St. Paul Man Found Guilty In 1991 Killing Of Belinda Thompson

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Donald Jenkins, Jr. was convicted in the 1991 murder of 20-year-old Belinda Thompson on Dec. 2. The 58-year-old St. Paul man was found guilty of second-degree murder for the stabbing death of Thompson, which occurred almost 30 years ago.

As Patch previously reported, Jenkins was charged on Dec. 20, 2018 after the Minneapolis police and FBI reopened the case. He became a suspect when DNA testing was conducted on a bloody washcloth found at the scene of the murder.

Jenkins’ DNA could not be excluded from the mixture of DNA on the washcloth, but over 99 percent of the world’s population was excluded.

Jenkins was interviewed regarding this homicide in 1992, 2010, and 2018.

According to the criminal complaint, on Dec. 18, Jenkins blurted out, "My DNA is there, I did it."

"She let me in," he added. "And, man, I can’t even say. I just know I saw a knife, and I grabbed it, and I hit her. And she fell. Then I blacked out."

Jenkins waived his right to a jury trial, and Judge Hillary Caligiuri found Jenkins guilty of intentional second-degree murder.