A convicted killer has died from apparent natural causes at the maximum-security Potosi Correctional Center in southeast Missouri.
Convicted killer Cornelius Bridges (2017 file photo courtesy of the Missouri Department of Corrections)
The state Department of Corrections says 51-year-old Cornelius Bridges died early Wednesday morning at the prison, which is in Mineral Point.
Bridges had been incarcerated since 1989, serving a life sentence without parole for first degree murder. Bridges was also convicted in St. Louis City of armed criminal action and first degree robbery.
Bridges was convicted for the highly-publicized 1988 killing of Jeanine Balsamo, who was shot to death during a robbery outside of Talayna’s restaurant in St. Louis.
The victim had just eaten dinner with friends. Online court records indicate Bridges’ gun barrel was no more than 12 inches from Balsamo’s head.
The “St. Louis Post-Dispatch” reported in 1989 that Jeanine Balsamo worked as a Trans World Airlines flight attendant.
