Jacob Wetterling case file: breaking news, analysis

Stearns County is releasing its file from the 27-year investigation of Jacob Wetterling's abduction. Follow this for the latest updates.

by Michael Olson, MPR News edited by Chris Graves, MPR News 9/20/2018 3:37:34 PM
In a scathing press conference Thursday morning, Stearns County Sheriff Don Gudmundson lashed out how the Jacob Wetterling investigation was handled by the FBI and local investigators in the early days of the 11-year-old's disappearance saying the case went far off course.

Gudmundson said "we all failed" in the 27-year investigation in the disappearance and death of Jacob, which seemed to have stumped cops from the get-go.

But outlining the case, Gudmundson said that should not have happened. He said police had key evidence in the case months before Jacob was abducted.

"The right hand literally did not know what the left hand was doing. There are huge time gaps between interview, investigation, dictation and transcription. Sometimes more than a month on important reports like search warrants. These time gaps are most prevalent in FBI reports,'' he said.

The sheriff cited more repeated missed opportunities early in the case that pointed toward Danny Heinrich. He called a 1990 ill-timed arrest of a drunk Heinrich among the "fatal flaws.''

Gudmundson's comments came during a press conference at the end of which he released thousands of pages of investigative documents in the case. That release does not include FBI files.

Gudmundson says the FBI mishandled the investigation and took on work for which it wasn't qualified. He said because the FBI files remain confidential, the public won't get a clear picture of how federal investigators handled Wetterling's disappearance.

But former FBI agent Al Garber, who led the early investigation into the abduction of Wetterling, took issue with Gudmundson's statements. Garber attended the press conference.

"Don wasn't there. He didn't see the day-to-day operations,'' Garber told reporters Thursday after the press conference. "... He doesn't know."

MPR News is reviewing the released documents and will continue to report this story.

Correction (Sept. 25) An earlier version of this post misspelled Stearns County and included the wrong year of the 1990 arrest of Heinrich.

by Cody Nelson edited by Chris Graves, MPR News 9/20/2018 2:45:50 AM

3rd & 7 37yd

Minutes ahead of the file release, Jerry Wetterling is on the scene. So is Al Garber, the FBI agent in charge of investigating Jacob's disappearance. Learn about these two and other key figures in the investigation here — Jacob Wetterling investigative file: Key people in the case

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:02:42 PM
Stearns County Sheriff Don Gudmundson says he believes the most important part of the file shows where the investigation "went off the rails." He also says it's important that the public won't see some of the most consequential evidence from the case, as it remains sealed as part of the FBI's document. A judge ruled the FBI may keep its materials confidential, but said county and state documents must become public. Background here.

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:09:14 PM
Gudmundson is giving background on his career, noting he has "no unsolved homicides under my watch."

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:11:08 PM
The first case file the sheriff reviews involves a boy's 1989 abduction in Cold Spring, Minnesota. Danny Heinrich — Jacob's killer — was quickly identified as a suspect. Law enforcement get a detailed description of the suspect: down to his driving behavior, vehicle interior and exterior, his dress, voice and appearance. The suspect keeps part of the boy's clothing as "a trophy," Gudmundson says. The man also had a police scanner.

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:16:44 PM
Now, Gudmundson has moved a few month later to Jacob's abduction in October 1989. He's reviewing the suspect descriptions from the other boys who were with Jacob when he was taken.

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:18:41 PM
by Michael Olson, MPR News 9/20/2018 3:18:41 PM
Gudmondson says the local task force had been "spinning its wheels" for a month after Jacob's kidnapping. It took them almost two months to link Jacob's disappearance with the boy's assault in Cold Spring, a nearby town, from less than a year before.

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:21:43 PM
Gudmundson is walking through descriptions given by victims in Paynesville sex assaults, All are similar.

by Kirsti Marohn via twitter 9/20/2018 3:22:23 PM
Now, Gudmondson is reviewing several similar attacks on young boys near Paynesville, Minnesota. The suspect and circumstance all these late 1980s have many similarities: the suspect threatens the victim not to be quiet and not move or he'll be killed, the suspect takes something, and asks the boy his age. Many also recalled the suspect wearing a mask, having army garb and a gruff voice.

One victim, after being groped, yelled to the suspect that he "had already gotten him," Gudmondson says.

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:24:55 PM
Less than 48 hours after Jacob's abduction, a victim from a Paynesville incident told a Benton County deputy that he believes the man who took Jacob was the same person behind the Paynesville attacks.

It wasn't until January 1990 that this tip was reviewed.

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:26:21 PM
On Jan 12, 1990, Heinrich took a polygraph test where he scored as "deceptive on all questions" relating to the Cold Spring incident and Jacob's abduction.

Sheriff notes that all who take a polygraph, or lie detector, test are nervous.

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:28:02 PM
On Jan 12, 1990, Heinrich took a polygraph test where he scored as "deceptive on all questions" relating to the Col… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

by MPRnews via twitter retweeted by timnelson_mpr 9/20/2018 3:29:32 PM
Heinrich's shoes were found to be consistent with footprints found at the scene of Jacob's abduction. That was in 1990. The shoes were sent to the FBI, and Danny Heinrich was placed "under surveillance" by law enforcement, Gudmondson said.

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:29:41 PM
Sheriff: While under surveillance, Heinrich made evasive moves, "should have set off alarm moves."

by Kirsti Marohn via twitter 9/20/2018 3:30:44 PM
A recent takeaway: local police had their eyes on Danny Heinrich — Jacob's killer — months after the abduction. They never had enough evidence to convict him, and he finally confessed 27 years later.

