Matthews convicted in shooting death of St. Paul man outside bar

Mother of a man killed outside bar told the court about her "bottomless pit" of emotion.

By PAT PHEIFER, Star Tribune

Last update: November 7, 2009 - 4:45 PM

Even though Audie Matthews professed innocence from the start, a Ramsey County District Court jury convicted him Saturday of first- and second-degree murder in the March 2008 death of Blaine Christofferson in St. Paul.

District Judge Gregg Johnson immediately sentenced Matthews, 33, to life in prison. An appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court is automatic.

Prosecutor John Ristad read a letter written by Christofferson's mother, Karen Christofferson. She described her grief as "a bottomless pit you can't step over or around."

Christofferson's ex-wife, Melissa, spoke in court, saying, "He'd give anyone the shirt off his back." He had five children. "It's too easy to hate," she said.

Outside the court, Ristad said he's "happy the jury reached the decision they did" and said he has to give "a lot of credit to the St. Paul Police Department for the job they did both initially and with all the follow-up."

Christofferson, 31, of St. Paul, was shot to death in a parking lot across from the Cherry Pit bar at Minnehaha and White Bear Avenues. He and his friends were leaving at closing time when a gunman approached, pointed a gun at the back of his neck and told him "Gimme me what you got," Ristad told the jury in his closing argument Friday.

Christofferson handed the robber his wallet, but it wasn't enough. There was a struggle and the gunman fired twice, once as his victim turned and ran and another as he lay on the ground.

Ristad told the jury that there were some things he just couldn't explain. But, he said, he didn't need to. Although witnesses' descriptions varied, they all testified the shooter was a black male wearing a hoodie and ski mask and carrying a black gun. A police dog, Sully, tracked a "fear scent" from the shooting scene. In one spot, he found a hat, jacket, gloves and the gun; in another, a second jacket, a ski mask and the defendant's cell phone.

An officer stopped the defendant about a block away, wearing no coat, no hat and no gloves but sweating in the near-zero-degree temperature. Matthews said he'd been at the Cherry Pit and described his route -- the same one Sully had taken, only in reverse.

After his arrest, Matthews made jailhouse phone calls to his mother, saying, "Things happened that wasn't supposed to" and "I messed up."

An expert from the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension testified that 84 percent of the world's population could be excluded from DNA found on the gun barrel. Matthews and Christofferson's DNA could not. While 99.9998 percent could be excluded from DNA found on the ski mask, Matthews couldn't.

Defense attorney John Riemer, however, told jurors that Matthews was not the killer. Riemer suggested in his closing argument that a man who argued with one of Christofferson's friends at the bar and then drove his van into the parking lot to continue the argument was either "the shooter or a prime witness."

Police did an "inadequate investigation" -- even leaving the jacket, hat and ski mask on the floor of the homicide unit -- which "brings no credibility to any DNA evidence."

On Saturday, Riemer said Matthews is "obviously disappointed" in the verdict. He has "always conveyed his appreciation of their loss. He himself has lost a young child, so he has experienced their pain."

Pat Pheifer • 612-741-4992

Recent St. Paul stories

Minnesota poised to get major federal education grant - November 7, 2009

Minnesota poised to get major federal education grant - Experts say the state's history of innovation in education give it a competitive edge in the race for a slice of the $4.35 billion stimulus pie. More

St. Paul soldier with 3 kids among 13 killed - November 7, 2009

PFC Kham Xiong and his brother, Nelson, a Marine.

St. Paul soldier with 3 kids among 13 killed - The death of PFC Kham Xiong -- scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan next month -- on U.S. soil at the hands of a Fort Hood gunman compounds this family's grief. More