MINNEAPOLIS - There was little drama sentence-wise, as a packed courtroom waited to hear Danny Heinrich officially sent to federal prison for 20 years Monday morning, on a single count of possessing child pornography.
What was notable and emotionally bracing was the opportunity for those most impacted by Heinrich's abduction and murder of Jacob Wetterling to look him in the eye, and share how that terrible night 27 years ago changed their lives forever.
The most powerful thoughts came from Jacob's mother Patty, who was the final speaker before Heinrich.
"Words cannot express the magnitude of pain that Danny Heinrich has inflicted on me and my family every day of our lives since he hurt my heart, my soul and every fiber of my being when he murdered our son Jacob," she said. "I miss Jacob's touch, his smell, his freely given hugs. I miss his smile, his laughter, his jokes, his questions, his zest for life."
Patty said her pain continues for her children and for Jacob's best friend Aaron, who kept waking up and realizing that it wasn't a nightmare.
After remaining stoic for most of the proceedings, Heinrich wiped his eyes as Patty Wetterling talked about her son.
"Danny Heinrich took away a wonderful human being ... who wanted to grow up to be a football player, but mostly just wanted to grow up and live and contribute to making the world a better place," she said. "You didn't need to kill him. He did nothing wrong. He just wanted to go home."
Patty told Heinrich that he would not win, and that she will leave the negativity and fear in court.
"I will not wonder about you or waste a moment of my time concerning myself from this day forward. ... And we're taking Jacob with us," she said with resolve.
Heinrich, himself, was allowed to speak before his sentence was handed down.
"I am truly sorry for my evil acts that I committed against the victims and their families," he said.
Addressing Patty and Jerry Wetterling personally, he said, "Mr. and Mrs. Wetterling, the heinous acts, the selfishness are unforgivable for what I have taken away from you. I'm so sorry."
After apologizing to the Wetterlings, Heinrich addressed Jared Scheierl, who was just 12 when Heinrich kidnapped and sexually assaulted him in January of 1989, 10 months before Jacob was abducted, sexually molested and murdered. Heinrich told Jared he was sorry for the innocence he stole from a young boy, and others he had targeted. At that point, he uttered, "There is no more, your honor."
Judge John Tunheim then sentenced Heinrich to the 20-year sentence agreed upon by prosecutors and the defense team, saying he was taking into account the defendant's murder confession along with the child porn charge. He said Heinrich will be under supervised release if gets out of prison, can't associate with anyone under 18, or contact the families of his victims.
"We won't pretend today that this crime or sentence is about child pornography," Judge Tunheim said. "It's about taking a childhood away from Jared and taking a lifetime away from Jacob. Also for scaring parents everywhere."
Tunheim told Heinrich he had stolen the innocence of children in small towns across Minnesota and beyond, and said the long-sought answers the defendant finally provided are "devastating." The judge says he expects Heinrich to be civilly committed if he lives long enough to complete the 20-year sentence.
After the sentencing Patty Wetterling released a statement thanking Minnesotans and everyone who has followed Jacob's story for their support.
Each one of us has struggled to resume daily activities and work, face the sadness, to be together for each other and be there for our own families, to hear and affirm the pain of so many victims of sexual assault and some of Heinrich's other victims, to write victim impact statements and to recognized that our world has once again forever changed....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. We are feeling 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 violent crimes.
The hearing opened at 10 a.m. with Scheierl as the first person to make a victim impact statement. He told the packed courtroom that facing his kidnapper is something he's wanted for a long time.
"I was left that night to deal with a lot of emotions, a lot of questions and trying to seek clarity in my own life along the way," Scheierl said, as Heinrich looked at him. "I can say that this is just one more step in gaining closure to an incident in my life that has defined me in many ways."
Jared thanked those who have come into his life and offered support, allowing him to live as normal a life as possible while living with the memories of what happened. He also told Heinrich, he would not be in the courtroom when the defendant speaks.