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:31:09 PM
Sheriff: While under surveillance, Heinrich makes evasive moves, "should have set off alarm bells."

by Kirsti Marohn via twitter 9/20/2018 3:31:23 PM
The Stearns Co. Emergency Operations Center in St. Cloud is packed as sheriff Don Gudmundson reviews the investigation into the abduction of Jacob Wetterling. @MPRnews https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DnjEJ4bU4AAC2jf.jpg

by Tim Nelson via twitter 9/20/2018 3:34:11 PM
Sheriff: Vest found during search of Heinrich's home was never shown to Cold Spring victim.

by Kirsti Marohn via twitter 9/20/2018 3:34:36 PM
Gudmondson said Heinrich's vehicle should've been checked with a blacklight for bodily fluid stains after the Cold Spring victim said Heinrich's car seemed similar to the one in which he was abducted. The boy said his assaulter told him to be careful to pull up his pants without touching his skin to the seat.

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:34:40 PM
A note: Danny Heinrich chewed tobacco and it showed on his teeth. The Cold Spring boy described his attacker as having bad "cheese teeth," consistent with how a kid would describe chewing damage.

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:36:30 PM
Sheriff: All of the victims from Paynesville as well as Aaron Larson and Trevor Wetterling should have been part of Heinirch line up. They did not employ voice line up using words Heinrich used.

by Kirsti Marohn via twitter 9/20/2018 3:38:46 PM
Sheriff says all of area victims in late 1980s Stearns Co. assaults should have been included in a lineup that included Danny Heinrich in 1990.

by Tim Nelson via twitter 9/20/2018 3:39:16 PM
Sheriff notes a key mistake by investigators in 1990: They arrested Danny Heinrich late one night, while he was drunk. "That was a serious mistake," Gudmundson says.

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:40:40 PM
Sheriff: Heinrich interrogation was "most fatal flaw" in Wetterling investigation. No one in sheriff's office had extensive homicide experience. Experienced BCA agents were running "meaningless leads."

by Kirsti Marohn via twitter 9/20/2018 3:41:42 PM
Sheriff says the state BCA gave local law enforcement their most experienced homicide investigators to investigate Jacob's abduction.

The FBI and local sheriff's office didn't have experienced homicide investigators.

However, the BCA agents were assigned to follow "meaningless leads."

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:42:18 PM
Sheriff says 1990 arrest of Danny Heinrich, drunk in a Stearns Co. bar, was ill advised. Gudmundson says subsequent interrogation by inexperienced investigators was a "fatal flaw" in the search for Wetterling.

by Tim Nelson via twitter 9/20/2018 3:43:00 PM
Sheriff is comparing descriptions given in Paynesville and Cold Spring assaults and Wetterling abduction. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DnjGin2VsAAEhBG.jpg

by Kirsti Marohn via twitter 9/20/2018 3:44:29 PM
Sheriff Gudmundson is showing how Jacob's abduction and the Paynesville and Cold Spring attacks all share a similar, detailed suspect description.

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:45:17 PM
Sheriff: Investigators focused on Duane Hart, a convicted sex offender who groomed his victims. Heinrich ambushed them and kept trophies.

by Kirsti Marohn via twitter 9/20/2018 3:46:30 PM
Back to Duane Hart, a convicted sex offender. In an interview, Hart describes the inside of Danny Heinrich's bedroom. He tells investigators Heinrich had a gun, black "ninja" suit and police scanners.

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:47:35 PM
Heinrich asked Hart for the best way to get rid of a body.

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:48:21 PM
Sheriff: No mention of Heinrich in files for more than 20 years.

by Kirsti Marohn via twitter 9/20/2018 3:50:13 PM
2015: A hat from the scene of Jacob's killing is DNA tested. The lab report states the "predominant male DNA profile matches Danny James Heinrich."

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:51:06 PM
Sheriff detailing why Heinrich should have been considered the main suspect. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DnjIN9iVAAIm2az.jpg

by Kirsti Marohn via twitter 9/20/2018 3:51:46 PM
Sheriff: Heinrich "fit the composite almost to a T."

by Kirsti Marohn via twitter 9/20/2018 3:53:50 PM
Gudmundson is outlining several reasons Heinrich should've been considered the main suspect:

He has photos of kids and lies about them. He has no known adult friends. He knows how to disguise himself. He wears his military clothing, and lies about it. He has a gun. His car matches a victim's description. He fits the boy's composite sketch "almost to a T."

Main takeaway: local cops messed up badly on Heinrich.

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:54:20 PM
Gudmundson says the sheriff at the time of Jacob's abduction lost control of the investigation, and that shouldn't have happened.

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:55:03 PM
"The FBI is essentially running the case" at the time of Heinrich's arrest, Gudmundson said.

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:55:56 PM
At this point, there were already psychic, tarot cards, satanists, etc. at play in the investigation. They know "nothing," Gudmondson said.

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:56:25 PM
"Huge wastes of time and manpower" fairly early on in the investigation. Meaningless leads followed.

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:57:21 PM
Gudmondson is going over many of the baseless suspects law enforcement spent time considering, including an old man, a bakery owner and the "man with a piercing stare."

Heinrich is essentially "forgotten" and there's a "fixation" on over the road truckers.

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 3:58:58 PM
In short order, the task force investigation Jacob's abduction were way off base. The right hand had no clue what the left was doing, Gudmundson said.

by Cody Nelson 9/20/2018 4:00:08 PM
"By June of 1990, Danny Heinrich is forgotten and replaced with a fixation on over the road truckers," says Stearns Co. Sheriff. "The right hand literally didn't know what the left hand was doing."

by Tim Nelson via twitter 9/20/2018 4:00:14 PM

Sponsor

Sponsor

Jacob Wetterling case file: breaking news, analysis

Stearns County is releasing its file from the 27-year investigation of Jacob Wetterling's abduction. Follow this for the latest updates.