Dan Rassier: Former POI **Wrongly accused**

[Sillybilly]

Some will be right and some will be wrong, but sleuthing isn't a contest of who is ultimately proven to be one or the other.

Everyone does their best in an attempt to help bring about resolution on a case, and nobody should be chastised or diminished for their input or sincere attempts to do so.

 

[cGorg]

I agree. Nobody is always right and Nobody is always wrong. And sleuthing is a discovery process....not a proving ground. I read WS-Jacob Wetterling for a few years before posting-and the debate of abduction by vehicle(Heinrich as we now know) versus abduction by foot(DR) was pervasive and constant-with the latter being the focus. As a novice poster my initial impression was that DR was innocent and being unfairly maligned and that Jacob was abducted by vehicle. However, as time went on, I developed a suspicion of the circumstances surrounding DR and posted accordingly....but I could never comprehend or explain how the abduction by foot could ever work logistically or personally regarding DR....it became implausible to me-but I investigated nonetheless....at least to rule it out. There are those on WS who know DR personally and are and have been appalled by the very fact that he was named a POI. But there are those here who do not have that luxury of knowing DR personally and so place faith in LE's naming of him as a POI and go from there.....and so resolve to correlate his statements and behavior with the available evidence. To this very day I do not know why he was named a POI(I suspect it was Kevin's tire tracks which provided the ruse and the confusion). I am glad that he has been exonerated but am sad that he has had to endure and endure for years and years in parallel with the Wetterlings-both families experiencing the pain of not knowing. The WHOLE thing is unfortunate to say the very least. And MOST UNFORTUNATE OF ALL is that one evil man could cause so much pain for so many people for so many years by taking ONE GOOD LITTLE BOY from his family and the world.

 

[Cappuccino]

He was home alone, he's still single, he's still living with his parents. He's got a unique personality which gleaned unique answers. He probably was changing his stories by accident. The boys had never seen nor heard the car. Why was the abductor masked? How did the abductor know there was a ditch and woods in the dark? The hill. LE in 2004 gets very excited that all of the vehicles are now accounted for. Searches, asking him for confession, digging up his property and keeping things until this day for advancement in tech...

I dont know I had a pretty good reason.

I didn't intend for my post to get at anyone who thought DR was guilty, I was just expressing relief that an innocent man has finally had his name cleared. Basically I think the people who were looking askance at DR were misled by the police's obvious suspicion of him. Several years following the case of the West Memphis 3 made me skeptical of believing police suspicions at face value, which is why I always thought DR was just the kind of eccentric who would be singled out when the police couldn't solve the case.

Thankfully DR's ordeal is now over.

 

[IBsleuthin]

I happen to agree .... I think the circumstances point away from DR ...... no kidnapper would grab 3 boys at the end of his own driveway , let 2 of them leave as witnesses , and then leave the 3 bicycles in the ditch in front of his house.

DR has innocence written all over him , as a matter of fact he has a "soft" personality and showed fear when there were prowlers in his yard that night. That is why he called 911 .

Of course the prowlers turned out to be police responding to the kidnapping call , and that is the first time he was even aware there had been a kidnapping.

Bringing this forward from one year ago!! Excellent post. There certainly is just a fine line when it comes to solving a crime and then being a victim of constant police pressure and searches when you are innocent!

Thank God this is over.

 

[IBsleuthin]

Those of you who relentlessly pursued Dan should apologise directly, by mail or email.

The main thing he did suspicious for many of you was live a slightly unconventional life of a quiet unmarried man. Police investigation is in no way evidence of guilt. The bigotry against those who are a little different shared by some investigators very well could have contributed to the long delay in solving this case.

This case was easily solved a short time after the crime but for those focusing on people like Dan they just didn't like.







777

Oh do I ever agree with you. I personally witnessed a different crime in 'real life' and once the police made their minds up that it all went a certain way, even when faced with the evidence they would not shake nor stray from their stubborn path. Turns out they were completely wrong. The snow melted and the truth was revealed with no way to dispute it.

Hopefully out of all this ugliness, some good can come in the way of future investigations.

I've read through a handful or so of your long past posts and I want to THANK YOU for standing up for, 'innocent until proven guilty.'

 

[dexter75]

IMO

and I stated it long ago as my hubby has his own personality

To much faith that LE was " doing their best job " and for some reason, it was just unheard of they may lie, for the sake of covering their @s$3s! Referencing the " advancements in technology " that was repeated, multiple times.

