Third person convicted of the 2021 murder of Ricky Balsimo

ST. PAUL, Minor — Jacob Johnson was convicted Wednesday of two counts of manslaughter for the June 2021 murder of Ricky Balsimo.

This is Attorney General Keith Ellison’s third conviction of a defendant for the murder of Balsimowho took on the case at the request of Cook County Attorney Molly Hicken.

“My thoughts are back today with the victim’s family, who once again had to relive the gruesome murder of their loved one. I hope this conviction of the third defendant in the murder of Mr. Balsimo gives them that much more sense of responsibility and a step takes it further.” closer to a cure,” Ellison said.

According to court documents, on June 20, 2021, Johnson shot and killed Balsimo in St. Paul after an argument. After killing Balsimo, Johnson transported his body to Superior, Wisconsin, where he enlisted the help of Robert West to hide and dismember the body.

After dismembering Balsimo, Johnson and West packed his body parts into several buckets and a tote bag, then drove to Grand Portage where they disposed of his body parts in Lake Superior.

Johnson claimed self-defense during the shooting, according to court documents.

West was convicted on February 8 of one count of being an accessory to murder and one count of interfering with a corpse. West’s sentencing in Wisconsin is pending, but sentencing for his Minnesota conviction is scheduled for August 29.

Tommi Hintz pleaded guilty to one count of helping a perpetrator afterwards. Hintz’ sentencing is scheduled for August 15.

Sentencing for Johnson is scheduled for September 11.

Like West, Johnson faces charges in both Wisconsin and Minnesota. In Wisconsin, Johnson has been charged with mutilating a corpse and unrelated possession of firearms.

NOTE: The original air date of the video accompanying this article was February 9, 2023.