The Footprint | Post Mortem | Forensic Files

[Music] Welcome back to Postmortem. I'm your host, Ann Marie Green, and I'm joined by
48 Hours correspondent Aaron Morardi. We're going to be discussing the murder of 35-year-old Jeanie Childs. She was
stabbed over 60 times in her Minnesota high-rise apartment in 1993. Her case went unsolved for over two decades until
advances in investigative genetic genealogy led authorities to arrest a local businessman and father. His name
is Jerry Westerm. Erin, thanks again for joining us. Oh, I'm really grateful to be here because this is one of those
stories people who love forensics love this story. Um, we want to remind everyone, of course, if you haven't
listened to this hour, head on over to your uh feed. You'll find this episode of 48 hours right above this one. Go
listen and then come on back and we can talk about it. When I started watching this, the case reminded me of actually
the first 48 hours I ever did several years ago. It was the case of Angie Dodge, a teenager, an 18-year-old who
was killed in her brand new apartment. and the case went unsolved for many many years until they used genetic genealogy
to track down her killer. It was kind of newish then. Um this is a very similar case but the thing about this case
is you know you think you find the DNA, you find the match, it's a home run. But
in this case in the apartment there was a lot of DNA. So not necessarily a home run. No. What's so interesting is I
think jurors sometimes think that it's a slam dunk when there is DNA that has been obtained through genetic genealogy,
but the truth is DNA if it is collected and tested properly, it could show that somebody was there, but it can't tell
you when they were there. And in this case, this case, as you said, Amory, uh, happened in 1993. That was when DNA was
in its infancy, at least being used as a investigative tool. And so they did collect DNA and they collected those
bloody footprints that are just so important in this case. But the DNA didn't match anyone back then. Uh they
did have a person of interest. She was living with a boyfriend, um Arthur Gray, but he had an alibi. He was out of town
that weekend and they took those unknown bloody footprints and compared them to Arthur Gray and said that they did not
belong to him. So the case kind of went cold. And then in 2015, just about two decades later, um you know, there were
so many advances in DNA technology that they did more tests. And I thought this was really interesting. As you pointed
out, Emory, there was a lot of DNA there in that apartment. Yeah, according to police reports, Jeanie was a sex worker
and there had been men in that apartment. But what was interesting is that they found one unknown profile, the
specific that was not just in the bedroom, but also in the bathroom on a towel. And uh and because investigators
believe that the killer might have cleaned up in the bathroom, that was significant to them. And so that is the
DNA that belonged to Jerry Westerm. But all they had at that point really is the
idea that Jerry had been in that apartment at some point. Right. Because just because DNA is found, you can't
tell when that DNA was deposited, right? Yeah. You cannot. And that's why in this
case, those bloody footprints became so important. You know, normally it would be a genetic genealogy case. This was a
bloody footprint case. And the prosecution said whoever left their footprints in her blood had to be either
there at the time of the murder or right afterwards. And so if those footprints matched the person whose DNA was found
in that apartment, that was a pretty good indication that that person could be the killer. Now, I think at this
point, one of the most, I guess, famous investigations that that was solved because of genetic uh genealogy was the
case of uh the Golden State Killer uh Joseph James D'Angelo. Were the investigators inspired by that case? And
is that why they kind of went down that route? You know, that case inspired investigators all over the country. Uh
yes, and they were inspired even to use the same genealogologist, Barbara Ray Venter. I had met her on a story I was
doing for Sunday morning and she's such an interesting woman. She was a patent lawyer, but she also had a PhD in
biology and she loved to do because this woman has this amazing brain. Her hobby
was to do these family trees and that's how she got involved in the Golden State
Killer case. So now she does these cases and she took that profile that I mentioned that had been found both in
the bedroom and the bathroom and she uploaded it to the genealogy sites including myheritage.com
and she was able to build out a family tree and came up with two suspects who happened to be brothers. Um, and then
she picked Jerry because the DNA profile indicated that it belonged to someone with brown eyes and Jerry Westerm had
brown eyes. But more important probably, I think for investigators was Jerry Westerm had a history of soliciting sex
workers. And so that made him a suspect in this case. And remember, it's just it's just a piece of evidence at this
point, you know, at this point. Jerry Westerm now is just a suspect, right? Um because they can't bring any charges
based on what Barbara Ray Venttor finds out. She gives them these names and then
she has no idea what happens after that till they call her and say whether they've arrested a person or not. So,
you know what they have to do at that point is they've got to get a a real uh DNA sample from that person and then see
if that matches the unknown DNA in the crime scene. That's they have to do that or they can't take this case to court.
So, therein lies the challenge. They have to somehow get a DNA sample from Jerry. And I thought it was really
interesting in the hour how they talked about, you know, a mouth sample, a saliva sample is better than anything
else. And I, this is the first time I actually considered why they want mouth swabs, why they always look for, you
know, something a suspect may have put in their mouth, a drink. But they go, the FBI agents in 2019, they go all the
way to Wisconsin to track him down at a hockey game. Why did they have to go that far? Well, so yes, you're right.
He's he's living just right outside Minneapolis in Ianti. Um but he is a devoted hockey dad and I think they
believed that if they followed him to Wisconsin where he was going with his family to see his daughter play hockey,
you know, you eat. You're you're out at a hockey game. So you've got these two investigators who were following him
like right behind. But they don't want him to know because what if they're wrong? They don't want to be seen.
They're staying in the same hotel as Jerry and his wife are staying. I mean, they even went the It just is so
interesting. Um, after he checked out of his room, they went into his room. Now,
how are they going to know that it was his DNA that he left on something, but they did just in case they could find
something that they thought connected just to him. So, it takes time and they're frustrated. So, they finally
follow him to this game. According to agent Boers, they follow him to this game and they finally see him wipe his
mouth with a napkin and uh they bring it back to the lab and according to Andrea
Fea who was the forensic scientist who test it, it matched the unknown DNA sample from the crime scene. So they
they've got more than a suspect. They've got someone they're about to charge. Wow. Um, and so they get the DNA sample
and they make an arrest. How did Jeanie's family react to hearing about who the suspect was?
Well, with a lot of surprise. Number one, you know, it had been so long. This was February 2019. Jeanie had been
killed. 1993. They did not tell them that they were looking at someone. So, this came out of the blue. But I think
more important, especially for Jeanie's sister, Cindy, um they live in Ianti and
that's where Jerry Westerm lives. Jerry ran Westerrom's Corner, which had a a shop and a gas station, and everybody
went there. Um her kids knew his kids. I mean, it it was shocking to Jeanie's sister. And I should point out, I I
think this is very important. Yes, he might have had brown eyes. Yes, he may have had a history of soliciting sex
workers, but he did not have a history of violence. And if you remember, Emory Jeanie was killed brutally. And so, I
think it came as a big shock to Cindy and her mom. Welcome back. In February of 2019,
