Bloody fingerprint on knife led to arrest in St. Paul slaying
BY SHANNON PRATHER
Pioneer Press (MN)
October 9, 2006
A frantic 911 call from a dying April Lynn Salinas on Friday afternoon led St. Paul police to a crime scene at the victim's apartment in St. Paul's Payne-Phalen neighborhood.
A bloody fingerprint on a butcher knife dropped on the sidewalk less than a mile from Salinas' apartment then helped authorities charge a suspect.
Today, Ramsey County prosecutors charged Armstrong Weston, 42, of St. Paul, with second-degree murder for Salinas' slaying.
Prosecutors have not revealed a motive for the crime, but police say its crime lab investigators were able to quickly make a case against Weston after the discovery off the bloodied knife.
"The finding of this physical evidence by our crime lab was key to getting this case charged," said Police Chief John Harrington in a written statement. "The work done by our crime lab is excruciatingly difficult and time consuming and too seldom do we recognize their efforts in serving this city."
Police dispatchers received Salinas' call for help around 2:49 p.m. Friday. The fatally injured woman said she'd been stabbed and her attacker was still there. Salinas did not name her attacker. Officers discovered Salinas, 36, inside her apartment at 656 Bush Ave. suffering from five stab wounds. She died at Regions Hospital at about 3 p.m.
At the same time, Weston showed up Regions Hospital with a stab wound to his neck. Weston told staff he'd been attacked and robbed on Rice Street, but Weston still had two wallets in his pocket and more than $40 in cash. Police discovered a bloodied screwdriver in the van he drove to the hospital.
An employee of Minnesota Music Cafe found the bloodied knife on the sidewalk at 499 Payne Ave. at 3:15 p.m. Friday.
Weston was discharged from the hospital Saturday and immediately arrested for murder.
Shannon Prather can be reached at sprather@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5452.