I apologize if these seemed personal. Looking through my updates, it does to me and it wasn't my intention😔 When I posted I was thinking back to our many conversations about LE & putting trust in them, etc.
I've researched a lot of cases where it has been proven LE has been less than truthful. I could never shake the feeling LE was trying to cover their butts.

Anyway, I apologize for this sounding snotty. I don't care if I'm right.
I care if our system is just. I care if LE is doing what they're supposed to be doing. I care that Jacob is gone, and the Wetterling family is forever changed. Dan and his family, forever changed.
It all just stinks.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[kemo]

I got involved in this thread not in any hopes that the case would be solved but because I was concerned that a innocent man was going to be railroaded. I am not trying to be smug or anything but I do hope that fellow Sleuthers who read some of my posts on the subject will spot me a little credibility in the future.

Those Sleuthers who believed DR guilty based it primarily, I believe, on the assumption that Law Enforcement, particularly Sheriff Sanner, was privy to evidence that ruled out the use of a vehicle. Anyone knowledgable about the case would realize that an "on foot" could only lead to DR's door. Nowhere that I could find did Sanner or anyone else in LE say such a thing outright, it was just inferred.

i really doubt anything said on this thread caused DR any problems. Those were caused by what the Sheriff's Dept and local media were saying.

The whole incident must have been very hard on DR and his family. I wonder what would have happened to him had he and his family not had the the standing in the community and the means to fund a vigorous defense had the need arose.

 

[Ifollowthis]

I just read DRs comment post on Joy's blog. What a gentleman with such a nice message to the Wetterlings. I have to admit I thought until the Heinrich story came to light, since law enforcement named him a POI they must know more than the general public knows. I thought he may have known who did it but did not dare say...how wrong that was.

I hope law enforcement declares him no longer a POI. Soon!!!

 

[Red Viewfinder]

We were told that DR was a POI. LE decided, based on the evidence that they had at the time, that he deserved that title. I, personally, was never convinced one way or the other of his guilt or innocence. However, in his interviews, he always came across as strange, arrogant and cold, so cold. In the court of public opinion, he was his own worst enemy.
I am so glad that he will now be cleared, but it is paramount to remember that, perception is everything.

 

[Fukiyama]

We were told that DR was a POI. LE decided, based on the evidence that they had at the time, that he deserved that title. I, personally, was never convinced one way or the other of his guilt or innocence. However, in his interviews, he always came across as strange, arrogant and cold, so cold. In the court of public opinion, he was his own worst enemy.
I am so glad that he will now be cleared, but it is paramount to remember that, perception is everything.

You sum up why I started following the JW case here at WS. I have known about it since day one as I at the time lived just south of the MN border. Never got into it here at WS until awhile ago when I got hooked by the controversy over if DR was the guy and if his being named POI was justified. The thing that most drew me to Dan's plight is that I am Dan. I am a thirtysomething bachelor who shares an apartment with his brother. I am an introvert who comes off as (you guessed it) strange, arrogant, and cold.

My neighborhood has plenty of small children. There but for the grace of God go I...

 

[marble]

We were told that DR was a POI. LE decided, based on the evidence that they had at the time, that he deserved that title. I, personally, was never convinced one way or the other of his guilt or innocence. However, in his interviews, he always came across as strange, arrogant and cold, so cold. In the court of public opinion, he was his own worst enemy.
I am so glad that he will now be cleared, but it is paramount to remember that, perception is everything.

I don't know DR, all I know of him was through this case, but I found *nothing* he said or did creepy or cold. Just the opposite, I felt like he came across as bewildered, confused, and unsure what to say or do to both help the detectives and prove his innocence (as any sane person would be).

"It is paramount to remember perception is everything"-- again this feels like strange victim blaming. Like anyone who is innocent of a crime they've been accused of but reacts in a way that someone doesn't think they should react then any trauma and stress and hell they are put through is their own fault? No, that's just not fair to shift the blame like that. People react to stress and trauma in all kinds of ways. Just as they grieve differently.

 

[Sasquatch321]

I think today LE should step out for Dan and officially clear him, explain why it happened.

 

[VermilionGirl]

I think today LE should step out for Dan and officially clear him, explain why it happened.

I agree Sas. And publicly apologize.

 

[Trino]

I haven't posted in a very long time because it seemed the case would never be solved. However, I was one of DR's defenders, and many statements made by defenders had to be tempered.

