Poirier's killer again is denied an appeal

Star Tribune/AP, Family photo

Kathlyn "Katie" Poirier, shown in an undated family handout with her dogs Goldie, right, and Riley.

Minnesota's Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Donald Blom, the man who killed Katie Poirier in 1999 at a convenience store.

Star Tribune

Last update: December 28, 2007 - 1:05 AM

The man convicted in the 1999 killing of convenience store clerk Katie Poirier lost his third bid for an appeal Thursday.

The state Supreme Court won't grant Donald Blom's request for a new evidentiary hearing.

In his request for an appeal, Blom claimed among other things that his confession was coerced in violation of his constitutional rights and that he had been improperly denied the opportunity to gather evidence demonstrating his innocence. He also claimed he is being improperly imprisoned out of state, preventing him from perfecting his appeal.

In a three-page ruling written by Justice Helen Meyer, the court said Blom's claims were procedurally barred.

Blom, who was living in Richfield at the time, confessed to killing Poirier, 19, of Barnum, Minn., while she was working alone at DJ's Expressway Conoco in nearby Moose Lake. He said he strangled her and burned her body on his property in Moose Lake. He later recanted, but the confession was used at trial.

Blom was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. In July 2004, the state Supreme Court issued an 81-page ruling upholding Blom's conviction.

Rochelle Olson • 612-673-1747

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