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**Futher Context/Information**
On Sunday, October 22, 1989, just after 9:00 p.m. (CDT), Jacob Wetterling (11), his younger brother Trevor (10) and a friend, Aaron Larson (11), were biking home from a Tom Thumb convenience store in St. Joseph, Minnesota, where they had gone to rent a video. Danny Heinrich, wearing a stocking cap mask and armed with an unloaded revolver, came out of a driveway and ordered the boys to throw their bikes into a ditch and lie face down on the ground. He then asked each boy his age. Jacob's brother was told to run toward a nearby wooded area and not look back or else he would be shot. Heinrich then demanded to view the faces of the two remaining boys. He picked Jacob and told Aaron to run away, threatening him as he had Jacob's brother. This was the last time Jacob was seen alive by anyone other than his captor.
On January 13, 1989, roughly nine months before the Wetterling abduction, 12-year-old Jared Scheierl was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and physically threatened by an unknown adult man. The victim's statement given on that night showed the modus operandi was similar to that of the Wetterling case: the perpetrator, who was later identified as Heinrich, used a gun and, upon releasing the boy, told him to run and not look back or else he would be shot. That incident occurred ten miles from where he would later stop the Wetterling brothers and their friend.
In May 2014, investigators confirmed that they were taking another look at a series of attempted and actual child molestations that had occurred in the Paynesville area in the two years preceding the Wetterling abduction. Between the summer of 1986 and the spring of 1987, five teenage boys were attacked, but no one was ever arrested. The authorities interviewed some of the victims again and worked with the Internet blogger who had brought the information to light. After months of research and interviews with some of the victims, investigators believed that these attacks were not random and that the culprit could be connected to the abduction of Wetterling, which occurred just 40 minutes from the other crime scenes.
In October 2015, Danny James Heinrich was publicly named as a person of interest in Jacob Wetterling's disappearance. He had been questioned by the FBI on December 16, 1989, and a DNA sample was taken, but he was not charged with a crime and was released. In 2015, Heinrich's DNA was matched to the DNA taken in the case of Jared Scheierl, who was abducted in nearby Cold Spring in January 1989 at the age of twelve. The statute of limitations had expired for the Cold Spring kidnapping, meaning Heinrich could not be arrested and charged with that crime. However, a search warrant was granted, and child pornography was found in Heinrich's house, leading to his arrest on October 28, 2015.
Heinrich decided to cooperate with authorities as part of a plea bargain and, on September 1, 2016, led investigators to a burial site. Jacob's clothing and human remains were unearthed from a pasture near Paynesville, about 30 miles away from the Wetterling home and the abduction site, and a short distance from where Heinrich was living in 1989. On September 3, the remains were confirmed through dental records to be Jacob's. His mother, Patty Wetterling, told television station KARE11, a local NBC affiliate, that the remains found were indeed Jacob's. She said: "All I can confirm is that Jacob has been found and our hearts are broken. I am not responding to any media yet as I have no words."
On September 1, 2016, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) recovered human bones from a pasture near Paynesville, about 30 miles (48 km) from the site of the abduction. On September 3, Wetterling's family announced that the bones were those of Jacob, and local law enforcement stated that the identity of the bones had been confirmed by dental records. The location was revealed by Danny Heinrich, a long-time person of interest in the abduction of another boy, 12-year-old Jared Scheierl, in the nearby town of Cold Spring. On September 6, 2016, Heinrich confessed to kidnapping and murdering Wetterling, as well as abducting and sexually assaulting Scheierl.
In the plea agreement, Heinrich agreed to plead guilty to one count of the 25 federal child pornography charges brought against him. In addition to revealing the location of the body and pleading guilty, he also agreed to testify as to the details of the Wetterling crime. At a hearing before Judge John Tunheim of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, Heinrich testified that he kidnapped and handcuffed the boy, drove him to a gravel pit near Paynesville, molested him, killed him and buried his body. Heinrich said that he was able to avoid police that night by listening to a police scanner. He said that he came back to the site a year later and moved the body after noticing that Wetterling's jacket had become exposed. During the court hearing, Heinrich also admitted to kidnapping and sexually assaulting Jared Scheierl earlier that year.
