MN - Jacob Wetterling, 11, St. Joseph, 22 Oct 1989 - #7

[VinylTravis]

This one might be far out there: I know the StearnsTruth tapes are questionable at best but what if Kevin is the person who is speaking about witnessing what I assume are the B family members involved in the abduction. What if Kevin was there so quickly because he was partying with the B's at the party spot across the road; aren't Kevin and one of the B's in question around the same age? Would DR have taught any of the aforementioned people thus had a connection to them/reason to fear them? I'm not as well versed as you folks are but I don't think I've seen it mentioned before. TO me, his story is either being made to kook questionable by the media's inaccurate reporting or it is actually questionable. Perhaps it's him who has a reason to fear coming forward with more, I don't know...Or maybe he's in the beginning stages of coming forward with more

 

[human]

I think having people think you are a sexual deviant who kidnapped a child is pretty scary.

It was reported that Kevin was at the home of his girlfriend. It says somewhere that the mother was listening to the scanner.

I kind of doubt the mother would be at a party in the woods, but who knows. The directions Kevin gave do not include the party site

 

[VinylTravis]

Right, but my scenario would involve Kevin lying/omitting details. Like I said, far out there.

 

[shergal]

This one might be far out there: I know the StearnsTruth tapes are questionable at best but what if Kevin is the person who is speaking about witnessing what I assume are the B family members involved in the abduction. What if Kevin was there so quickly because he was partying with the B's at the party spot across the road; aren't Kevin and one of the B's in question around the same age? Would DR have taught any of the aforementioned people thus had a connection to them/reason to fear them? I'm not as well versed as you folks are but I don't think I've seen it mentioned before. TO me, his story is either being made to kook questionable by the media's inaccurate reporting or it is actually questionable. Perhaps it's him who has a reason to fear coming forward with more, I don't know...Or maybe he's in the beginning stages of coming forward with more

I'm not sure I'm understanding this, but it was Ben Bina who came forward and said he saw the Bahner brothers coming up out of the ditch, not Kevin. Kevin has stated (and I assume his gf, gf's mother, his brother, etc. backed up his story) that he was at his gf's mother's house when they heard the scanner go off and saw cop cars speed by.

I think the only thing questionable about Kevin's story is that early on articles said:

1. He pulled into the DR driveway and turned around, not that he drove all the way up to the house to turn around.

2. It was originally stated that "he told a cop AT THE SCENE" what he had seen, and the cop did not take his name so he left. Now he says he talked to a cop parked across from Tom Thumb.

3. Originally we never heard he had anyone with him in his car. Now he says it was his gf's car, she was in the car and he was driving.

So some of these things could just be things he left out originally in interviews, because his gf did not want to be dragged into this. Some may be faulty media reporting.

 

[VinylTravis]

I'm not well-versed in the TruthStearns tapes and didn't know that a BB was the person who supposedly saw the Bahners at the scene, I though it was an unidentified person and was speculating as to who it was, my mistake; thanks for the clarification.

 

[Sasquatch321]

I just cant see the bahners as being able to get away with something of this magnitude. As president reagan once said "you can find out alot about somebody by the way they eat their jellybeans". The bahners are sloppy pigs.

 

[cGorg]

I'm not well-versed in the TruthStearns tapes and didn't know that a BB was the person who supposedly saw the Bahners at the scene, I though it was an unidentified person and was speculating as to who it was, my mistake; thanks for the clarification.

VinylTravis....no biggee. Don't worry about it. The 'Bahner Tapes' have been discussed extensively on WS. There really isn't that many of them available on YouTube but it's definitely worth a listen to bring you up to speed with other posters. I recommend listening to them multiple times as the audio is bad. AND, Joy's blog features a transcript of Michael Bahner's interview and I transcribed Ben Bina's 'eyewitness' testimony(on WS) which describes his experience seeing the B Brothers emerging from the grass near the abduction site. As I said, it's been discussed enough, but please give it a listen as it adds to the context and it culminates in ELOCsoul's discovery of the mysterious 'Lou'......

 

[VinylTravis]

I just cant see the bahners as being able to get away with something of this magnitude. As president reagan once said "you can find out alot about somebody by the way they eat their jellybeans". The bahners are sloppy pigs.

