Bloody shoes lead to Minneapolis murder suspect

Jon Fitzgerald Posey told police he killed Brian Lumbar with a bat because he feared being killed, charges said.

By RODRIGO ZAMITH, Star Tribune

Last update: August 5, 2008 - 11:24 PM

A Minneapolis man has been charged with what prosecutors called "a brutal and bloody" slaying of another man whose body was found Sunday morning at a homeless camp in north Minneapolis.

Jon Fitzgerald Posey, 43, is charged with premeditated murder in connection with the city's 22nd homicide of the year. He is being held in the Hennepin County jail and would face up to life in prison if he is found guilty.

According to the charges, police spoke with several people around the area before talking with Posey, who police noted had blood on his shoes. When they asked Posey to take off his shoes, he said "he was going to make their job easier" and confessed to killing Brian Wayne Lumbar, 47, with a baseball bat.

Posey said he killed Lumbar because he thought Lumbar "may kill him sometime in the future," the complaint said. The complaint also said that Lumbar tried to flee after Posey hit him with the bat and that Posey followed him across the street and continued to hit him on the head.

Officers found Lumbar's body in a pool of blood in the 600 block of Olson Highway, in a secluded area in a commercial district, about 7 a.m. after a 911 call.

Paul Scoggin, a prosecutor with the Hennepin County attorney's office, said police confiscated Posey's shoes, clothing and other items, likely including the weapon. He said the items were being analyzed by the crime lab, a process that could take weeks.

According to Scoggin, several people witnessed "bits and pieces" that he believed could bring a compelling case, but he declined to say whether any witnesses saw the attack.

Rodrigo Zamith • 612-673-4895

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