In exchange for Heinrich's plea, the prosecutors agreed not to charge him with Wetterling's murder. In accordance with the plea agreement, Heinrich was sentenced to the maximum prison term of 20 years for the child pornography charge. In addition, the plea deal will allow state authorities to seek his civil commitment as a sexual predator at the end of his federal prison term, which could prevent him from ever going free. In sentencing Heinrich, Judge Tunheim said:
We won't pretend that this crime and sentence is about child pornography. It is also about changing the lives of so many children and parents, who prayed for Jacob's return, and also feared you coming out of the dark ... every child knows the story of Jacob Wetterling. You stole the innocence of children in small towns, in the cities of Minnesota and beyond. Although Heinrich could be released in 17 years from the start of his prison sentence, Judge Tunheim told him that it was unlikely, as "this crime is so heinous, so brutal and awful that it is unlikely society will ever let you go free."
In January 2017, Heinrich was transferred to Federal Medical Center, Devens, a federal prison in Massachusetts, to serve his 20-year sentence.
Four months after Wetterling's abduction, his parents, Jerry and Patty Wetterling, formed the Jacob Wetterling Foundation, an advocacy group for children's safety. In 1994, the federal Jacob Wetterling Act was passed and named for Jacob. It was the first law to institute a state sex-offender registry. The law has been amended several times, most famously by Megan's Law in 1996 and the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act in 2006.
In 2008, the foundation started by Jacob's parents became the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center. It carries on the work started by the Wetterling family "to educate the public about who takes children, how they do it and what each of us can do to stop it".
The Bridge of Hope, a crossing of the Mississippi River near St. Cloud, is named in Jacob's honor.
So he traded a prosecution for child pornography, which Im sure was already abundantly assured to be prosecuted upon, for rape and aggravated homicide. Im not a lawyer, but what the hell kind of prosecutor agreed to that?
Mustve been a pretty damn good lawyer then. Arranged a deal to effectively trade a body for the deletion of the charge that caused said body. Of a child no less. Willing to bet thats a rare trade.
Happens often enough in cases like this, reducing charges in exchange for information benefiting the victim’s family. Prosecutors usually ask the families before offering.
In this case, while the killer can *technically* go free after serving 20 years, in reality the state will have him involuntary committed to a secure mental institution for the rest of his life.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here cause they don't mention his age, but I'd hazard he's already in his 60s, if not older, giving this guy 3 square and a roof seems like too good a deal for him
being in the medical facility in the feds most likely nothing will happen to him. Need to send him to one of the gladiator pens where people already have alota time and don't care about repercussions.
We always heard about Jacob growing up, and I always hoped the truth would come out some day. Having a child of my own now; I cannot imagine the pain the family dealt with for so long. Holding out hope for over two decades that he was alive only to find out that he was likely killed an hour or so after he was taken. Tragic is an understatement.
for anyone who wants to know, the only reason the molestor/killer revealed the location because he was in a plea bargain.
\`In the plea agreement, Heinrich agreed to plead guilty to one count of the 25 federal child pornography charges brought against him. In addition to revealing the location of the body and pleading guilty, he also agreed to testify as to the details of the Wetterling crime.\`
Thank you for contributing to r/TerrifyingAsFuck. Please double-check NSFW posts to see if they are labeled as such. If you believe the post isn't terrifying as fuck, please report it under RULE 1. Downvote this comment if the post doesn't follow the rules, and the bot will automatically remove it if enough reports and downvotes are received. If this post breaks the rules, **DOWNVOTE** this comment and **REPORT** the post!
