MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A St. Paul man has been convicted in the 1991 homicide of a woman, after authorities reopened the case two years ago and found DNA evidence on a bloody washcloth left at the scene, prosecutors announced Thursday.
Donald Jenkins, Jr., 58, was convicted Wednesday in the death of 20-year-old Belinda Thompson, who was stabbed seven times in the front and four times in the back.
Hennepin County prosecutors say Jenkins was interviewed in 1992 and 2010 but didn’t admit to killing Thompson until 2018, when he blurted out, “My DNA is there, I did it.” He told investigators he stabbed Thompson in an apartment; testing on the evidence showed his DNA could not be excluded from the DNA mixture on the washcloth, but over 99% of the world’s population could be excluded.
Jenkins waived his right to a jury trial and agreed to a court trial based upon stipulated facts and evidence. He’ll be sentenced Dec. 14 on one count of intentional second-degree murder.
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