Man dismembered: Robert West, 41, of Duluth, Minn., has been charged with disposing of the body of Richard “Ricky” Balsimo, pictured, in Lake Superior.
Man dismembered: Robert West, right, of Duluth, Minn., has been charged with disposing of the body of Richard “Ricky” Balsimo, pictured at left, in Lake Superior.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that Balsimo had texted the mother of his child around 2 a.m.
No one had been charged with killing Balsimo as of Thursday.
Dismembered man: The Lake Superior shoreline is shown in a 2003 file photo taken from the Grand Portage Indian Reservation, located near the Minnesota-Canadian border.
According to the court documents, a female witness told BCA investigators that she’d met up with West and another man at West’s Duluth home on June 20.
Two days later, on June 22, West allegedly asked the woman if she knew anyone with a boat, claiming that he wanted to go fishing.
The woman and West traveled that day to Grand Portage, taking separate cars.
Dismembered man: A commercial fisherman travels near the shoreline of Lake Superior in a 1999 file photo.
The fisherman later took BCA investigators to the approximate area where he said West dropped the containers.
According to the complaint, West confessed Friday to concocting the plan to get rid of Balsimo’s remains and to helping the alleged killer dismember him.
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