Overview
- A jury convicted Bulle of two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of kidnapping, and the court imposed 187 months for the assault plus 48 months for kidnapping to be served consecutively.
- The 2013 attack occurred after Melissa Zimmerman was separated from friends; a passerby helped her and she underwent a sexual assault exam that was sent to the state crime lab.
- The Minnesota BCA generated a DNA profile from the kit in 2020, but it did not match a known person until Bulle’s DNA was collected in an unrelated 2024 case.
- A 2019 audit uncovered more than 1,700 untested kits at Minneapolis police, and SAKI-funded testing has since produced multiple DNA hits and prosecutions, according to county officials.
- Zimmerman spoke at sentencing, urging survivors to complete exams, while records show Bulle is incarcerated at Rush City and separately received a 36-month sentence in a 2025 assault case.