"I'll have him know that I personally will be walking out at that time for the fact that he should know that the words he spoke to me on that evening haunted me for years," he said, "and I don't choose to hear anything he wishes to say at this time."
Aaron Larson followed Scheierl, with frank words describing the devastating night that his friend was stolen from his life. Larson was with the Wetterling brothers when Heinrich stole Jacob away at gunpoint
"Oct. 22, 1989, I considered that the end of my childhood," Larson explained. "For 20 years, I lived with a huge amount of guilt from the choices that were made from that night. I lived every day thinking I was the monster that night, I was the coward that left my friend. I was the coward that ran away."
The guilt weighed heavily on him, a guilt that returned each year on Oct. 22, and people spoke of the anniversary of Jacob's kidnapping.
"I hated it. I hated how I left him. I was Jacob's best friend, who became the kid who was with Jacob.To hear the kid who was with Jacob meant in my mind the kid who left Jacob. ... I just wanted Jacob to come home so we could be best friends again, so his family could be happy, to stop the pain," he said.
Larson says it took 20 years for him to realize he didn't have a choice that night.
"We were just kids who had no control over an evil man with a gun," he said.
He spoke without making eye contact with Heinrich, who looked at Larson without breaking his gaze.
Jacob's younger brother Trevor Wetterling followed Larson, echoing his statements about how after that dreadful moment, life would not be the same. He had continuous nightmares, and was swallowed by an overwhelming survivor's guilt. He had to sleep on his parents' floor, and instead of being Trevor, became "Jacob's brother."
While his parents backed the plea deal, it is clear Trevor Wetterling does not believe it is just.
"I will not feel safe if he is ever released from prison," he noted, asking that Heinrich be incarcerated for rest of his life.
Jacob's sister Carmen was just 8 years old when her older brother disappeared from her life. She says there are large blocks of time that she does not remember, but did recall having to leave a girl scout camp early when one of the campers told her that Jacob was dead, and the Wetterlings should just stop looking.
Carmen described how it was difficult to meet new friends because they would invariably ask, "How many siblings do you have?"
She ended with a simple, yet heartfelt statement: "I love you Jacob. This is not your fault. And you didn't do anything wrong."
Heinrich did dab at his eyes when Jacob's sister Amy talked about how awful it was that the defendant held onto his secret, and allowed the Wetterling family to continue searching and hoping. She cried about Jacob's words that night, as he told his abductor he was cold, and asked him "What did I do wrong?" -- words Amy says she will never recover from.
Jacob's father Jerry Wetterling showed his depths of compassion, thanking law enforcement, and even Heinrich himself, for allowing the family to know what happened that night.
"I want to express gratitude to literally everyone involved who got us to this day, including Mr. Heinrich, for whatever reason coming forth and showing us where Jacob was," he said.
Jerry Wetterling described the impact on his chiropractic business, as rumors circulated that he had something to do with his son's disappearance. He also talked of how the abduction strained the relationship with his wife, Patty.
"We survived that, but not without faith, great heartache and financial and time expenditures for counseling," he said.
He closed by speaking of the ripple effect Jacob's abduction and murder had on the lives of thousands of people.
Besides the 20-year sentence, authorities have the option of attempting to have Heinrich civilly committed indefinitely as a high-risk sex offender when his time in prison is over. Some have criticized the sentence Heinrich will receive as far too light, but the Wetterlings have made it clear that they signed off on the deal, convinced it was the only way they would be able to bring the remains of Jacob home.
Heinrich appeared in federal court on Sept. 14 to officially plead guilty to one count of possessing child pornography, as part of a plea deal that required him to admit abducting and killing Wetterling, and then take authorities to the boy's body.
On that day, he allocuted to the horrible details of what happened Oct. 22, 1989, as he came upon Jacob, his younger brother and friend Aaron Larson as they biked home from a local convenience store. The story that had eluded Jacob's family, friends and investigators was finally laid bare.