Oh how sad all the way around. I know and understand why the parents did this, you just need to know you need closure. I am convinced that low life piece of scum will not have a happy ending where he is going! Child rape is punished in prison by the inmates.

I think that he will be killed in prison. He is a heinous individual. I am happy the family knows now, and can give Jacob a proper burial. I just wonder how many other children this puke assaulted and/or murdered. He will burn in hell

In Minnesota they do not get put into the general prison population. They get sent to a special prison for sex offenders for their protection. That's where my scumbag ex-BIL was sent for 6 years for marrying my sister in order to molest her 6 year-old son over 10 year period. Private cell. Protected.

I don't think someone that violent and dangerous should ever be let out again. He will continue doing what he likes to do, harming or killing more people. I don't think final closure for one family is worth another person(s) life. If their child were the one he were to kill after this guy is released, they would probably feel quite differently.

This is such a tragedy. I have been following the case for years, and was so surprised when I read over the weekend that his mother confirmed his remains. You are right what a compromise. I am glad his family finally knows what happened. I hope the Johnny Gosch case someday will be solved too.

I followed this case from the beginning and am glad the family will have closure. What a sweet boy and what an awful life his parents have had since he went missing. The sub human who did this should suffer every day the rest of his miserable life.

I'm sure the family considers it worth it to get their little boy's remains back home and to know what happened to him. I can't imagine having a glimmer of hope for all these years only to find out that he's been dead all this time, what a heartbreak.

And if this monster lives long enough to be let out of prison, I also hope that he meets up with a very bad "accident" and that the police don't look into it too closely.

I thought that when DNA gives enough evidence to prosecute a crime, even if SOL has run out, that the new statute kicks in and they have 5 or 7 years from the time the DNA results come in to prosecute (as pertaining to the young man who was attacked and lived to tell about it.) I guess not all states have that rule?

Good job summing up this case. This awful case. I saw someone on the news explaining that he would likely be sent to a special prison where he would be safe. I thought, Why???

How does somebody's baby boy develop into a pederast, like this man? Why does another child develop into an abuser of girls? Is there anything society can do to prevent this 'malformation' of sexual identity?

I agree that cases like this should date from discovery, not when the crime was committed.

That's a long and complicated answer chi... suffice it to say, the malformation often comes from those whom you'd expect to prevent it. That is to say, caregivers CAUSE the issue.

I had not heard of it and appreciate the well done summation A tragedy, for sure. I think now one has to believe that "karma" (or some such thing) will find a way to make every day of his private prison a day of remorse.

Who would *choose* to be a pervert? I've don't know of any evidence that this is genetic, which leaves 'learned behavior'. Are abusers former victims?

I'm not excusing it, just wondering if there's a way to limit or eliminate the behavior. I see ads something like, "How do you stop a man from abusing women?" The answer is, "Talk to him when he's a boy."

Yes, very often they have been abused, and very often in the same manner. It's not the only factor, but it's a BIG factor in creating this issue.

I think it's terribly unfair and dated to assume and blame parents for whatever the ills of their children are. Life is not that simple or black and white.

I don't think this sort of thing is a one size fits all situation but have noticed some common facial characteristics among pedophiles. Such a thing could indicate there's a biological/genetic link/mutation involved in being attracted to children rather than adults. There are some very common facial and other characteristics of gay men also. I believe homosexuality is usually attributed to genetics these days more than environment. A third sex, so to speak.

I have never understood the use of the word closure. There is no closure for this family and there never will be. There is no end in the relationship with their child. This year their son Jacob would have been 38, next year 39, and on. For Jacobs family their heartache of his death and the violence of his death is forever.

The wondering of what happened to him and where he lay for the last 27 years, only those questions have been answered, but closure - no, never.

Their fight on behalf of missing and exploited children will continue, regardless of what happened over the weekend.

Blfenton- you make a great point! One of my friends had their daughter pass away at a young age. My friend told me it's like the puzzle was left undone. There won't be closure, just a new chapter in their book.

this is so sad for me. I remember when this happened. Jacob was the same age as my son. It was also closer than any others I had ever heard of. I was from ND and this happened in MN. All of these years I had wondered what happened to him. I never forgot about it. I feel very sorry for his family.

I think the closure is in knowing that he's dead and has been instead of wondering if he's alive and going to come home someday. Knowing is better than living in limbo, IMO.

