Murder of Jacob Wetterling

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.[9][10] 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.[11] The statute of limitations had expired for the Cold Spring kidnapping, meaning Heinrich could not be arrested and charged with that crime.[12] A search warrant was issued and child pornography was found in Heinrich's house, leading to his arrest on October 28, 2015.[10][12][13]

Heinrich decided to cooperate with authorities as part of a plea bargain and, on September 1, 2016, led investigators to a burial site.[14] Jacob's clothing and human remains were unearthed from a pasture near Paynesville, about 30 mi (48 km) away from the Wetterling home and the abduction site and a short distance from where Heinrich was living in 1989.[1] 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."[15][16][17]

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.[18][19] 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.[4] During the court hearing, Heinrich also admitted to kidnapping and sexually assaulting Jared Scheierl earlier that year.[18]

In exchange for Heinrich's plea, the prosecutors agreed not to charge him with Wetterling's murder.[20] 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.[21] 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."[22]

In January 2017, Heinrich was transferred to Federal Medical Center, Devens, a federal prison in Massachusetts, to serve his 20-year sentence.[23]