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“The Footprint”: 48 Hours Reports on Jeanie Childs Homicide on July 18 2026

Ryan Gill

3 months ago

48 Hours returns with another examination of a decades-long homicide investigation in “The Footprint,” airing Saturday, July 18, 2026, on CBS and Paramount+. The broadcast explores the 1993 murder of Jeanie Childs, a Minneapolis woman whose killer escaped identification for more than a quarter of a century before advances in forensic science transformed old evidence into the foundation of a successful murder prosecution.

The case became one of Minnesota’s most significant cold case investigations because detectives preserved physical evidence that could not be fully analyzed with the technology available at the time. While DNA testing eventually identified the suspect, investigators have long said another piece of evidence proved equally important: a series of bloody bare footprints left throughout the apartment by the killer. Those footprints, combined with modern DNA analysis and forensic investigative genetic genealogy, ultimately helped secure a conviction nearly 30 years after Childs was killed.

Who Was Jeanie Childs?

Jeanie Childs was 35 years old when she was murdered inside her apartment at the Horn Towers complex in south Minneapolis on June 13, 1993. Family members described her as someone who had faced significant personal struggles throughout her life but remained deeply loved by those closest to her.

According to her family, Childs began running away from home as a young teenager and later became involved in sex work. Her mother, Betty Eakman, and sister, Cindy Blumer, have repeatedly stressed that none of those circumstances diminished her worth or justified what happened to her. They have spent decades reminding the public that Childs was a daughter, sister and human being whose life ended in an act of extraordinary violence.

A Crime Scene Unlike Any Other

When Childs was discovered inside her apartment, investigators immediately realized they were dealing with an exceptionally violent homicide. She had been stabbed approximately 65 times, suffering wounds across her body before the attack continued after her death. Medical evidence showed the assault was prolonged and exceptionally brutal.

The apartment itself reflected the violence. Blood covered the bedroom, bathroom and other areas as investigators carefully documented every piece of evidence. Childs was found naked except for her socks, a detail that would become critical to the investigation because it eliminated the possibility that the bloody footprints found throughout the apartment belonged to the victim.

The Bloody Footprints That Became the Key Evidence

Crime scene investigators recovered numerous pieces of physical evidence in 1993, but one item immediately stood apart from everything else. Bare footprints, covered in blood, appeared throughout the apartment.

Because Childs was still wearing socks, forensic investigators concluded the footprints had been left by someone else. Bart Epstein, then a forensic scientist with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, recognized their importance immediately. Like fingerprints, the friction ridge skin found on the soles of human feet contains unique identifying characteristics. If investigators could someday identify the individual who made those impressions, they believed they would have found the killer.

Why the Investigation Went Cold

Despite the strength of the physical evidence, investigators faced the technological limitations of the early 1990s. DNA profiling was still in its infancy and lacked the sensitivity needed to produce the kind of detailed genetic profile investigators would later obtain from the preserved evidence.

Police pursued numerous leads during the years following the murder, including individuals connected to Childs’ personal life. Early investigative attention focused on her boyfriend and pimp, but detectives established that he had an alibi. Without eyewitnesses, fingerprint matches or usable DNA results, the investigation gradually stalled and ultimately became one of Minneapolis’ long-running cold cases.

A Family That Never Stopped Seeking Answers

While the official investigation slowed, Childs’ family refused to abandon hope that someone would eventually be held responsible. Her mother remained determined to learn who killed her daughter and why, keeping pressure on investigators whenever possible.

The emotional impact of the murder never diminished. Betty Eakman later spoke about believing her daughter had been calling out for her during the attack, while Cindy Blumer continued challenging assumptions that Childs’ work as a sex worker somehow made the crime less significant. Both women became powerful voices advocating for continued attention to the case.

Modern DNA Technology Changes Everything

The investigation gained new momentum when Minneapolis police reopened the case in 2015. By then, forensic DNA technology had advanced dramatically beyond what had existed in 1993.

The breakthrough accelerated after investigators studied the successful use of forensic investigative genetic genealogy in the Golden State Killer investigation during 2018. FBI Special Agent Chris Boeckers and other investigators recognized that the same investigative approach might identify the unknown individual whose DNA had remained preserved for decades within the Childs evidence.