Jerry Wr and he was charged with the murder of Jeanie Childs. Now, police questioned
him for 11 minutes before he asked for an attorney. I want to play a clip of that interview that didn't make it into
the show. Then, do you know we have your DNA? I assume so. Okay. So, is there can you
think of anything? Man, this has been a long time ago. This is a pretty significant event. Would you agree? I
mean, person involved. Yeah. The person involved in this is going to remember, don't you think? Absolutely. Yeah. And
so that's kind of what we're we're wondering if you have any of that kind of knowledge.
What was he like during that interrogation? I mean, he doesn't seem to be upset, you
know, why isn't he asking why he's there or not saying what we all think he would
say? I didn't do anything like that. I I would say so um considering the circumstances, but when we spoke with um
our legal consultant, Julie Rendleman, she does point out that you really can't judge somebody's a effect. You know, we
don't really know what's going on through his head. So, this case also had a really sort of interesting piece of
evidence that you talked about a little bit earlier, these bloody footprints, and it was the focus for investigators.
And at first, I thought, oh, what a unique and perfect piece of evidence. But then afterwards I thought, but how
do you what do you compare that to? There's no footprint database like there is for fingerprints. So how do you even
use this evidence? That was so interesting, Amory. This was the first one for me as
it seemed to be for the investigators. But you know, remember these were actually recorded back in 1993. They
were photographed. There were seven that they had labeled. So what was interesting is we had two experts. Um so
we had the expert for the state and then we had an expert that had been hired by
the defense and the expert for the state said that four of those were suitable for comparison. And he decided um and he
testified as such that four of those prints belong to Jerry Westerm that Jerry Westerm was the one who left them
there. That is so damaging as you can imagine because we know his DNA is in that apartment. But now it looks like
that these bloody prince um also belong to him. But then you have the expert that had been hired by the defense and
she is an expert who teaches in Waterville, Maine, Alicia McCarthy, and she did the same work as the state
expert, but she said that she only found one of those prints, E2, it was labeled
E2, as suitable for comparison. She says that the state expert was not right about those other three that you could
not analyze and compare those other three just E2. Mhm. But what matters in this case is she also found that the
print which is right below the big toe of the left foot. Just this small area she says was left by Jerry Westerrom.
So, as you can imagine, Amarie, when the defense found out that she was agreeing,
at least on that one part, that it belonged to Jerry Westerm, the defense dropped her, did not want her to testify
for them, but the state said, "Please testify for us." She did. And I think that was very significant for the jury.
So, what you have is you do have the DNA, the genetic genealogy DNA that seems to place them in that apartment,
and you have the area right below the big toe of the left foot that seems to also place Jerry Westerm in her blood on
the day she was murdered. And then you have that interview where he doesn't seem to show a lot of emotion, but
that's that really kind of describes the case against Jerry Westerrom. In August
of 2022, Jerry Westerm went on trial for Jeannie Child's murder. Now, the jury heard from a defense witness who told
police that she saw Jeanie Childs with a blonde man wearing a trench coat on the
day she was murdered, but I'm wondering if there were any other suspects that the jury did not get a chance to hear
about. So, I had mentioned Arthur Gray. Um, the judge did allow the defense to raise Arthur Gray. He was living in the
apartment with uh Jeie. They did have a history of abuse. Uh she had filed a police report and his hair was found on
her hand. Uh but he had an alibi. But there there were some really interesting other possible people of interest. So
they found blood right in the stairwell that belonged to a guy named John Eswine. And so they interviewed John
Eswine. And I should point out none of his DNA was found in the apartment, but his blood was found in the stairwell.
And they interview him and he's a very friendly guy. But when they compared his feet to those unknown bloody footprints,
it came out inconclusive. The jury never heard any of that. And a more interesting person is uh James Luther
Carlton. M. So, James Luther Carlton was convicted of killing a woman a year later, Jodie Dover, in her apartment.
And here's why it's eerily similar. In Jodie Dover's murder, there were also bloody footprints found. And that's so
unusual. And one of those footprints was uh found to belong to Carlton. We do not
know whether uh Carlton was at all uh investigated or talked to at the time in this case, but he's now serving a life
sentence for Jodie Dover's murder. So, the jury again did not hear anything about Carlton or John S. And so,
ultimately, the jury does find Jerry Westerm guilty of murder in the first and second degrees. And then on
September 9th, uh, 2022, he's sentenced to life in prison. In 2024, the Minnesota Supreme Court reversed
Westerm's secondderee conviction, but it upheld the first degree murder conviction. I'm just curious about why
they reversed the secondderee conviction. Well, every state is different. Um, you know, even whether
you have a firstdegree or seconddegree murder is different by state by state. And I'm just going to read to you what
the ruling is uh because I thought this was interesting that according to the ruling in the state of Minnesota, a
defendant may be convicted of either the crime charge, which was murder, or an included offense, but not both. And so
every lesser degree of murder is an included offense. So they decided that that second degree murder was an
included offense. So he could be convicted of first degree but not both, not the included offense. So that's why
they reversed it. But he's, you know, he's remaining in prison on firstdegree. Right. Right. The punishment is is the
punishment and he's going to be behind bars for a really long time. I think I know for me the most frustrating part of
this story though is that we don't get to hear a why because he's not talking and he didn't testify and there was no
motive. They did not present a motive. You know, there was a in one of her date books. Yeah. There was a Jerry, but you
know, nobody knows who that Jerry was, but otherwise, nobody remembers him with her. Jerry just didn't come up. But, uh,
no, no motive in this case, and he didn't take the stand. So even though I mean we really don't
know what happened in that apartment or why it happened, the fact that he was convicted after 25 odd years, does the
family feel like they've received closure that there's justice or are there so many still unanswered questions
that there can never be closure? I mean, they both have said this to me, uh Jeanie's mom and her sister, they they
do trust the system. They believe that he did kill Jeanie. Um I I don't think her mom uh will ever stop grieving. She
read to us this beautiful letter that she had written her daughter once afterwards so sorry that she couldn't
have said all of these things to her daughter before she died. So they are left with their grief. But at least they
no longer in their minds have to worry about who it was. They feel they now know who killed Jeanie Childs. Erin,
another fascinating story. I learned more about DNA and I thought I knew a lot. I learned about footprints and
whether or not they make for good evidence. Um, and thanks for joining us. You know, I love doing this with you,
Amarie, and I so happy you're now on 48 hours. This could not be better. Uh, well, thank you. I really, really
appreciate it. And I appreciate the listeners having listened to all of our episodes of Postmortem. And if you like
the series Postmortem, please rate and review 48 Hours on Apple Podcast and follow 48 Hours wherever you get your
podcasts. You can also listen adree with a 48 hours plus subscription on Apple Podcast. Thank you so much for
listening.

