MINNEAPOLIS — A jury found an Isanti man guilty on two counts of murder in the 1993 death of Jeanie Childs.
Jerry Westrom was found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder and second-degree intentional murder after investigators used DNA technology and commercial genealogy websites to identify him as the killer. A sentencing date has not yet been announced.
Childs, who investigators say worked as a sex worker, was found dead in her Pillsbury Avenue apartment after a tenant complained that there was water running into his unit. Apartment staff went into the upstairs apartment, saw a significant amount of blood and then located Childs' body inside a running shower. According to court documents, she had been stabbed more than two dozen times, some of the wounds coming after she was already dead.
Detectives collected a number of items covered in blood, but were unable to develop solid leads on a suspect at the time.
In 2018, cold case investigators used the blood-DNA evidence to make inquiries with a number of commercial genealogy websites, including at least one apparently used by the defendant. Through the searches, two possible subjects were identified, one being Westrom. Investigators found he had lived in the Twin Cities from April of 1991 to December of 1993, and had a number of contacts with law enforcement relating to prostitution offenses.
Officials said they used information learned from the Golden State Killer case where the suspect was identified through a genealogy website. Investigators decided they would try the same technique here, and the result was the identification of Westrom as a suspect.
Authorities began surveillance on Westrom in January of 2019 with the intent of recovering a DNA sample without him knowing. The defendant was followed to a hockey game, where he was seen wiping his mouth with a napkin before he threw it in the garbage. Detectives recovered the napkin, and tests confirmed the DNA on it was consistent with samples recovered from the murder scene.
Westrom was taken into custody and a more complete DNA sample was taken. That sample was matched with a number of samples taken from Childs' apartment, including DNA left on a washcloth, a sperm cell left on a comforter, and others. Prosecutors say more than 99% of the population can be excluded as being suspects in Childs' death.
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