Heinrich confessed Tuesday to abducting and killing 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling almost 27 years ago, recounting a crime that long haunted the state with details that included Jacob asking right after he was taken: “What did I do wrong?” Danny Heinrich has confessed to abducting and killing him.
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The 53-year-old Annandale, Minn., man made the admission after pleading guilty to one federal count of receiving child pornography that could send him to prison for 20 years.
Danny Heinrich admitted abducting, sexually assaulting and shooting Jacob on October 22, 1989, in a crime that horrified and mystified Minnesotans for more than a quarter-century.
Jacob’s parents were present at Tuesday’s hearing; toward the end of the proceedings, Patty Wetterling said it was painful to learn about the last minutes of her son’s life, according to Minnesota Public Radio’s Brandt Williams.
Jacob Wetterling asked “What did I do wrong?” as Heinrich handcuffed the boy and put him in his vehicle, Heinrich confessed.
“Heinrich admitted sexually abusing Jacob and then shot him twice”.
He buried the boy about 100 yards away. His whereabouts were unknown until last week, when Heinrich led authorities to his remains. As part of a plea deal, Heinrich was required to provide a “specific geographic location” to prosecutors to conduct a search for evidence for the abduction and murder of Wetterling, court documents filed in a Minneapolis federal court show. “And upon further excavation, we discovered that was the main body of the red hockey jacket Jacob had been wearing”, Bechtold said.
“What was most important to the Wetterlings was to bring Jacob home and know what happened to him”, Kendall said.
“Our hearts were touched by a request from children to honor Jacob in this way”, the JWRC said in a statement. “Putting fear in them is not helpful”.
The victim’s remains were identified Saturday, the Associated Press reported.
Heinrich was in court Tuesday to face child pornography charges, in a separate case from Wetterling’s abduction.
“In this case, what Mr. Heinrich was offering was the ultimate piece of information”, says Tamburino. “Next to a row of trees, not far from a gravel pit, Heinrich opened Jacob’s door and uncuffed him”.
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On Tuesday, according to the AP, Henrich was asked in court whether he had abducted, sexually assaulted and murdered Jacob. She says that’s how other children have been found years after they went missing. We know it better as the “sex offender registration law”.
