Danny Heinrich confesses to abducting and killing Jacob Wetterling
Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune
Danny Heinrich confesses to abducting and killing Jacob Wetterling
After Heinrich's detailed, horrifying courtroom confession on how he kidnapped and killed Jacob, Patty Wetterling said, "It's incredibly painful to know his last days, his last minutes."
By Stephen Montemayor Star Tribune staff writers
September 6, 2016 3:11pm
The man who kidnapped Jacob Wetterling finally gave his family the answers theyd waited almost 27 years to hear, confessing in to abducting and killing the 11-year-old boy in October 1989.
In exchange for his confession and agreement to a plea deal involving child pornography charges against him, however, Danny James Heinrich, 53, will not be prosecuted for Jacobs murder.
State officials have agreed that there will be no state prosecution for the crimes committed in 1989, U.S. District Judge John Tunheim said Tuesday before a packed federal courtroom in Minneapolis.
At a news conference soon after and with family members in attendance, U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger said, Finally, we know. ... We know the truth. Danny Heinrich is no long the person of interest; he is the confessed killer of Jacob Wetterling.
Read more: http://www.startribune.com/danny-heinrich-confesses-to-abducting-and-killing-jacob-wetterling/392438361/
The article contains several lines from Heinrich's confession. I'm crying reading it. It is difficult to take.
trotsky
(49,533 posts)Almost surreal to think we now know what happened.
And so sad. The police were so close.
Siwsan
(26,361 posts)To go that many years, not knowing. Always believing there was hope he was still alive, despite the odds.
I hope this poor family can now find some sense of peace.
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)Siwsan
(26,361 posts)Brickbat
(19,339 posts)Heartbreaking. I cannot imagine.
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)I remember a priest in Boston sentenced for raping boys. He was kept alone, locked away from the other prisoners.
One prisoner did get to him, and beat him to death.
The killer had been molested as a boy.
ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)Which to me, is more self-serving egotistical psychopath bullshit.
I hope his final days are as medically painful as possible.
LisaL
(44,989 posts)He did it to get a plea deal on his porn charges. He will never be prosecuted for the murder.
niyad
(114,178 posts)what am I missing?
LisaL
(44,989 posts)Brickbat
(19,339 posts)mahatmakanejeeves
(57,857 posts)the crimes committed in 1989, U.S. District Judge John Tunheim said Tuesday before a packed federal courtroom in Minneapolis.
Can Federal charges be brought?
IANAL.
LisaL
(44,989 posts)he won't be charged with murder.
Xithras
(16,191 posts)He's 53 and will spend the next 20 years of his life in prison (zero chance this guy gets paroled). When he finishes his prison sentence at 73, he'll be facing an involuntarily civil commitment as a predatory sex offender for the rest of his life.
This guy will never walk free again, and Minnesota has no death penalty. Basically, the state and federal governments traded a few years of senior prison life for a slightly less uncomfortable confinement in a mental ward, and in exchange they get to avoid the risks and traumas of a trial AND get the body back to the family right away.
Trying an convicting him of murder wouldn't have kept him locked away any longer because he's already going to be locked away for life. At most, it would have made his last few years slightly less comfortable. The state and federal governments correctly decided that closing the case down in exchange for a few years of comfort (or lessened discomfort) was a worthwhile trade.
niyad
(114,178 posts)and, of course, the poor child's parents will not have to go through the agony of a trial.
Xithras
(16,191 posts)The moment his attorneys made the offer, it confirmed that he committed the murder. He's been a suspect for many years but has never been charged because there was no evidence. If the prosecutors had refused his offer, they'd have imprisoned him on the child porn charges but still wouldn't have been able to pursue murder charges...floating an offer isn't sufficient evidence to secure a conviction. He'd have spent the rest of his life in prison, but he'd still avoid a murder trial, his family wouldn't know what really happened and the body would have never been found.
Without the immunity there would have never been a confession. Without the confession, there couldn't have been a murder trial anyway. Rock, meet hard place.
niyad
(114,178 posts)Xithras
(16,191 posts)I'm not the type to wish prison violence on anyone, but looking at it objectively...this guy doesn't stand a chance. A confessed child killer who GOT AWAY WITH IT is going to be a huge target for prisoners looking for rep.
niyad
(114,178 posts)joeybee12
(56,177 posts)I hope he's at peace
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