by Frank Lee
operations@thenewsleaders.com
Jacob Wetterling’s murderer was recently sentenced in a federal court to 20 years in prison but not for killing the St. Joseph boy who was abducted and fatally shot almost three decades ago.
Danny Heinrich, 53, of Annandale was sentenced on the morning of Nov. 21 in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis by Judge John Tunheim on one count of receiving child pornography.
“Every child knows the story of Jacob Wetterling,” Tunheim said. “You stole the innocence of small children. (That is) one of the most truly horrible crimes I have ever seen.”
A community memorial service was held Sept. 25 for Wetterling at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, and countless numbers of people attended the public service and joined the Wetterling family for “an ecumenical prayer service of remembrance, hope and healing.”
On Sept. 6, Heinrich confessed to kidnapping, sexually assaulting and killing the 11-year-old boy while sparing the boy’s brother and their friend while they were bicycling on Oct. 22, 1989 at a time when Heinrich lived in Paynesville, where he led authorities to the boy’s remains this year.
Parents Patty and Jerry Wetterling were at the U.S. District Courthouse in Minneapolis during Heinrich’s chilling confession in September, and the St. Joseph couple were again in court for Heinrich’s sentencing on Nov. 21 for possessing child pornography.
“You did not need to kill him,” Patty Wetterling reportedly said at Heinrich’s sentencing. “He did nothing wrong. He just wanted to go home. You planned to hurt him. You brought bullets. Why would you use bullets if you didn’t plan to use them?’
About the time of the Wetterling’s disappearance, a man in the Paynesville area had molested many boys during several years, but Heinrich finally confessed to sexually assaulting and killing Wetterling when he pleaded guilty to unrelated child pornography charges on Sept. 6.
Investigators into Jacob Wetterling’s abduction by a masked gunman found 19 three-ring binders containing 100 images of child pornography last year while searching Heinrich’s home, which was about a half-hour south of St. Joseph, but Wetterling’s image was not among the items.
Heinrich served as a specialist in the Minnesota National Guard out of Willmar from 1982-1991, and was discharged under honorable conditions. Heinrich was arrested, however, last year and was eventually charged with 25 federal counts of possessing and receiving child pornography.
Patty and Jerry Wetterling, and their three surviving children were in the federal courtroom in Minneapolis on Nov. 21, and each gave a victim-impact statement that was read at Heinrich’s sentencing, during which the parents and their adult children spoke in court.
Attorney Doug Kelley said on behalf of the Wetterlings: “Today is almost like starting all over again for the family … and they would like to just have some time now to heal, and as Patty said they are going to have the most joyous Thanksgiving they’ve had in a long time.”
Gov. Mark Dayton, who attended the Jacob Wetterling Memorial Service on Sept. 25, stated in an official state proclamation that Oct. 22, 2016 was to be “Jacob Wetterling Day” – 27 years to the date after Wetterling was abducted in 1989.
Dayton mentioned in his proclamation how the boy’s abduction profoundly affected the lives of Minnesotans and that Wetterling’s parents dedicated their lives to children’s safety by helping to create the Jacob Wetterling Act of 1994, the start of a state registry to help keep children safe.
“I am truly sorry for my evil acts — for the victims and their families — and the shame I brought on myself and my family,” Heinrich told the Wetterling family in a short statement at his sentencing.
Heinrich had been charged with 25 counts of child pornography. In return for leading authorities to Jacob Wetterling’s remains on a Paynesville farm earlier this year and admitting to his involvement in the boy’s kidnapping and death, he was not charged with Wetterling’s murder.
Jacob Wetterling was only 11 years old when he was abducted in 1989.
