A 47-year-old Bloomington woman has admitted to beating and strangling her roommate because she believed the woman reported her for drinking.
Woman pleads guilty to killing roommate in Bloomington sober living quarters
Donna M. Bastyr pleaded guilty in Hennepin County District Court to second-degree murder in connection with the death in May 2018 of Corrine L. Gibbs, 69, in a Bloomington apartment for recovering alcoholics in the 8100 block of 12th Avenue S.
Bastyr remains jailed before sentencing scheduled for Sept. 11. Prosecutors say they anticipate she'll be sentenced to a term ranging from 23 to 32½ years. With credit for time in jail since her arrest, Bastyr could spend anywhere from 14⅔ to 21 years in prison, with the balance on supervised release.
Police found Gibbs' body in a bedroom, and she had numerous injuries to her head and face and an electrical cord wrapped around her neck.
The autopsy also revealed numerous broken ribs and bruised arms. Near the body were a dumbbell and a ceramic bowl with blood on them.
Soon after the body was discovered, authorities were alerted to Bastyr's whereabouts a few blocks away, where she was arguing with someone at another sober living complex, the criminal complaint read.
Bastyr was angry with Gibbs because she believed the roommate "had reported [her] for drinking at the sober house and ... believed she was going to get kicked out of the program," according to the complaint.
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