Bloody, bare footprints at Minneapolis murder scene lead to decadeslong

Minnesota crime scene investigators captured footage when they got their first look inside a high-rise apartment in Minneapolis. According to police reports, at around 5:30 p.m. on  June 13, 1993, a tenant reported water seeping into their apartment. A building caretaker and a security guard were called to check it out, and discovered the water was coming from apartment 2104.

Bart Epstein | Retired forensic scientist: They went into the apartment and they found that the shower was still running and causing all this flooding next door.

 After the shower was turned off, they came upon a gruesome scene in the bedroom. The body of 35-year-old Jeanie Childs was discovered partially under the bed. That’s when police were called to investigate.

Bart Epstein: This was a violent, bloody crime scene … this is … one of the bloodiest that I’d been to.

BLOODY EVIDENCE LEADS TO A PIVOTAL CLUE

Retired forensic scientist Bart Epstein says carefully documenting that scene was crucial.

Erin Moriarty: Blood stains and blood spatter tell a story.

Bart Epstein: Yes … they sure can … in this case we could establish that Jeanie Childs was hit … in front of the bathroom door.

Epstein says Jeanie then moved into the bathroom. She was stabbed and slashed dozens of times.

Bart Epstein: She was down on the floor smearing blood along that area.

While the shower had been turned off earlier, investigators noticed water was still running from the sink faucet.

Bart Epstein:There was a lot of activity going on there. … Why was the sink faucet still dripping? Was he trying to clean up? 

Jeanie apparently made it back to her bedroom where her body was found.

Julie Rendelman: The blood wasn’t … confined to just the area where she was. … the blood was on the walls, the blood was on the comforter, the blood was on the floor.

Julie Rendelman is a defense attorney and a legal consultant for “48 Hours.”

Julie Rendelman: It leads one to believe … that a struggle happened, that she was fighting to save her own life.

The living room appeared untouched. A sitcom was still playing on the TV. There was no evidence of forced entry. If Jeanie knew her killer, what could have prompted so much violence?

Julie Rendelman: This to me seems like more rage … someone who…