Bay Area millionaire is convicted of 1998 cold case shooting murder of man he met at gay bar after killer’s husband set up sting to bring him to justice amid messy divorce

A Bay Area millionaire has been convicted of a 1998 cold case murder after his husband set up a sting operation to capture him.

Timothy Stephenson, 48, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for the murder of 26-year-old Randall Oliphant earlier this month.

Stephenson fatally shot OIphant after picking him up at a gay bar in Kansas City before taking him back to his home.

Years later, the killer admitted his crimes to then-husband, Joseph Ginjeko, and even revealed that he had remodeled his bathroom to hide the gruesome scene.

But it wasn’t until six years later, when the couple was going through a messy divorce and custody battle, that Ginjeko approached police with his information.

Stephenson, 48, has been convicted of the January 1998 murder of 26-year-old Randall Oliphant (pictured)

The killer (right) told his husband, Joseph Ginjeko, about the murder in 2014, but it was only when the two separated six years later that he approached police. Pictured: the couple with their twin daughters in 2013

He told police how Stephenson once confessed to shooting Oliphant in the bathroom of his home in January 1998.

Stephenson was questioned by police at the time about the victim’s disappearance, but told them he dropped him off at another bar after taking him home. East Bay Times reports.

In reality, he took Oliphant home, where he occasionally shot him as he begged for his life.

He then dumped the victim’s body in a forest 100 miles away in rural Benton County, Missouri, where it was discovered two months later.

Stephenson had successfully concealed his dark past for years, practicing as a doctor and living in a $2 million home in a quiet suburb east of San Francisco with Ginjeko and their twin daughters.

But as his personal life began to unravel, Ginjeko remembered his husband’s 2014 confession and went to the police.

Investigators subsequently discovered that Stephenson’s cell phone data matched roaming charges 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, who told them that parts of the car’s carpet had been torn.

Stephenson fatally shot OIphant after picking him up at a gay bar in Kansas City before taking him back to his home

Ginjeko agreed to wear a microphone to elicit the confession that would ultimately lead to his estranged husband’s conviction

Stephenson pleaded guilty and was sentenced to sixteen years in prison, with credit for time served

Traces of blood were found in the rear luggage compartment, but DNA evidence was inconclusive. It is not clear why Stephenson was not arrested at the time.

The forest where Oliphant was found was also known to Stephenson, who had spent time at his grandparents’ house nearby during his childhood.

Ginjeko filed for divorce in 2020 and went to the police not long after, revealing the kind of information that only the killer would have known.

He then agreed to wear a microphone in an attempt to elicit a confession from his estranged husband, who never disclosed his motive for the murder.

When Ginjeko broached the subject, Stephenson became “paranoid” and asked if he was wearing a listening device, even frisking him before proceeding.

He eventually admitted to the confession in 2014, but said he only told Ginjeko to scare him so he wouldn’t leave 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.