Patterson Pleads Guilty in Kidnapping of Jayme Closs

Patterson Wrote he Intends to Plead Guilty

UPDATE: BARRON, Wis. -A Wisconsin man has pleaded guilty to kidnapping 13-year-old Jayme Closs and killing her parents.

Twenty-one-year-old Jake Patterson pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of intentional homicide and one count of kidnapping. A count of armed burglary was dropped. The intentional homicide counts carry a sentence of life in prison.

Patterson admitted to kidnapping Jayme after killing her parents, James and Denise Closs, at the family’s home on Oct. 15. Patterson held her at a remote cabin for 88 days before she escaped in January.

A criminal complaint says Patterson told authorities he decided to “take” Jayme after he saw her getting on a school bus near her home.

BARRON, Wis.- Residents in a small Wisconsin town say they’re hoping to see a guilty plea from the man accused in the kidnapping of 13-year-old Jayme Closs and slaying of her parents.

Jake Patterson faces arraignment Wednesday afternoon on charges of homicide and kidnapping. He wrote to a Minneapolis TV station that he intended to plead guilty, but his defense attorneys have not confirmed that.

John Terpstra is a church pastor in Barron. He says he hopes Patterson keeps his word so the Closs family doesn’t have to go through a court case.

Retiree Kathy Wirth says she’s sorry for what Jayme went through and still has to go through.

Jayme was held for 88 days in a cabin about an hour north of her family’s home before she escaped in January.