Kathlyn “Katie” Poirier murdered 1999 by Donald Blom

On 26 May 1999 around 11:38 pm, Kathlyn Poirier, 19 was abducted while working at DJ’s Expressway, a convenience store located near Interstate 35 on the outskirts of Moose Lake, Minnesota.  The abduction was recorded on the store’s videotape surveillance system, but the poor resolution of the images on the video did not allow the police to determine the abductor’s identity with any certainty.

Kathryn Hanek, who was working at the Subway sandwich store adjacent to DJ’s Expressway, was questioned by police.   The two stores are connected by an internal door.   Hanek told the police that shortly before closing the Subway store at about 10:00 pm, she saw a man in and around the Subway store who was behaving strangely.   After closing, Hanek drove home toward downtown Moose Lake and, coincidentally, followed the man, who was leaving the convenience store property at the same time.   She noted that the man was driving a black Ford F150 extended cab pickup truck with white markings on the side and a license plate that read in part, 557 – –Y. The pickup truck weaved a number of times and after entering Moose Lake, pulled into the parking lot of a local cafe.   Hanek stated that when she left work, Poirier’s vehicle was still at DJ’s Expressway.

On 18 June 1999 after seeing a sketch of Katie’s abductor, one of Blom’s coworkers contacted the police to report Blom as a possible suspect based on his belief that Blom had behaved suspiciously during the week of the abduction.

Upon investigating this report, the police determined that Blom drove a black Ford F150 extended cab pickup truck with license plate number 557 HDY. The police then attempted to locate Blom. The police also learned that Blom had property near Kerrick, less than 10 miles from DJ’s Expressway.   They secured this property on the evening of June 18 and conducted a 12-hour search of the property on June 19.   An examination of a fire pit on the property resulted in the discovery of a number of bone fragments, including what appeared to be part of a jaw bone and a human tooth.   The bone fragments were collected for evaluation by a forensic anthropologist.   This property was searched again on 29 June 1999.

Police located Blom after midnight on 20 June 1999 at a campground near Alexandria, Minnesota.   The police questioned him about Katie’s abduction and he denied any involvement.   He said he had been at his property near Moose Lake on 14 or 15 May 1999 and again on 12 June 1999. Blom said that on 26 May 1999 he left work early and went fishing on the Kettle River, a mile or two south of Sandstone, but claimed he was home in Richfield by between 7:00 and 8:00 pm.

On 20 June 1999, the police arrested Blom. At a police line-up the day following Blom’s arrest, Hanek positively identified Blom as the man she had seen on the convenience store property the night of 26 May 1999.

Trial:

Opening arguments

Bloms wife takes the stand

Blom testifies at trial

Files:

Petition for postconviction relief 2007

Office of Appellate Courts – 2004

After 25 days of testimony and about 10 hours of deliberations over two days, Blom was convicted Wednesday 16 August 2000 of first-degree murder during the commission of a kidnapping.  He is sentenced to life in prison on Thursday 17 August 2000.

Blom had been serving his sentence at a Pennsylvania facility. And is now in Minnesota as of 2017.

Katie’s story has been on Forensic files: The Music Case and Tooth or consequences, See No Evil, Extreme Forensics, On the Case with Paula Zahn.

Here’s Forensic Files – Tooth or Consequences

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