Superior man found guilty of murder in dismemberment case

DULUTH — For eight days, the family of Ricky Balsimo Jr. gathered at the St. Louis County Courthouse and tried to remain stone-faced as they listened to defense attorneys argue that the St. Paul man was to blame for his own shooting death.

On Wednesday, when a jury rejected Jacob Colt Johnson’s self-defense claim, the Balsimo family could finally let the emotions take over — openly shedding tears for the loss of their loved one while sharing exuberant hugs following a long-awaited verdict.

“We’ve been working for two years to find justice,” sister Raquel Turner said in the hallway outside the courtroom. ”We finally got some type of resolution. It’ll never bring Ricky back, but at least in the eyes of the law, we got justice. We got confirmation that Ricky didn’t deserve this.”

A 12-member jury took about three hours to find Johnson, 37, of Superior, guilty of both intentional and unintentional second-degree murder in the June 20, 2021, killing. While the crime occurred in the Twin Cities, its sensational aftermath captured far more attention, as Balsimo’s dismembered remains were discovered in Lake Superior several weeks later.

The jury, in addition to finding Johnson guilty of both counts, unanimously concluded that he participated in both the dismemberment and the concealment of the victim’s remains. Those aggravating factors could be used to sentence Johnson to an above-guideline prison term, up to the statutory maximum of 40 years.

“I don’t think he’s going to make it out alive,” Rick Balsimo Sr. said afterward. “With the amount of time he’s going to get … I can’t see him getting out of prison, if he even lives that long.”

Johnson looked directly ahead in the direction of the judge as the judge read the verdict, not displaying any apparent emotion. Judge Michael Cuzzo ordered an investigation of his background ahead of sentencing Sept. 11 in Grand Marais.

“We respect the system. We respect the jury,” said defense attorney Steve Bergeson. “We respectfully disagree (with the verdict)."

It was undisputed that Johnson fired several rounds at Balsimo, 34, as the two men rode in a moving car in the St. Paul area. It was also undisputed that Johnson drove the victim's remains several hours north before cutting up the body and soliciting help from a friend to dispose of the remains off the shore of Grand Portage.

Fundamentally, jurors were asked to consider Johnson’s actions and mindset in the moment when he chose to fire several rounds at his friend.

Defense attorneys maintained that he only shot because Balsimo had made a series of threats and was waving a knife around, endangering the safety of everyone in the car. But prosecutors portrayed Johnson as angry and annoyed with the victim.

“There was absolutely no warning given prior to the shooting,” Assistant Minnesota Attorney General Dan Vlieger told the jury. “No display of the gun. Just bang, bang, bang, bang … bang, bang, bang.”

Defense attorney Nora Huxtable said Balsimo was under the influence of methamphetamine and had been acting paranoid for several hours as the group drove from the Twin Ports to the Twin Cities and checked into an Airbnb rental.

“There is no obligation to wait for someone to be actively wounded from a knife before taking action,” the defense attorney said, explaining that Johnson had spent considerable time attempting to calm his friend down before and feared that warning him of the gun would only escalate tensions.

Huxtable quoted Balsimo telling Meagan Bieroth, the mother of Johnson’s child: “I am going to kill the only thing that you ever loved.” She added that the group was planning to drop Balsimo off at his parents’ house, but he instead pulled out the knife and began waving it around, including in close proximity to Bieroth’s neck, as they were trapped in a moving, enclosed space.

“Jacob realizes he has been in denial,” Huxtable said. “This isn’t another fight where they can throw a few punches and kiss and make up. Ricky is going to kill someone, and it’s going to be the mother of his child, his girlfriend or himself.”

Vlieger, however, asked the panel to consider alternatives and argued that the “level of force here is not commensurate with the level of threat.” He suggested Balsimo’s threats were not serious and noted no one else in the car suffered any injuries.

“There were other options,” the prosecutor said. “He could’ve stopped the car and got out. They could’ve brought Ricky home, they could’ve dropped him off, could’ve called the police. He could’ve done anything other than what he did.”

Johnson’s actions afterward were the subject of much of the seven days of testimony. Evidence indicated he alone drove Balsimo’s body north, at one point leaving it covered under a blanket in the back seat of his car while he attended a birthday party in downtown Superior.

Johnson made contact with a friend, Robert Thomas West, of South Range, and brought the body to an RV in the Bennett area, about 20 miles south of Superior. According to testimony, he then used a cordless circular saw to dismember the victim while West burned evidence and made a trip to Menards to purchase additional supplies and new clothing.

West, who was convicted by a jury in February, agreed to testify in Johnson’s trial, recalling that the killer had made jokes while completing the process. Also testifying was Tommi Lynn Hintz, a Duluth woman who arranged for a boat to dispose of the remains. West reportedly deposited the remains in several buckets in the lake, telling the boat owner that he was getting rid of his grandma’s belongings and a dog.

Johnson, meanwhile, took a trip with Hintz to the Hinckley casino, not discussing the case or expressing anything out of the ordinary. Hintz later stated that she began to piece things together as she saw bullet holes in the car seat on their way home.

The Audi was later found severely burned in rural Douglas County, with its rear seat completely removed. Johnson was arrested a few days after the killing on unrelated charges; authorities said he had the Audi’s license plate with him and wanted his father to report the vehicle stolen in the Twin Cities.

Huxtable admitted her client was not a sympathetic character and did not make excuses for some of his decisions. Rather, she explained that he panicked, as he was on parole and was not authorized to possess a firearm.

The defense attorney likened the presentation of evidence to a shell game, suggesting prosecutors were eager to discuss everything from Menards security cameras to the hydrology of Lake Superior to the specifications of the fisherman’s boat.

“The state wants you focused on everything except for what happened in that car,” she argued. “I want to say we heard maybe 30 minutes about what happened in the car that night, and then six days on all the other stuff. The state has given you so many sprinkles that you don’t realize there is no doughnut.”

But Vlieger defended the prosecution's case, noting the state has the burden to prove the defendant’s guilt and that the dismemberment and concealment of evidence was evidence of “consciousness of guilt.”

“It directly goes to intent,” the prosecutor said. “It goes directly toward whether or not self-defense is reasonable and honest and in good faith.”

While officially a Cook County case, the trial was heard at the Duluth courthouse at the mutual request of prosecutors and defense attorneys, who cited logistical issues and jury pool limitations in the tiny North Shore community.

Next up will be sentencings for Hintz on Aug. 15 and West on Aug. 29. Further court proceedings await in Wisconsin, where Johnson is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and West faces numerous counts, including mutilating a corpse.

A large crowd of family members and supporters were in attendance for Wednesday’s verdict, the most pivotal moment in a case that has spanned multiple years and jurisdictions.

“It never will feel good, because it never will bring him back,” Ricky’s mother, Kim Balsimo, told family members moments after the announcement.

The family and advocates have vowed to keep a spotlight on the case and seek justice. They have expressed discontent with how their initial missing person reports were handled by law enforcement, crediting private investigators at Duluth’s Applied Professional Services with developing key leads that led to the discovery of his remains and the eventual charges.

Applied Professional Services President Justin Terch called it a “bittersweet victory,” noting the heinous nature of the crime while thanking the Cook County Attorney’s Office, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for their efforts.

“It was one of the few times where the private sector and public sector were able to come together and not let egos and territory get involved,” he said. “Obviously, we’re really excited that the family has some justice for the loss of their son, and we're looking forward to giving them some peace of mind and moving on with their life.”

This story was updated at 6:37 p.m. Aug. 2 with additional details from the trial and comments on the verdict. It was originally posted at 3:28 p.m. Aug. 2.