Jacob Wetterling's Murderer Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison

Danny Heinrich, who confessed to the abduction and murder of Jacob Wetterling in September after nearly 27 years, was sentenced to federal prison for 20 years Monday morning on one count of possessing child pornography. After serving his prison sentence, Heinrich will be on supervised release for the rest of his life.

In a short statement during Monday's hearing, Heinrich, 53, apologized to Jacob’s family, saying, "I’m truly sorry for the evil acts," the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

"Mr. and Mrs. Wetterling," Heinrich continued, "the heinous acts of selfishness are unforgivable."

"I’m so sorry."

The hearing took place in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis. As expected, Judge John Tunheim sentenced Heinrich to 20 years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of child pornography possession.

Heinrich's guilty plea was part of a complex deal prosecutors struck in order to get him to confess the details of Jacob's murder. Because of the plea deal, though Heinrich confessed to killing Jacob and assaulting one other boy, Jared Scheierl, he will not face additional charges.

Twenty years was the maximum sentence Heinrich could have gotten for the child pornography charge.

"We are getting stronger every day and we will deal with the finality of the search for answers, but like many other realities of life, healing has its ebbs and flows," the Wetterling family said in a statement released after the sentencing. "We are felling good one moment and may be in tears from hearing a song that touches our hearts the next moment. It's OK. It's all part of the life management skills that we have had to acquire like so many other victims of violence crimes."

KARE 11 reported Monday's hearing opened at 10 a.m., with Scheierl as the first person to make a victim impact statement. Scheierl said facing the man who abducted and assaulted him is something he's wanted for a long time.

"I was left that night to deal with a lot of emotions, questions, trying to seek clarity," Scheierl said, with Heinrich looking on. "This is just one more step in gaining closure to incident in my life that has defined me in many ways."

Heinrich confessed to abducting Scheierl in Cold Spring, Minnesota, January 1989, nine months before he killed Jacob.

The Jacob Wetterling Story: A 5-Part Patch Special Report

Last month, Patch published a five-part special report about the abduction and murder of Jacob Wetterling and other missing children in Minnesota and the Midwest.

• The Jacob Wetterling Story: What Went Wrong (Part 1 in a 5-Part Series)
• The Jacob Wetterling Story: Are Parents Too Cautious (Part 2 in a 5-Part Series)
• The Jacob Wetterling Story: America’s First ‘Milk Carton Kids’ (Part 3 in a 5-Part Series)
• The Jacob Wetterling Story: A ‘Cluster’ of Abuse in Paynesville (Part 4 in a 5-Part Series)
• The Jacob Wetterling Story: Missing Kids Today (Part 5 in a 5-Part Series)

Aaron Larson, Jacob's best friend who was with him when the boy was abducted, spoke next.

"Oct. 22 1989, I considered that the end of my childhood," Larson explained. "For 20 years I lived with guilt. Felt like a coward who left a friend. A coward who ran away."

"I hated it. I hated how I left him. I became the kid who was with Jacob. To me that became, 'the kid who left Jacob.' I just wanted him to come home," he said.

The Jacob Wetterling Resource Foundation released the following statement regarding Heinrich's sentencing:

We pause to reflect on the joy and kindness Jacob brought to his family and many others. That spirit continues through the thousands of adults and children who honor Jacob by committing to live by the traits set in the “11 for Jacob” movement.

Today’s sentencing changes nothing for the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center’s mission. There is much more work to do to address and prevent the abuse and exploitation of children. Today, our request is simple: Be fair. Be Kind. Be understanding. Be honest. Be thankful. Be a good sport. Be a good friend. Be joyful. Be generous. Be gentle with others. Be positive. We can all continue Jacob's Hope.

Henrich's plea deal

Heinrich won't be charged for killing Jacob because of a plea deal he struck with prosecutors. In October 2015, Heinrich was arrested and charged with possessing and receiving child pornography. These charges were pivotal to authorities striking a two-part agreement with Heinrich.

According to the Pioneer Press, the first part of the deal with Heinrich was that he show authorities the location of Wetterling's remains and confess what he did to him. The second part was that Heinrich must plead guilty to a child pornography charge and admit that he abducted and assaulted Jared Scheierl in Cold Spring, Minnesota, nine months before he killed Jacob.

Without Jacob’s body, prosecutors weren't able to pursue murder charges against Heinrich. Until Heinrich led investigators to Jacob’s body, the only physical evidence authorities had against him were tire tracks and a shoe print, but they weren’t scientific matches. There wasn’t even evidence proving that Jacob had died at all.

Heinrich can't be charged in Scheirel's case because the statute of limitations has expired, but the plea deal required Heinrich to publicly confess to the assault of the boy.

In January 1989, nine months before Jacob was abducted, Heinrich abducted the Scheierl boy in Cold Spring, another small Stearns County town about 10 miles from St. Joseph. Jared was walking home from an ice rink when a man who later turned out to be Heinrich forced him into a car, sexually assaulted him and eventually let him go.

Image via MissingKids.Org, used with permission