Isanti Man Charged in 1993 Fatal Stabbing in Minneapolis

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- An Isanti businessman is charged in the 1993 stabbing death of a Minneapolis woman after investigators recently collected DNA evidence from a napkin he discarded at a hockey game.

Fifty-two-year-old Jerry Westrom is accused of stabbing 35-year-old Jeanne Ann Childs dozens of times in a Minneapolis apartment that prosecutors say she used for prostitution.

The FBI ran DNA evidence collected from the murder scene through a genealogy website in 2018 and came up with Westrom as a possible suspect.

Investigators trailed Westrom to a hockey game in January in hopes of collecting a DNA sample and secretly confiscated a napkin Westrom had used and tossed in the trash.

Westrom is jailed in Hennepin County on $1 million bail and is scheduled for a court appearance Friday. His attorney, Steve Meshbesher, had no immediate comment.