The guy admitted he killed the little boy?

& 25 child porn charges*& a murder charge* were dropped in exchange for the location of the remains?

maybe 25 still-living children who were victimized by this person now have no recourse because somebody made a deal, undoubtedly without their consent?

I don't know what I would do or how I would feel in real life, but I *think* that, if I knew someone had killed my child & the decision was mine to make, I'd tell the DA to go get the SOB on the porn charges, which could be stacked to make sure this guy never gets out of jail.

The mortal remains of one child do not balance against the rights of the living victims to have some kind of justice, & no ceremony or burial site is worth doing any favors for a murderer/sexual assailant.

chisue, I'd think that in the vast majority of cases involving deviant and or violent behaviour, there's a very good chance it was learned behaviour, where the perpetrator was exposed to something similar in their youth. But without receiving mental health treatment, many are unable to control their impulses, even in the cases of those who recognize these impulses as abhorrent.

When I was young, I remember hearing of the murders committed by Charles Whitman, who was the young man who killed his mother and wife, then climbed atop the Tower at the University Texas at Austin and became a sniper mass murderer.

What is even sadder than the great loss of life his shooting spree caused, was that he had tried on several occasions to get help for his violent thoughts, which he did not wish to become violent actions.

But the perfect storm of mismanagement by both his doctors and the police occurred, when Charles attempted to have his impulses quelled. First he sought professional help and consulted a psychiatrist at the University of Texas Health Center about his periodic and uncontrollable violent impulses.

When he disclosed that he was thinking about going up on the tower with a deer rifle and shooting people, he was simply told to make another appointment for the next week! Then he called the local police and confessed his fears, asking to be arrested, but was told that as he had committed no crime, they couldn't arrest him, so he should seek help from a psychiatrist!

Neglecting to recognize the inherent danger of ignoring someone who realizes they are mentally ill and begs for help, ended up costing the lives of many innocent people.

Charles left notes vowing that he loved both his mother and his wife with all his heart, insisting he had no rational explanation for why he felt compelled to take their lives. He never confided any 'reason' for wanting to sniper shoot innocent people either, so apparently that was merely a larger scale abhorrent impulse that he clearly could not control.

He also wrote in his journal "After my death I wish that an autopsy would be performed to see if there is any visible physical disorder. I have had tremendous headaches in the past and have consumed two large bottles of Excedrin in the past three months."

A note he left behind included "...If my life insurance policy is valid please pay off my debts...donate the rest anonymously to a mental health foundation. Maybe research can prevent further tragedies of this type."

After Charles was killed that day, the autopsy he had requested revealed that he was indeed correct, in feeling that something was going wrong in his brain. But sadly, his doctors hadn't done any diagnostics that would have discovered Charles had a tumor in the precise area of the brain that governs emotions and impulse control. This was one of the rare cases where mental illness was directly linked to a diseased brain, making it possible that treating him, (rather than ignoring him) could have avoided the terrible tragedy that ensued.

http://brainmind.com/Case5.html

I can't express in words how I feel about the Jacob Wetterling tragedy. It is too sad for me to hear, how must his parents and family feel? What about his playmates that day?

pickyshopper, I had no idea of the story behind the Tower shooter. I appreciate the time that you took to share that story.

This poor boy's kidnapping had me brokenhearted. His parents are amazing and I wish them a sense of peace, as I doubt closure can ever truly be realized. The disgusting man that did this has a more horrible form of justice awaiting him after death.

sabbath7, regarding your comment about abducted paperboy, Johnny Gosch..

Noreen Gosch wrote a book called "Why Johnny Can't Come Home". It has been discovered that Johnny's father had some involvement in his kidnapping and was involved with people in the Franklin child-sex abuse scandals in Omaha, Nebraska.

Noreen recalls a man talking to Johnny at a ball game not long before the kidnapping and it made her suspicious. Her now-ex-husband received phone calls late at night many times and stated the caller had the wrong number. The night before Johnny was taken the husband spoke longer with a caller out of her earshot. He then told Johnny that he was now old enough to run his paper route on his own, and lo and behold, Johnny was kidnapped the next morning. Johnny was moved around and molested by powerful men in the government, who could order a boy to their liking based on pictures.

As Noreen dealt with local law enforcement she was continually lied to and dismissed. It turns out some major law officials had a hand in covering up and assisting this activity.

