Donald Blom, The Man Accused Of Killing Katie Poirier, Died In Jail
The year was 1999 when 19-year-old Katie Poirier from Barnum, Minnesota was abducted from DJ's Expressway Conoco on Interstate 35 in Moose Lake. Not only did it shake residents of the Northland to the core but the entire state of Minnesota. The case was even highlighted nationally on the show Forensic Files. The grainy video of Blom leading Poirier out of the gas station is a chilling reminder of this horrific crime.
According to KARE11, that video ended up being the key piece of evidence investigators needed as Blom was identified by co-workers as the suspect in the video. Blom initially admitted to authorities that he kidnapped Poirier from the gas station strangled her and burned her body in a fire pit on the property of his vacation home in Moose Lake. According to WCCO-CBSNEWS:
Authorities determined the charred bone fragments and tooth that they recovered from his fire pit were Poirier's.
Blom who was a convicted sex offender later recanted his confession and went to trial where he was found guilty by a jury of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison. Originally Blom was sent to prison in Pennsylvania for his own safety in 2000. He later served time back in Minnesota at Oak Park Heights and a medium security prison in Fairbault.
According to WCCO-CBSNEWS: Blom, who was 73, died Tuesday in the state's maximum security prison at Oak Park Heights. A department spokesman Aaron Swanum called it "an expected natural causes death due to illness." This particular crime led the Minnesota Legislature to pass proposals tightening the state of Minnesota's sex offender laws.
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