COOK COUNTY, Minn. — Editor's note: The video above first aired on KARE 11 on July 20, 2021.
A statement provided by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison's office Wednesday announced a second man was convicted of charges relating to the murder and dismemberment of a St. Paul man in Duluth in 2021.
Jacob Johnson, 37, was convicted Wednesday by a Cook County jury on two counts of second-degree murder for his involvement in 34-year-old Ricky Balsimo's death in June of 2021. According to the attorney's office, Johnson is still facing separate charges in Wisconsin for mutilating a corpse, stemming from Balsimo's dismemberment after his death.
Johnson is the third person to be convicted of charges relating to Balsimo's murder.
“My thoughts are once again today with the victim’s family, who have once again had to relive their loved one’s horrific murder. I hope this conviction of the third defendant in Mr. Balsimo’s murder brings them that much more of a sense accountability and one step closer to healing,” Attorney General Ellison said in the statement.
According to the criminal complaint filed against Johnson in Cook County, Johnson shot and killed Balsimo on June 20, 2021, while riding in a vehicle together in the Twin Cities. After the shooting, prosecutors said Johnson drove two hours north to Duluth with Balsimo's body in his car, later enlisting the help of another man, Robert West, to hide and dismember him. The attorney general's office said the men placed Balsimo's body parts in buckets and a tote bag before West took them to Grand Portage and dumped them into Lake Superior.
West was convicted for his role in Balsimo's death — on one count of being an accessory after the fact to murder and one count of interference with a dead body — in February. West is also facing additional charges in Wisconsin.
The third defendant, Tommi Hintz, pleaded guilty to aiding an offender after the fact. In the days following Balsimo's murder, Hintz told investigators she overheard West tell a fisherman he had some of his grandmother's valuables he wanted to dump in Lake Superior. The next day, she said she heard West say that a man had shot Balsimo and his body had been chopped up.
Sentencing for Johnson, West and Hintz as a result of their Minnesota convictions will be on Sept. 11, 2023, Aug. 29, 2023 and Aug. 15, 2023, respectively.
Following the conviction, Cook County Attorney Molly Hicken applauded the efforts of the several law enforcement agencies that worked to bring the people involved in Balsimo's murder to justice.
“I’m very proud of the attorneys in the Attorney General’s Office, the Cook County Attorney’s Office, investigators, and law enforcement who brought this case to a successful conviction. I’m also proud of our partnerships with county attorneys who are on the front lines of delivering justice to victims and communities," she said in a statement.
The charges against Johnson and West in Wisconsin are still pending.
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