Isanti man indicted for 1st-degree murder in 1993 homicide case, to make first court appearance

An Isanti man indicted for first-degree murder in a 1993 homicide case is set to make his first court appearance Tuesday.

According to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, 54-year-old Jerry Westrom was indicted Thursday for first-degree premeditated murder in the stabbing death of 35-year-old Jeanie Childs.

Childs’ body was found in the bedroom of her Horn Towers, South Minneapolis, apartment on June 13, 1993, after property management was alerted that water from the apartment was entering the hallway. A criminal complaint states that when supervisors entered Childs’ apartment, they found the shower running and her body on the floor.

The case remained unsolved until 2018 when police enlisted the help of a genealogist who gave Westrom’s name as a person who shared traits with the unknown profile developed at the crime scene.

Police began following Westrom in 2019 and obtained a napkin he had tossed in the trash at a hockey game. The DNA sample from the napkin linked to DNA samples collected at the 1993 crime scene.

A warrant for Westrom’s arrest was issued and he posted bail on Feb. 15, 2019, after he was originally charged with second-degree murder.

Westrom turned himself in on Monday, according to Freeman.