Jacob Colt Johnson’s trial is set for July 18 in Duluth

A murder that occurred in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in June of 2021 with deep roots to Cook County may be coming to a conclusion as the final person, Jacob Colt Johnson, goes to trial in Duluth.

Johnson’s trial is set for July 18, but the family of the murder victim, Richard (Ricky) Balsimo Jr., has asked the case to be moved to Saint Paul, where Ricky was murdered.

Richard (Ricky) Anthony Balsimo Jr. of St. Paul was reported missing by his family in late June 2021. When authorities failed to locate Balsimo, his family hired private investigators who found information that he was likely a victim of homicide. On July 15-16, officers found the dismembered remains of Balsimo in cement-weighted buckets off the Lake Superior shore of Grand Portage.

Two of Johnson’s alleged accomplices have already gone to court. Robert Thomas West was tried in Cook County District Court and found guilty of Accomplice After the Fact to Felony Murder and guilty on the charge of Interference with Dead Body or Scene of Death (concealed body) for his involvement with the disappearance of 34-year-old Richard Anthony Balsimo Jr. of St. Paul.

Tommi Lyn Hintz, 32, pled guilty to being an accomplice after the fact for the killing and dismemberment of Balsimo’s body.

According to alleged statements by Hintz, she told West she knew a commercial fisherman in Grand Portage. Both West and Hintz drove the remains of Balsimo to Grand Portage, where West told the boat captain that he wanted to dispose of a large tote and two five-gallon buckets into the lake.

Johnson, 35, of Superior, Wisconsin, faces intentional second-degree murder charges-with intent—not premeditated—in the death of Balsimo. On July 21, 2021, Johnson was also charged with one count of Aiding an Offender and one count of Interference with a Dead Body in Cook County, with other charges anticipated.

In the case against Robert Thomas West held in Cook County District Court, the jury heard testimony from approximately 30 witnesses and received over 250 exhibits during the trial. It took four days to select a jury and seven days of testimony.

Once the testimony ended, it took jurors less than an hour and a half to unanimously reach a guilty verdict.