MINNEAPOLIS _ The man who killed Jacob Wetterling appeared in court Monday morning to answer for his crimes and to face to the family and friends of the 11-year-old who he abducted on an October night in 1989.
In a brief statement during an emotional hearing, Danny Heinrich, 53, bowed his head and repeatedly sighed as he apologized to Jacob's family, saying "I'm truly sorry for the evil acts" and for the shame he brought to his own family.
"Mr. and Mrs. Wetterling," Heinrich said, "the heinous acts of selfishness are unforgivable ... I'm so sorry."
Heinrich appeared in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, where Judge John Tunheim sentenced him to 20 years in federal prison as part of a plea agreement reached in September, when Heinrich pleaded guilty to one count of child pornography.
Heinrich ended the nearly 27-year-old mystery of what happened to Jacob when he led authorities to a rural Paynesville, Minn. pasture this summer, where he had buried the boy after abducting, sexually assaulting and killing him.
"The long nightmare is not over, there is no closure to the 'why?'" Tunheim said as he addressed Heinrich. "No one is ever going to forget October 22 of 1989. But we will move forward.
"We are in a better place as a society because of the commitment the Wetterling family has made to Jacob and to other children."
Heinrich could possibly be eligible for release from prison after 17 years, but Tunheim said that was "unlikely that society will let you go free." If Heinrich is released, he would serve a lifetime of court-ordered supervision and be registered as a sex offender.
Before Tunheim delivered the formal sentence, Jacob's family and other Heinrich victims had the opportunity to confront Heinrich and tell him how they suffered over the past three decades as they waited and hoped for Jacob's return.
"He hurt my heart, my soul, every fiber of my being when he murdered my son Jacob," Patty Wetterling said.
Facing Heinrich, Patty Wetterling spoke of what the family had lost _ an 11-year-old boy who loved football, jokes, hugs and piggyback rides.
Looking directly at Heinrich, she said, "You didn't need to kill him. He did nothing wrong. He just wanted to go home."
At one point, as Jacob's father, Jerry Wetterling, thanked Heinrich for "leading us to Jacob," Heinrich looked away and appeared to tear up.
"I miss Jacob so very much," Jerry Wetterling said. "It wasn't just Jacob's physical body missing these last 27 years. More importantly, I miss the things I never got to experience," such as fishing trips and watching Jacob go off to college.
Jacob's friends and siblings also told Heinrich of the pain he caused.
"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," said Jacob's best friend, Aaron Larson, who was with Jacob and Jacob's brother, Trevor, the night of the abduction. Heinrich had ordered Larson and Trevor Wetterling to run to the woods and not look back before he took Jacob.
Confronting Heinrich, Larson said he realized he "is just a man _ an evil man who should be gone forever ... Evil does not win. He took Jacob from us that night, but he can never take away his soul, his kindness.
"Jacob taught in 11 years how to make a difference, how to make us happy," Larson added. "I believe in this, my kids believe in this. Life is hard, but Jacob showed us how great this hard life can be."
Said Trevor Wetterling, who read from a statement he submitted, "It's not normal to sleep on your parent's floor at 10 years old. It's not normal to worry it could be you ... not normal for a 10-year-old boy to request police officers come back to your house to answer the phone because you are scared.
"I will not feel safe if he is ever released from prison and our society will not be safe."
Jacob's younger sister, Amy, recalled sending her imaginary friends out to look for Jacob.
"I love you Jacob. This is not your fault and you didn't do anything wrong," she said before walking back to her seat in tears.
Jared Scheierl, who was sexually assaulted by Heinrich nine months before Jacob disappeared in 1989, also spoke Monday. Heinrich confessed to abducting and molesting Scheierl, who was 12 at the time.
Scheierl approached the podium, wearing a suit, keeping his hands deep inside his pockets. Heinrich, clean shaven and dressed in a tan sweater, turned to look, frowning and blinking rapidly.
Scheierl told Judge John Tunheim that he had been looking forward to the chance to give his statement for a long time.
The assault, Scheierl said, left him "trying to seek clarity in my life in my own way."
"You should know the words he spoke to me on that evening haunted me over years and I don't choose to listen anything he wishes say at this time," he said, turning his head briefly and looking at Heinrich.
Heinrich shocked Minnesota on Sept. 6 by confessing in court to sexually assaulting and shooting Jacob after snatching him at gunpoint while the 11-year-old rode his bike home from a convenience store with his brother, Trevor, 10, and Aaron Larson, 11, that October night in rural St. Joseph, Minn.
The courtroom confession came days after Heinrich led authorities to a rural pasture near Paynesville, Minn., where he had buried Jacob's remains some 30 miles from the abduction site. Heinrich lived in Paynesville at the time Jacob disappeared.
Federal prosecutors cut a deal with Heinrich, who was awaiting trial on 25 counts of child pornography. He agreed to plead guilty to one count of receiving child pornography, with a sentence of 20 years behind bars in exchange for providing answers and leading investigators to Wetterling's remains. Though he will not be prosecuted for Jacob's kidnapping and murder, Heinrich could remain in state custody under Minnesota's civil sex offender commitment.
The unusual deal was struck, officials said, with the approval of Patty and Jerry Wetterling, who have advocated nationally for missing and exploited children.
In the years since he disappeared, Jacob Wetterling became a national symbol for missing children. The case changed the way people throughout Minnesota and the nation watched over their children. Over the years, the Wetterlings advocated for missing and exploited children everywhere through a resource center. They also pushed for changes in state and federal law.
The community kept hope through the years that Jacob might still be alive, switching on porch lights to illuminate his way home.
