On June 13, 1993, Jeanie Childs was found murdered in her high-rise apartment in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A tenant alerted the building staff about water seeping into their units, leading them to discover Childs’ body in apartment 2104. Retired forensic scientist Bart Epstein described the scene as one of the bloodiest he had encountered, with Jeanie stabbed over 60 times.
The crime took place near the bathroom. Investigators collected DNA and footprints but found no immediate matches. They noted water running both from the shower and sink, suggesting someone tried cleaning up.
This was a violent, bloody crime scene; one of the bloodiest I’d been to.– Bart Epstein
Jeanie’s mother, Betty Eakman, learned of her daughter’s death through news reports. In the midst of her unimaginable grief, she recounted her daughter’s past struggles, including a history of drug use and involvement in prostitution. At the time of her murder, Jeanie lived with Arthur Gray, who became a person of interest given their history of violence. However, Gray had an alibi that placed him in Milwaukee during the murder.
The unknown footprints at the scene did not match Gray’s, leading investigators to explore other potential suspects, but no arrests were made initially. The case remained cold for decades, until 2015 when advances in DNA technology prompted a re-examination of the evidence. Blood samples collected years earlier matched a man named John Esswein, who was ruled out through inconclusive footprint comparisons and a lack of DNA evidence inside the apartment.
Further breakthroughs came from investigative genetic genealogy, which matched an unknown DNA profile to Jerry Westrom, a local businessman and hockey dad with no apparent violent history. Surveillance at a hockey game enabled investigators to collect napkin DNA from Westrom, linking him to the crime scene. He was charged in February 2019.
Defense pointed to other potential suspects, including James Luther Carlton and John Esswein, but evidence failed to support their involvement. Forensic expert analyses confirmed some bloody footprints belonged to Westrom, leading to his guilty verdict in August 2022 for first-degree murder.
Westrom’s friends and family, including lifelong friend Wayne Triplett, struggled to reconcile the allegations with the man they knew. Despite this, Jeanie’s mother felt justice was finally served, even as her grief remains.