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Two of three people charged in killing and dismembering a man found in Lake Superior last summer made Zoom appearances on Monday, January 24, in State District Court in Grand Marais.
A 31-year-old Duluth woman, Tommi Lynn Hintz, entered a not guilty plea. She was charged with aiding as an offender and accomplice after the fact and interference with a dead body.
The second defendant, Robert Thomas West, 41 of South Range, Wisconsin, faces the exact charges as Hintz, but he didn’t enter a plea.
Jacob Colt Johnson, 35, of Superior, Wisconsin, faces intentional second-degree murder charges. He is scheduled for a February 14 court date, but that may be delayed. Last month Douglas County charged West with felony counts of party to mutilating the corpse, harboring or aiding a felon and possession of a firearm by a felon. These charges have made the case more complicated for Minnesota authorities in the short term.
Hintz and West’s next court appearance is scheduled April 11.
Richard (Ricky) Anthony Balisimo Jr. of St. Paul was reported missing by his family last summer. When authorities failed to locate Balismo, his family hired private investigators who found that he was likely a victim of homicide. Balismo was likely killed around June 20. On July 15-16, officers found the dismembered remains of Balismo in cement-weighted buckets off the Lake Superior shore of Grand Portage.
According to alleged statements made by Hintz, she told West she knew a commercial fisherman in Grand Portage. Both West and Hintz drove the remains of Balisimo to Grand Portage, where West told the boat captain, he wanted to get rid of some valuables, dumping a large tote and two five-gallon buckets into the lake.
According to the medical examiner, Balismo had been shot in the torso. West allegedly confessed to coming up with the plan to dispose of the body.
Attorney Stever Bergeson, representing Johnson, filed notice that he will argue that Johnson used self-defense and the defense of others in his altercation with Balisimo.
Currently, Johnson is in the Pine County Jail and West in the Lake County Jail. Hintz is free on bond.
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