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Bulle was convicted by a jury last month in a case that languished for years with no leads until a backlog of rape kits were processed under a special initiative.
Mohamud Hillow Bulle/Hennepin County Sheriff's Office
Mohamud Hillow Bulle has been sentenced to over 19 years in prison in connection to a 2013 stranger-rape cold case that occurred in a Minneapolis public park. He’ll be eligible for release in 13 years or less.
Bulle, 36, was convicted by a jury last month in Hennepin County District Court on two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping in a case that languished for years with no leads until a backlog of rape kits were processed under a special initiative.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office held a press conference following the sentencing last week, during which Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty described that in 2019 it was discovered that the Minneapolis Police Department had over 1,700 sexual assault test kits in storage that could contain biological evidence, which had remained untested over the years. In 2020, the federal government funded the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), which local justice partners used to help tackle the testing backlog.
The victim, Melissa Zimmerman, was also present and spoke about the case.
Zimmerman said she and her husband had been met with what seemed like a lack of action on her case for months when they inquired to Minneapolis police investigators, so she assumed there was no DNA evidence present in the test kit. In reality, DNA evidence was present in the kit, but it had never been submitted for testing until the SAKI initiative.
Zimmerman encouraged other rape victims to complete a test kit, even though “it’s scary,” she said. But without it, “I wouldn’t have been able to send a horrible, horrible person to jail finally.”
Zimmerman also clarified a notation in the criminal complaint against Bulle indicating that early in the case, she had declined to move forward with the case. She said that was not true and that she did not recall having a conversation with anyone about that. Zimmerman’s husband, Adam, also commented that at one point he was told by the Minneapolis Police Department that the rape kit had been submitted for testing, and called that “a bold-faced lie.”
Details from the criminal complaint describe that Zimmerman had been at an event in October 2013 with friends when she became separated from the group. A male later identified as Bulle followed her and offered to let her use his cellphone. After being unable to complete her call, Bulle attacked Zimmerman and pushed her into a ditch at a nearby park where he held her down with his hands around her neck, pinned her knees to the ground, pulled off her bottom clothing, and attempted to sexually penetrate her. Zimmerman suffered other injuries including a hemorrhage in her eye, scratches, and bruising over her body.
When the rape kit was finally tested in 2020, an unidentified male suspect DNA profile was obtained, but there was no match at the time. In May 2024, a DNA match was made to another unidentified domestic sexual assault suspect in a case from St. Paul.
In October 2024, Bulle was named as a suspect in an unrelated attempted murder and assault case, in which he was subsequently required to submit a DNA sample pursuant to a search warrant. Forensic testing determined that Bulle’s DNA was a match to both Zimmerman’s test kit and the other domestic sexual assault case.
Bulle has been incarcerated since March of this year connected to the attempted murder case, in which he pled guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree assault and was sentenced to 36 months in prison.
Bulle was sentenced to consecutive terms of 187 months and 48 months for Zimmerman’s rape and kidnapping, respectively, for a total of 235 months. Under Minnesota law, offenders are only required to serve two-thirds or less of their sentence incarcerated before becoming eligible for release. With credit for 248 days of time already served, DOC records show Bulle is scheduled for release in March 2038, after serving just 13 years.
Mohamud Hillow Bulle/Hennepin County Sheriff's OfficeMohamud Hillow Bulle has been sentenced to over 19 years in prison in connection to a 2013 stranger-rape cold case that occurred in a Minneapolis public park. He’ll be eligible for release in 13 years or less.
Bulle, 36, was convicted by a jury last month in Hennepin County District Court on two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping in a case that languished for years with no leads until a backlog of rape kits were processed under a special initiative.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office held a press conference following the sentencing last week, during which Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty described that in 2019 it was discovered that the Minneapolis Police Department had over 1,700 sexual assault test kits in storage that could contain biological evidence, which had remained untested over the years. In 2020, the federal government funded the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), which local justice partners used to help tackle the testing backlog.
The victim, Melissa Zimmerman, was also present and spoke about the case.
Zimmerman said she and her husband had been met with what seemed like a lack of action on her case for months when they inquired to Minneapolis police investigators, so she assumed there was no DNA evidence present in the test kit. In reality, DNA evidence was present in the kit, but it had never been submitted for testing until the SAKI initiative.
Zimmerman encouraged other rape victims to complete a test kit, even though “it’s scary,” she said. But without it, “I wouldn’t have been able to send a horrible, horrible person to jail finally.”
Zimmerman also clarified a notation in the criminal complaint against Bulle indicating that early in the case, she had declined to move forward with the case. She said that was not true and that she did not recall having a conversation with anyone about that. Zimmerman’s husband, Adam, also commented that at one point he was told by the Minneapolis Police Department that the rape kit had been submitted for testing, and called that “a bold-faced lie.”
Details from the criminal complaint describe that Zimmerman had been at an event in October 2013 with friends when she became separated from the group. A male later identified as Bulle followed her and offered to let her use his cellphone. After being unable to complete her call, Bulle attacked Zimmerman and pushed her into a ditch at a nearby park where he held her down with his hands around her neck, pinned her knees to the ground, pulled off her bottom clothing, and attempted to sexually penetrate her. Zimmerman suffered other injuries including a hemorrhage in her eye, scratches, and bruising over her body.
When the rape kit was finally tested in 2020, an unidentified male suspect DNA profile was obtained, but there was no match at the time. In May 2024, a DNA match was made to another unidentified domestic sexual assault suspect in a case from St. Paul.
In October 2024, Bulle was named as a suspect in an unrelated attempted murder and assault case, in which he was subsequently required to submit a DNA sample pursuant to a search warrant. Forensic testing determined that Bulle’s DNA was a match to both Zimmerman’s test kit and the other domestic sexual assault case.
Bulle has been incarcerated since March of this year connected to the attempted murder case, in which he pled guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree assault and was sentenced to 36 months in prison.
Bulle was sentenced to consecutive terms of 187 months and 48 months for Zimmerman’s rape and kidnapping, respectively, for a total of 235 months. Under Minnesota law, offenders are only required to serve two-thirds or less of their sentence incarcerated before becoming eligible for release. With credit for 248 days of time already served, DOC records show Bulle is scheduled for release in March 2038, after serving just 13 years.
