Danny Heinrich Receives His Sentencing

Along with his sentencing, he also received direct statements from the Wetterling family.

The man who confessed to kidnapping, sexually assaulting, and murdering Jacob Wetterling in 1989, received his sentencing Monday morning.

Fifty-three-year-old Danny James Heinrich confessed to the crime on September 7, 2016, nearly 27 years after Wetterling was abducted on October 22, 1989. Heinrich’s full confession came after a plea agreement with prosecutors and the Wetterling family.

The plea agreement was two parts; part one indicated that Heinrich needed to disclose where to find Jacob Wetterling’s body, as well as a full detailed confession. Part two, required him to plead guilty to his charges of child pornography and to confess in open court just what he did to Wetterling and Jared Scheierl, who was sexually assaulted when he was 12-years-old in Cold Spring, Minnesota.

The plea deal also stated he would not be charged for the murder of Jacob Wetterling, and that his charges would be dropped to one single count.

On Monday, November 21, 2016, in a Minneapolis courtroom, Danny Heinrich received his sentencing of 20 years in prison, the maximum the law allows for a single child pornography count, and a lifetime of supervised release. The sentence was handed down by Chief Judge John Tunheim.

Heinrich apologized to the Wetterlings in court, “I am truly sorry for my evil acts and the shame I brought myself and my family, heinous acts and selfishness are unforgivable for what I’ve taken away from you, I’m so sorry.”

Judge Tunheim told Heinrich, “I’m giving you the most severe punishment that is available to me. It is closure that you denied them for 27 long years. Every child knows the story of Jacob Wetterling, you stole the innocence of children’s lives in small towns, in the rural areas and the cities of Minnesota and beyond.”