- Timothy Stephenson, 48, killed 26-year-old Randall Oliphant. after picking him up at a gay bar in Kansas City
- She confessed to the murder to her then-husband, Joseph Ginjeko, in 2014.
- It wasn’t until the two divorced in 2020 that Ginjeko approached the police.
<!–
<!–
<!– <!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
A Bay Area millionaire was convicted in an unsolved murder case in 1998 after her husband organized a sting operation to catch him.
Timothy Stephenson, 48, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for the murder of Randall Oliphant, 26, earlier this month.
Stephenson shot OIiphant to death after picking him up at a gay bar in Kansas City before taking him back to his home.
Years later, the killer admitted her crimes to her then-husband, Joseph Ginjeko, and even revealed that she had remodeled her bathroom to hide the gruesome scene.
But it wasn’t until six years later, when the couple was going through a complicated divorce and custody battle, that Ginjeko approached police with her information.
Timothy Stephenson, 48, has been convicted of an unsolved murder case in 1998 after his husband organized a sting operation to catch him.
Stephenson, 48, has been found guilty of the January 1998 murder of 26-year-old Randall Oliphant (pictured).
The killer (right) told her husband, Joseph Ginjeko, about the murder in 2014, but it wasn’t until the two separated six years later that she approached police. In the photo: the couple with their twin daughters in 2013.
He told police how Stephenson had once confessed to shooting Oliphant in the bathroom of his home in January 1998.
At that time, Stephenson was questioned by police about the victim’s disappearance, but told them he had dropped him off at another bar after taking him home. East Bay Times reports.
He actually took Oliphant home, where he shot him again and again as he pleaded for his life.
He then dumped the victim’s body in woods 100 miles away in rural Benton County, Missouri, where it was discovered two months later.
Stephenson had managed to hide his dark past for many years, practicing as a doctor and living in a $2 million house in a quiet eastern suburb of San Francisco with Ginjeko and their twin daughters.
But when her personal life began to fall apart, Ginjeko remembered her husband’s 2014 confession and went to the police.
Investigators then discovered that Stephenson’s cell phone records matched roaming uploads from a cell tower near where Oliphant’s body was found.
In 1998, they also interviewed a person who purchased Stephenson’s Jeep Wrangler in May of that year and told them that parts of the car’s carpet had been torn off.
Stephenson shot OIiphant to death after picking him up at a gay bar in Kansas City before taking him back to his home.
Ginjeko agreed to use a microphone to obtain the confession that would ultimately lead to her ex-husband’s conviction.
Stephenson pleaded guilty and was jailed for 16 years with credit for time served.
Traces of blood were found in the rear cargo area, but DNA testing was inconclusive. It is unclear why Stephenson was not arrested at that time.
The forest where Oliphant was found was also familiar to Stephenson, who had spent time near his grandparents’ house growing up.
Ginjeko filed for divorce in 2020 and went to the police shortly after, divulging the kind of information only the killer would have known.
She then agreed to use a microphone to try to obtain a confession from her ex-husband, who never revealed the motive for the murder.
When Ginjeko broached the subject, Stephenson became “paranoid” and asked him if he was wearing a microphone, even patting him down before continuing.
He finally admitted to confessing in 2014, but said he had only told Ginjeko to scare him into not leaving him.
Stephenson was charged with murder in December of that year and extradited to Missouri, where he pleaded guilty.
He was sentenced to 16 years in prison with credit for time served.