These witnesses, reports andtestimonies were precluded, and
Westrom called no forensic ormedical experts.
At trial, the jury foundWestrom guilty of both charged
accounts.
The district court sentencedWestrom to life in prison with
(18:12):
the possibility of parole after30 years.
This case is a symphony of humanelements Technological
innovation, persistentinvestigation, familial love and
the unbreakable human spirit.
To Jeanne Ingress, a life cutshort but never forgotten.
To her family, who transformedhope into justice, and to the
investigators who proved thattime is not a shield for
(18:35):
criminals.
Alrighty, so it's that time,guys, to say goodbye.
But before I do so, I just wantto send a thank you to all of
my listeners for your continuedlove and support and for sending
(18:56):
in cases that you want coveredand stories that you want read
on the podcast.
We truly accept all stories,including scary, covered, and
stories that you want read onthe podcast.
We truly accept all stories,including scary, paranormal and
funny.
Any cases you want covered orstories that you want read on
the podcast, just please sendthem in to
darkcrossroadspodcasts atgmailcom.
Thank you for hanging out againtoday.
You can also find us on allsocial media platforms.
(19:17):
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you're listening to us.
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Every single dollar that comesthrough donations or through our
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research and it really helps usout and keeps this podcast going
.
And with all of this said,please don't forget to be weird,
stay different and don't trustanyone.
Thank you,
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