Donald Blom

Since 2021 Blom is serving his prison sentence at MCF-Oak Park Heights, a maximum-security facility in Stillwater, Minnesota. Before that he spent about 4 years at medium-security prison MCF-Faribault after having been transferred there from maximum-security facility SCI Greene in Pennsylvania.

Donald Blom's father abused him from the time Blom was very young until he was around 13 years old. By the time he reached adolescence, Blom was a heavy drinker and exhibited behavioral problems. In the 10th grade, he went to a reform school, where he often skipped classes.

The story of Poirier's murder has been the subject of many television true crime documentaries. HLN TV reported the story in the Forensic Files series episode "Tooth or Consequences". The Discovery Channel reported the case via The New Detectives series episode "Fatal Abductions". In 2010, the case was featured in the "Out of the Ashes" episode of the Investigation Discovery series Extreme Forensics. In 2013, a second Investigation Discovery series On the Case with Paula Zahn aired the "Tip 1960" episode about the crime. In 2016, a third Investigation Discovery series See No Evil episode titled "Snatched on Camera" reported on Poirier's murder.

In December 2007, the Minnesota Supreme Court rejected Blom's third petition for a new hearing.

In 2004, an appeals court upheld Blom's conviction. In 2006, Blom expressed his willingness to answer questions about unsolved local crimes in exchange for transfer to a prison closer to his relatives. When detectives arrived with the transfer letter, Blom talked about other matters for three days and a confession never materialized.

Blom's trial began in June 2000. Over 50 witnesses were called to testify during the case. Video surveillance, witness reports, testimonies from two women who Blom kidnapped in 1983 and his confession were presented as evidence against him.

On May 26, 1999, 19-year-old Katie Elizabeth Poirier went missing from D. J.'s Expressway Conoco convenience store in Moose Lake, Minnesota, where she worked nights as a clerk. A passer-by, who noticed that there was no attendant present in the store, reported the incident. A grainy black-and-white surveillance video showed Poirier being forced out of the store around 11:40 pm by a man wearing jeans, a backwards baseball cap and a New York Yankees baseball jersey with the number 23 on the back. The man's hand was at the back of Poirier's neck, and from the way she touched her throat, there might have been a cord tied around her neck. The video was sent to imaging specialists at NASA who were able to enhance the image so more details of the suspect could be seen. The police estimated that the abductor was 5'10" and weighed around 170 pounds, had long light-colored hair and appeared to be around 25 years old.

At the time of his arrest, investigators were looking at similar crimes, including the murder of 19-year-old Wisconsin student Holly Spangler. In 1993, Spangler's decomposed body was found in the woods of a Bloomington, Minnesota park. Blom was living in the area under the name "Donald Pince," was a registered sex offender and was one of the top suspects in the case.

During an examination in 1992, a psychologist predicted that if Blom was not closely monitored, he would probably engage in additional antisocial behavior; however, Blom managed to change his name, get a job and get married. By May 1999, he had six felony convictions, five of which involved kidnapping and sexual assault.

Blom said he never owned a New York Yankees jersey with the number 23 on the back like the one worn by the man in the surveillance video; however, Blom's brother testified that he had given the Blom family a box of old clothing which included a Yankees jersey. The two women who Blom kidnapped in 1983 and who resembled Poirier as children testified about what he had done to them. Forensic odontologist Dr. Ann Norrlander testified that the tooth portion recovered from Blom's property was consistent with Poirier's age, gender and dental work. Blom's barber confirmed that Blom's hair had blond tips at the time of the abduction, making him appear younger (the man in the surveillance video was assumed to be around 25 years old while Blom was 50 at the time of the crime).

Another case studied by investigators was the strangulation of Wilma Johnson, whose body was found near St. Paul Cathedral in 1983. Blom admitted to being at the crime scene, but denied killing Johnson.

In 1975, Blom kidnapped a 14-year-old girl, gagged her and raped her. He locked her in his car trunk, but she managed to escape and turn him in. Blom was tried and convicted. In 1978, he committed aggravated assault. In 1983, he was arrested for criminal sexual conduct. The same year, he threatened two teenage girls at knifepoint in a remote area, tied them to a tree and put socks in their mouths. He choked and revived one of them several times and said he was going to rape them. The girls were rescued when a police officer saw their car parked the wrong way and investigated. Blom fled into the woods and later changed his appearance by dyeing his hair. He was arrested two months later when one of the girls recognized him. He pleaded guilty to the crime.

Investigators believe Blom may have been involved in a series of murders, possibly dating back to the 1970s. They believe that his modus operandi was to change his name and appearance after each incident. Dennis Fier, a Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agent, has long suspected Blom to be a serial killer. According to Fier, Blom admitted that he "often would leave for entire nights, would be using alcohol and drugs and would not remember when he came home the next day, where he had been or what he did."

Donald Albin Blom (born February 5, 1949) is an American murderer serving life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of Katie Poirier in 1999. A registered sex offender involved in five cases of kidnapping and sexual assault prior to Poirier's murder, he is suspected of being a serial killer by case investigators.