Watch "The Footprint" and then join "48 Hours" host Anne-Marie Green and correspondent Erin Moriarty on "Post Mortem" as they discuss the cold case murder of Jeanie Childs, who was stabbed to death in 1993. Almost three decades later, her killer was finally convicted. They discuss the investigative genetic genealogy that led authorities to Jerry Westrom, a local businessman and father of three, and the bloody footprints left at the crime scene that were pivotal at trial.

Crime. Social justice. Impact. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

Jeanie Childs was murdered in 1993; Jerry Westerm was arrested in 2019 using DNA evidence and genetic genealogy.

Key points

The Murder of Jeanie Childs. Jeanie Childs was brutally murdered in 1993, and her case remained unsolved for decades until DNA advancements led to a suspect.
DNA Evidence and Its Misconceptions. The case highlights the complexities of DNA evidence and how it can mislead jurors.
The Arrest of Jerry Westerm. In 2019, Jerry Westerm was arrested after DNA evidence linked him to the crime scene.
The Trial of Jerry Westerm. Jerry Westerm was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2022, despite the lack of a clear motive.
Closure for Jeanie's Family. Jeanie's family feels a sense of closure after the conviction, but grief remains.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This is a very similar case.

Comparing Jeanie Childs' case to another unsolved murder.

1:26WatchMay 25, 2025

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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