Look it up in a search engine. Noreen had a surprise visit from an adult Johnny when he and another young man escaped but were on the run and afraid of the men involved.

I was a couple years younger than Johnny and my older brother was a paperboy in the Omaha area around that time. I have thought of Johnny for years and looked up info online and was shocked at what I found out. There are even youtube videos of Noreen that go into details. Watch and see if it makes sense to you. I wish I knew the whole truth about this case, but we won't on this side of life.

Can you imagine the guilt that Jacob's brother and friend have lived with all their lives. It just makes me shudder to think of 3 innocent children walking home and having something like this happen.

Whether you like her or not, Hillary Clinton has spoken often about the need to stop downplaying 'mental health' as something separate from HEALTH.

A little OT: Illinois now has approved issuing a card to people with mental issues that they can show to police, explaining WHY they may not respond to questions or may be aggressive when questioned. (Common 'uncooperative or violent' behavior for a person unable to process social cues or who is schizophrenic.)

The schizophrenic DD of friends faced charges of assaulting an officer when police came to her college apartment on a noise complaint. This happened before she was diagnosed, when the problem was just surfacing.

In our area we have a young boy, Michael Dunahee, who was taken from a park near Victoria on Vancouver Island. He was 4 years old in 1991 when he disappeared as the neighbourhood kids/parents were playing a baseball game. That was 25 years ago and there has never been any sign of who took him or where he went or where he is now. I can't imagine his parents grief, their not knowing, their guilt, or how they carry on.

That incident changed the lives of all of us in B.C. As parents it changed the way in which we allowed our own children their freedom as we curtailed it. My own sons are 1 year and 3 years younger than Michael at now, 29 and 27, basically his own age. I have wondered through the years if Michael has ever been that age.

My only consolation in this plea bargain is that the parents were allowed to sign off on it before it was given to the creep. I just hope they have some other charges in the wings that he did not get a free pass on.

"I'd think that in the vast majority of cases involving deviant
and or violent behaviour, there's a very good chance it was learned
behaviour, where the perpetrator was exposed to something similar in
their youth"

Yes! And very often the caregiver. Sorry if it "blames parents", but if that's the behavior modeled in front of them, that's what they learn. Very often. Not always. No one said always. Worse, since they go untreated (due to stigma), it shows up in ways that are very hard to correct. Afterall, long standing behaviors gets well ingrained. This is known and in the literature.

I hope somehow he gets what is coming to him. I don't care about why he did it. Put him down like a rabid dog!

blfenton expressed my feeling on "closure", a term that is said so often. There never is closure. Some like to say resolution or another term but it's always going to be there. I shake my head thinking about Jacob's brother and friend must have been feeling all these years. People think about the parents but those two kids were there, saw it happen, felt so helpless I'm sure. None of us can fathom what they've gone through.

The prosecutors talked much about how they worked with the Wetterlings before making the deal. In their shoes would I make the deal with the devil? Honestly, I can't say but probably would do it as the pragmatic thing to do. Would I have pressed for more of the charges, at least another one or two so there'd be less chance of getting out but again, the devil held the cards in this case and their big fear was that he'd back out of the deal so there was a lot of pressure to grab it immediately before he changed his mind. I'm really surprised he didn't just take it to his grave.

One thing that troubles me is the police are patting themselves and each other on the back over "solving" this case. Sadly the police work on this case was really not the best, IMO. And I'm a big supporter of police - what a tough job at times but as the one victim pointed out in his criticism of the police, had they listened to him and gone after the guy, Jacob's incident may not have happened. They didn't believe the victim's story. They've closed the book quickly. Many wonder if there was more than one involved in this and I'm not sure I believe the confessor when he says he acted alone. So maybe more than one will be getting away with murder.

The other part of the story that's very overlooked is that the police did a little grandstanding a while back about a "person of interest" and have nearly if not totally destroyed the life of an innocent man. They released him but didn't clear him until now. Cops are human, and cops make mistakes. And it's sad when those mistakes cause trouble for innocent people.

I don't believe in karma. Wish it was real of course. I wish I could say I'm glad that it's over but that wouldn't be accurate. More like, I'm relieved for the family and friends that there's SOME knowledge of what happened. I do not think we really know the whole story though. Maybe we don't need to know.