Danny Heinrich confesses to abducting and killing Jacob Wetterling

[mahatmakanejeeves]

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 they’d 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 Jacob’s 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/

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The article contains several lines from Heinrich's confession. I'm crying reading it. It is difficult to take.

[trotsky]

1. This story haunted so many for so long.

Almost surreal to think we now know what happened.

And so sad. The police were so close.

[Siwsan]

2. I just finished reading about this, too. Heart breaking doesn't begin to describe it.

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]

3. They found peace in helping to protect other children

[Siwsan]

4. You are so right.

[Brickbat]

5. "What did I do wrong?" Jacob asked.

Heartbreaking. I cannot imagine.

[left-of-center2012]

6. He may not live long in prison

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]

7. Sounds like he may be dying of something, and this is him "clearing his conscience"

Which to me, is more self-serving egotistical psychopath bullshit.

I hope his final days are as medically painful as possible.

[LisaL]

8. He didn't do it to "clear his conscience."

He did it to get a plea deal on his porn charges. He will never be prosecuted for the murder.

[niyad]

9. can someone explain this to me? no murder charges, porn charges instead? with a confession?

what am I missing?

[LisaL]

10. He only confessed because they promised him a plea deal on his porn charges.

[Brickbat]

11. The Wetterlings approved the deal.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

12. “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.

Can Federal charges be brought?

IANAL.

[LisaL]

13. No. He got a plea deal under which if he confessed and revealed location of the body,

he won't be charged with murder.

[Xithras]

14. A murder prosecution wouldn't accomplish much anyway.

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]

15. thank you. I understand now.

and, of course, the poor child's parents will not have to go through the agony of a trial.

[Xithras]

16. It's worse than that.

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]

17. wonder how long he is going to last inside.

[Xithras]

18. Not 20 years.

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]

19. pretty much what I am thinking.

[joeybee12]

20. Poor little guy

I hope he's at peace