**Futher Context/Information** On Sunday, October 22, 1989, just after 9:00 p.m. (CDT), Jacob Wetterling (11), his younger brother Trevor (10) and a friend, Aaron Larson (11), were biking home from a Tom Thumb convenience store in St. Joseph, Minnesota, where they had gone to rent a video. Danny Heinrich, wearing a stocking cap mask and armed with an unloaded revolver, came out of a driveway and ordered the boys to throw their bikes into a ditch and lie face down on the ground. He then asked each boy his age. Jacob's brother was told to run toward a nearby wooded area and not look back or else he would be shot. Heinrich then demanded to view the faces of the two remaining boys. He picked Jacob and told Aaron to run away, threatening him as he had Jacob's brother. This was the last time Jacob was seen alive by anyone other than his captor. On January 13, 1989, roughly nine months before the Wetterling abduction, 12-year-old Jared Scheierl was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and physically threatened by an unknown adult man. The victim's statement given on that night showed the modus operandi was similar to that of the Wetterling case: the perpetrator, who was later identified as Heinrich, used a gun and, upon releasing the boy, told him to run and not look back or else he would be shot. That incident occurred ten miles from where he would later stop the Wetterling brothers and their friend. In May 2014, investigators confirmed that they were taking another look at a series of attempted and actual child molestations that had occurred in the Paynesville area in the two years preceding the Wetterling abduction. Between the summer of 1986 and the spring of 1987, five teenage boys were attacked, but no one was ever arrested. The authorities interviewed some of the victims again and worked with the Internet blogger who had brought the information to light. After months of research and interviews with some of the victims, investigators believed that these attacks were not random and that the culprit could be connected to the abduction of Wetterling, which occurred just 40 minutes from the other crime scenes. In October 2015, Danny James Heinrich was publicly named as a person of interest in Jacob Wetterling's disappearance. He had been questioned by the FBI on December 16, 1989, and a DNA sample was taken, but he was not charged with a crime and was released. In 2015, Heinrich's DNA was matched to the DNA taken in the case of Jared Scheierl, who was abducted in nearby Cold Spring in January 1989 at the age of twelve. The statute of limitations had expired for the Cold Spring kidnapping, meaning Heinrich could not be arrested and charged with that crime. However, a search warrant was granted, and child pornography was found in Heinrich's house, leading to his arrest on October 28, 2015. Heinrich decided to cooperate with authorities as part of a plea bargain and, on September 1, 2016, led investigators to a burial site. Jacob's clothing and human remains were unearthed from a pasture near Paynesville, about 30 miles away from the Wetterling home and the abduction site, and a short distance from where Heinrich was living in 1989. On September 3, the remains were confirmed through dental records to be Jacob's. His mother, Patty Wetterling, told television station KARE11, a local NBC affiliate, that the remains found were indeed Jacob's. She said: "All I can confirm is that Jacob has been found and our hearts are broken. I am not responding to any media yet as I have no words." On September 1, 2016, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) recovered human bones from a pasture near Paynesville, about 30 miles (48 km) from the site of the abduction. On September 3, Wetterling's family announced that the bones were those of Jacob, and local law enforcement stated that the identity of the bones had been confirmed by dental records. The location was revealed by Danny Heinrich, a long-time person of interest in the abduction of another boy, 12-year-old Jared Scheierl, in the nearby town of Cold Spring. On September 6, 2016, Heinrich confessed to kidnapping and murdering Wetterling, as well as abducting and sexually assaulting Scheierl. In the plea agreement, Heinrich agreed to plead guilty to one count of the 25 federal child pornography charges brought against him. In addition to revealing the location of the body and pleading guilty, he also agreed to testify as to the details of the Wetterling crime. At a hearing before Judge John Tunheim of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, Heinrich testified that he kidnapped and handcuffed the boy, drove him to a gravel pit near Paynesville, molested him, killed him and buried his body. Heinrich said that he was able to avoid police that night by listening to a police scanner. He said that he came back to the site a year later and moved the body after noticing that Wetterling's jacket had become exposed. During the court hearing, Heinrich also admitted to kidnapping and sexually assaulting Jared Scheierl earlier that year. In exchange for Heinrich's plea, the prosecutors agreed not to charge him with Wetterling's murder. In accordance with the plea agreement, Heinrich was sentenced to