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In 1993, the brutal murder of 35-year-old Jeanie Childs in her Minneapolis apartment shocked investigators and left a trail of unanswered questions. Found stabbed more than 60 times in a scene marked by bloodied walls, floors, and a running shower, Childs' death remained unsolved for over two decades.
One critical detail stood out bare, bloody footprints at the scene, even though Jeanie Childs was still wearing socks. This rare forensic clue became central to a case that grew cold as early DNA testing yielded no matches.
In 2015, with advancements in forensic science and the growing use of genetic genealogy, investigators reexamined the case. By 2019, DNA retrieved from a discarded napkin linked businessman Jerry Westrom to the crime scene.
A forensic analysis of the footprints further strengthened the connection. The 48 Hours episode The Footprint will air on Saturday, May 17, 2025, at 10/9c on CBS and will also be available for streaming on Paramount+.
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The episode will offer a comprehensive breakdown of how evidence collected in 1993 led to a conviction nearly 30 years later, and how Jeanie Childs’ story came full circle through persistence and evolving science.
How the Jeanie Childs case was solved using DNA, footprints, and forensic genealogy?
On June 13, 1993, police in Minneapolis responded to reports of bloody water leaking through a floor in the Horn Towers apartment complex. Inside, they found 35-year-old Jeanie Childs brutally murdered in her unit. She had been stabbed approximately 65 times, with wounds inflicted both before and after death.
Her body was discovered partially beneath the bed, and the apartment was covered in blood. At the scene, investigators documented an unusual detail: bare, bloody footprints. Since Jeanie Childs was found wearing socks, authorities immediately concluded the prints belonged to her killer.
According to a CBS News report dated May 16, 2025, forensic scientist Bart Epstein told 48 Hours,
“You don’t see this at crime scenes in general, bare feet that have stepped in blood”
These prints, preserved in photographs, remained central to the investigation for decades. Initial leads failed to identify the killer. Investigators examined Arthur Gray, Childs' roommate, after a hair found in her hand was matched to him. However, Gray had a verified alibi, and his footprints did not match those at the crime scene.
Forensic breakthroughs and a napkin at a hockey game
The case stalled for over 20 years. In 2015, forensic scientist Andrea Feia reexamined DNA evidence recovered from a comforter, towel, shirt, and bathroom sink. She identified an unknown male profile that appeared across multiple items. By 2018, investigators submitted this profile to public genealogy databases using forensic investigative genetic genealogy.
As FBI agent Chris Boeckers explained in the CBS report,
“The forensic genealogist indicated she had a match to potentially two brothers here in Minnesota”
Investigators began surveilling Jerry Westrom, a businessman and father who had lived in the area in the early 1990s. At a hockey game in January 2019, officials discreetly collected a used napkin that Jerry Westrom had discarded after eating, allowing them to secure a sample of his DNA. Lab testing confirmed a match. The following month, Westrom was arrested.
Although Westrom’s DNA connected him to the crime scene, authorities still had to verify whether the bloody footprints were his. Forensic supervisor Mark Ulrick compared ridge details from the crime scene prints to Westrom’s feet and found consistency. Ulrick told 48 Hours, as per the CBS report,
“Friction ridge skin is found on … your fingers, your palms, and the soles of your feet,”
Trial, conviction, and the role of 48 Hours
Westrom was indicted for first-degree premeditated murder and stood trial in August 2022. His defense claimed the footprint analysis was subjective and argued that a now-deceased roommate of Childs could be responsible. Nonetheless, a Hennepin County jury deliberated for two hours and returned a guilty verdict.
As juror Derek Fradenburgh told WCCO, as cited in the CBS Minnesota report dated May 1, 2025,
“What ties him to the scene and why we convicted him is the bloody footprint, in conjunction with his DNA being found at the scene”
48 Hours chronicled this case in the episode The Footprint, airing May 17, 2025. The episode highlights how advances in genetic genealogy and persistence over decades brought resolution in Jeanie Childs’ murder.
Stay tuned for more updates.