Building a Suspect Through Genetic Genealogy

Investigators developed a DNA profile from evidence collected at the crime scene and used forensic investigative genetic genealogy to identify potential family connections. That process eventually narrowed the search to Jerry Westrom, a Minnesota businessman and youth hockey parent with prior criminal history that included multiple driving while intoxicated convictions and arrests related to prostitution.

Detectives needed a direct DNA sample without alerting Westrom that he had become a suspect. Surveillance teams followed him to a youth hockey game in Wisconsin, where investigators watched as he finished eating a hot dog and wiped his mouth with a napkin before throwing it into a garbage can. Officers recovered the discarded napkin, which provided the DNA sample they needed for comparison.

DNA and Footprints Point to Jerry Westrom

Testing performed by forensic scientists revealed that DNA recovered from the napkin matched biological evidence preserved from Childs’ apartment. Additional laboratory testing found Westrom’s DNA on multiple items collected from the crime scene, including semen recovered from bedding and biological material found elsewhere inside the apartment.

The footprint evidence remained equally significant. Minneapolis Police forensic specialists compared known footprints obtained from Westrom with the bloody impressions documented in 1993. Mark Ulrick, Supervisor of Forensic Science, concluded that the friction ridge detail within the footprints matched Westrom’s feet. Prosecutors later argued that the combination of DNA evidence and the bloody footprints placed Westrom inside the apartment during the fatal attack.

Arrest, Charges and Trial

Authorities arrested Jerry Westrom in February 2019. During questioning, he denied ever being inside the Horn Towers apartment building where Childs lived.

Initially charged with second-degree murder, Westrom was later indicted by a grand jury on first-degree premeditated murder. His defense maintained that investigators had identified the wrong suspect and challenged both the forensic evidence and the investigation. Defense attorney Steve Meshbesher argued that the jury did not hear all of the evidence the defense believed was relevant to the case.

The trial finally began in August 2022, nearly 30 years after Childs’ death. Prosecutors focused heavily on the forensic evidence preserved from the original investigation. Jurors heard testimony explaining the DNA analysis, the genetic genealogy investigation and the forensic comparison of the bloody footprints recovered from the apartment.

The Jury’s Verdict

After deliberating for approximately two hours, the jury found Jerry Westrom guilty of first-degree premeditated murder and second-degree murder.

Jurors later indicated that the bloody footprint evidence proved especially persuasive. Jury foreperson Derek Fradenburgh explained that while DNA could potentially be explained through prior contact, the bloody barefoot impressions established that Westrom was present inside the apartment during the murder itself. According to the jury, the footprints and DNA together created compelling evidence that supported conviction beyond a reasonable doubt.

Appeals and the Final Outcome

Westrom was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years, making him eligible for parole in 2052, when he will be in his mid-80s.

He appealed his convictions to the Minnesota Supreme Court, raising several legal challenges. In 2024, the court ruled that he could not legally stand convicted of both first-degree and second-degree murder for the same killing. The justices therefore vacated the second-degree murder conviction while upholding the first-degree murder conviction and life sentence. The decision left his punishment unchanged.

Westrom later sought review from the United States Supreme Court, but the justices declined to hear the case, leaving the Minnesota Supreme Court’s decision in place. He has also sought assistance from the Great North Innocence Project while maintaining his innocence.

Why “The Footprint” Remains an Important Cold Case Story

“The Footprint” demonstrates how advances in forensic science continue to reshape cold case investigations decades after crimes occur. Evidence that could not fully identify a suspect in 1993 became decisive once DNA analysis and forensic investigative genetic genealogy reached a level capable of extracting new information from preserved biological samples.

The investigation also highlights the value of meticulous crime scene processing. Detectives and forensic specialists preserved evidence they believed might become useful even though contemporary science could not yet unlock its full potential. More than 25 years later, those bloody footprints and carefully preserved DNA samples provided investigators with the tools needed to identify the killer, secure a conviction and deliver long-awaited answers to Jeanie Childs’ family after nearly three decades of uncertainty.

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