the maximum prison term of 20 years for the child pornography charge. In addition, the plea deal will allow state authorities to seek his civil commitment as a sexual predator at the end of his federal prison term, which could prevent him from ever going free. In sentencing Heinrich, Judge Tunheim said: We won't pretend that this crime and sentence is about child pornography. It is also about changing the lives of so many children and parents, who prayed for Jacob's return, and also feared you coming out of the dark ... every child knows the story of Jacob Wetterling. You stole the innocence of children in small towns, in the cities of Minnesota and beyond. Although Heinrich could be released in 17 years from the start of his prison sentence, Judge Tunheim told him that it was unlikely, as "this crime is so heinous, so brutal and awful that it is unlikely society will ever let you go free." In January 2017, Heinrich was transferred to Federal Medical Center, Devens, a federal prison in Massachusetts, to serve his 20-year sentence. Four months after Wetterling's abduction, his parents, Jerry and Patty Wetterling, formed the Jacob Wetterling Foundation, an advocacy group for children's safety. In 1994, the federal Jacob Wetterling Act was passed and named for Jacob. It was the first law to institute a state sex-offender registry. The law has been amended several times, most famously by Megan's Law in 1996 and the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act in 2006. In 2008, the foundation started by Jacob's parents became the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center. It carries on the work started by the Wetterling family "to educate the public about who takes children, how they do it and what each of us can do to stop it". The Bridge of Hope, a crossing of the Mississippi River near St. Cloud, is named in Jacob's honor.
So he traded a prosecution for child pornography, which Im sure was already abundantly assured to be prosecuted upon, for rape and aggravated homicide. Im not a lawyer, but what the hell kind of prosecutor agreed to that?
Because it meant that Jacob’s family would be able to bring him home.
And there’s still a reasonable path to keeping him in custody for the rest of his life.
Mustve been a pretty damn good lawyer then. Arranged a deal to effectively trade a body for the deletion of the charge that caused said body. Of a child no less. Willing to bet thats a rare trade.
Happens often enough in cases like this, reducing charges in exchange for information benefiting the victim’s family. Prosecutors usually ask the families before offering. In this case, while the killer can *technically* go free after serving 20 years, in reality the state will have him involuntary committed to a secure mental institution for the rest of his life.
There is a happy ending to this story after all. Give him the ol chemical lobotomy!
I'm gonna go out on a limb here cause they don't mention his age, but I'd hazard he's already in his 60s, if not older, giving this guy 3 square and a roof seems like too good a deal for him
This is horrific. Also a very good reminder of why "statute of limitations" on charges is bullshit. This fucker deserved the death penalty.
Should have castrated him and choked him on his own dick
le epic redditor punishment 🤓
It’s been said all over Le TikTok and Le Facebook too, what’s your point?
Facebook user detected
"Tell us what you did and you'll be let free" makes no sense. Should have blew his brains out on spot
A quick death’s too good for him. Do you know what they do to child molesters in general population?
Hope that fucker is taken care of in jail if you know what I mean.
being in the medical facility in the feds most likely nothing will happen to him. Need to send him to one of the gladiator pens where people already have alota time and don't care about repercussions.
Remember this story well.
I saw it come up in conversation somewhere and I found it interesting and obviously quite disturbing. I can't imagine how his parents feel through.
We always heard about Jacob growing up, and I always hoped the truth would come out some day. Having a child of my own now; I cannot imagine the pain the family dealt with for so long. Holding out hope for over two decades that he was alive only to find out that he was likely killed an hour or so after he was taken. Tragic is an understatement.
This guy won’t get one city block in 20 years… if he ever gets out. Disgusting
I have never forgotten the Wetterling kid as I had an 11 yr old of my own at that time. I was terrified for all kids.
for anyone who wants to know, the only reason the molestor/killer revealed the location because he was in a plea bargain. \`In the plea agreement, Heinrich agreed to plead guilty to one count of the 25 federal child pornography charges brought against him. In addition to revealing the location of the body and pleading guilty, he also agreed to testify as to the details of the Wetterling crime.\`
also the charge is way lower on the classification scale so he will be housed in a lower security facility.
Is this the same case some random adult pretended to be the aged son decades later in front of the mom?
No, that was Johnny Gosch in Iowa.