 

[Shay]

Search Warrants Unsealed

http://www.sctimes.com/story/news/local/2016/09/09/wetterling-search-warrants-unsealed/90021924/

I don't know if this has been posted elsewhere...I haven't been here in a while.

 

[Sasquatch321]

Search Warrants Unsealed

http://www.sctimes.com/story/news/local/2016/09/09/wetterling-search-warrants-unsealed/90021924/

I don't know if this has been posted elsewhere...I haven't been here in a while.

The truth is finally out. DR had a double personality. That's nothing, I have multiple. Mostly just character asassanation. You have alot of hard evidence up on the driveway at the same time. Kind of outweighed Dan first, but it did not. In the end, LE tells the truth here and Dan is clear.

 

[Betty P]

Search Warrants Unsealed

http://www.sctimes.com/story/news/local/2016/09/09/wetterling-search-warrants-unsealed/90021924/

I don't know if this has been posted elsewhere...I haven't been here in a while.

From the linked article, they reveal statements Rassier made while under hypnosis:

For example, Rassier could provide a detailed timeline of events and his activities before and after the time of the abduction. When he was asked under hypnosis about the time of the abduction, he told investigators that he "lost track of time," the warrants reads.

When discussing the vehicles that came up his driveway that night, Rassier began to cry and shake. He said that if a perpetrator wanted to get Jacob he "would have gotten him eventually," according to the warrant documents.

Still under hypnosis, Rassier also said that when he saw investigators' flashlights at his wood pile after the abduction had been reported, he commented that he "was very nervous and could not get dressed and that he was very scared and in big trouble."

Well, here's a good example of how hypnosis can be notoriously unreliable in crime investigations. It's easy for examiners to suggest information, accidentally or otherwise. Prior intereviews w/ LE could also leave impressions on memory if the subject is under stress and/or the interviews occurred not long before hypnosis. I've never been hypnotized, but assume it's like sleep dreaming, where dreams are influenced by things you experienced or thought about that day or in the recent past.

 

[Cappuccino]

He should never have allowed himself to by hypnotised by people who suspected him of a crime. We're all very lucky he didn't make false confession and get himself arrested, confusing the picture even more.

 

[Betty P]

He should never have allowed himself to by hypnotised by people who suspected him of a crime. We're all very lucky he didn't make false confession and get himself arrested, confusing the picture even more.

True, but it seems he was really just trying to help in any way he could. I just watched this tv interview with him from a few years ago. Apologies if it's been linked here before. He comes across as very honest, very sincere in wanting to help find JW. He felt that, living near the crime scene, seeing the cars that night, etc. that he had an obligation to do everything he could to assist. In a way, his attitude seems typical considering he's spent most of his life teaching kids.

http://www.kare11.com/news/local/julie-nelson-sits-down-with-dan-rassier/313361640

I don't find him eccentric. I find him a very intelligent person, not very warm and fuzzy, but very concerned in his own way. Horrible what he and his family went through but, in spite of the poor treatment by LE, he was still always willing to answer questions, allow searches, etc. Not many people would have done that.

 

[Betty P]

He should never have allowed himself to by hypnotised by people who suspected him of a crime. We're all very lucky he didn't make false confession and get himself arrested, confusing the picture even more.

True, but it seems he was really just trying to help in any way he could. I just watched this tv interview with him from a few years ago. Apologies if it's been linked here before. He comes across as very honest, very sincere in wanting to help find JW. He felt that, living near the crime scene, seeing the cars that night, etc. that he had an obligation to do everything he could to assist. In a way, his attitude seems typical considering he's spent most of his life teaching kids.

http://www.kare11.com/news/local/julie-nelson-sits-down-with-dan-rassier/313361640

I don't find him eccentric. I find him a very intelligent person, not very warm and fuzzy, but very concerned in his own way. Horrible what he and his family went through but, in spite of the poor treatment by LE, he was still always willing to answer questions, allow searches, etc. Not many people would have done that.

ETA: I could also tell from the interview that DR does have a very analytical mind. I can see where some of the things he said over the years to LE might seem suspicious to them, but it was just DR trying to hypothesize what could have happened. He'd fit in very well here at WS, actually...."well what if the perp went down the road and did this or that"....

The cops dug up numerous areas he suggested on the farm (finding nothing), areas he suggested because he really was trying to solve the case. He thought it was possible the perp killed JW and buried him on the Rassier property. Looking at the maps and photos, his theory made a lot of sense. It's a good sized farm with trees and rolling hills, a lot of areas not visible from the road or the Rassier house.