MINNIAPOLIS – Jerry Westrom, 56, of Isanti, was found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder and second-degree intentional murder for the killing of a female victim in a nearly 30-year-old cold case, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Thursday.
“My condolences go out to the victim and her family. They have had to live without justice for her brutal murder for nearly three decades. I hope this brings some closure to them.” Freeman added, “Today’s guilty verdicts show that we will pursue convictions for serious crimes, even if it takes years to gather the evidence.”
“I want to thank our prosecution team, led by Darren Borg and Mike Radmer, for their excellent work and for carefully putting together the evidence in this case. These are the most difficult cases to prove,” Freeman continued. “The thoughtful work of law enforcement was essential for this prosecution as well.”
According to the criminal complaint, on June 13, 1993, property management for an apartment building on the 3100 block of Pillsbury Avenue South were alerted by a tenant that water was coming into her apartment. The source of the water leak was determined to be an adjacent apartment where Childs often stayed. Upon entry in the apartment, water was found to be overflowing from an unoccupied, running shower. Water and blood were present throughout the bathroom and connected bedroom. Childs’ body was found on the bedroom floor.
Authorities were called and an investigation began. They found the apartment belonged to someone Childs had been dating — who was out of the area at the time of the incident — and that she used the apartment for prostitution services. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office determined she died from multiple sharp force injuries. Items from the apartment were collected and eventually tested for the presence of DNA. An unknown DNA profile was found to be on several of the items tested.
In 2018, police enlisted the services of a genealogist who supplied Westrom’s name as an individual who shared familial traits to the unknown profile that was developed at the crime scene.
In 2019, police started to follow Westrom and, at a hockey game, watched him use a napkin to wipe his mouth and then toss it in the trash. Police retrieved the napkin and were able to obtain a DNA sample from it which linked to DNA profiles at the crime scene. In addition, Westrom’s footprints were identified to several bloody footprints found at the scene.
HCPO
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