I think something my Great-Grandmother used to say is just as relevant:

Show me a persons friends and I'll know that person.

 

[cGorg]

I just cant see the bahners as being able to get away with something of this magnitude. As president reagan once said "you can find out alot about somebody by the way they eat their jellybeans". The bahners are sloppy pigs.

I've contemplated your post....it is nonsensical

 

[Sasquatch321]

I think something my Great-Grandmother used to say is just as relevant:

Show me a persons friends and I'll know that person.

Exactly, and it was allegedly said that DR had been friends with a convicted child molestor. The guy doesn't seem to bode well for himself too much.

 

[Sasquatch321]

I've contemplated your post....it is nonsensical

I dont think the bahners are intelligent enough to keep a secret this long, pretty much.

 

[human]

Exactly, and it was allegedly said that DR had been friends with a convicted child molestor. The guy doesn't seem to bode well for himself too much.

Not alleged. Right on the DR FB.

 

[ELOCsoul]

Not alleged. Right on the DR FB.

Yep, I saw it too.

 

[ELOCsoul]

I'm not well-versed in the TruthStearns tapes and didn't know that a BB was the person who supposedly saw the Bahners at the scene, I though it was an unidentified person and was speculating as to who it was, my mistake; thanks for the clarification.

A couple of other points regarding the Bahner brothers thing.

1. It was darker than dark that night. No street lights, no moon until after midnight. Ben Bina claims he saw Lou and a car, and the Bahners in a ditch. How could he see anything at all?

2. Ben's claims were investigated by LE and found not be not credible. I believe Bina was doing this to get a reduction in jail sentence.

 

[ELOCsoul]

Right, but my scenario would involve Kevin lying/omitting details. Like I said, far out there.

In my opinion Kevin's story has been consistent over the years. The "reporting" of the story is what has been changing. I remember last fall I commented about a newspaper article from 2004 that contains language that suggested Kevin drove into the driveway rather than just turned around.

Also, when Kevin said he backed out and left after talking to the cop, we "assumed" the cop was at the driveway. I would be willing to bet that reporting was influenced by investigators to not let on that the crime scene had been compromised. That, or being 15 years later, maybe the reporters didn't make the connection that the cop was not at the crime scene.

So much if what is reported in the news has to be filtered out to consider how much editing discretion was applied.

 

[human]

Or the reporter had not been to the scene or allowed near it, so he did not know what the scene was like

I don't think in those days people were aware of this crime scene stuff like we are because of TV shows

 

[VinylTravis]

I dont think the bahners are intelligent enough to keep a secret this long, pretty much.

Some segments of society would not find acts you or I may despise uneventful or at the very least have a mentality that 'they're not going to rat no matter what.' Usually until it benefits them to do so, sometimes not even then. Also, even when certain segments do find something repulsive, they'll settle it themselves rather than take it to law enforcement even if it's revenge years later.

Look at old-school (especially Italian which I'm very-well versed in) organized crime and true omerta, people died in prison rather than incriminate anyone in anything and would rather do the same than go to organized law enforcement for anything. In my view you can take what an informant (for the sake of saving self) says at about 0-40%, typically.

 

[cGorg]

I dont think the bahners are intelligent enough to keep a secret this long, pretty much.

OK..thx. I didn't know about President Reagan's quote regarding jelly beans and personalities. It seems the Bahners 'spilled the beans' as it were in those 'tapes'.

 

[Ifollowthis]

A couple of other points regarding the Bahner brothers thing.

1. It was darker than dark that night. No street lights, no moon until after midnight. Ben Bina claims he saw Lou and a car, and the Bahners in a ditch. How could he see anything at all?

2. Ben's claims were investigated by LE and found not be not credible. I believe Bina was doing this to get a reduction in jail sentence.

Ben is the about the same age as Jacob, I thought the information was obtained by LE in1989 from Ben and his dad and that they saw the B bros. and LK on their way to the convenience store, not when he wanted to get off of some crime when he was an adult. Am I wrong on that? I know he has been arrested several times in years past in Granite Falls MN, I don't know if he still lives in Granite.

 

[Ifollowthis]

A couple of other points regarding the Bahner brothers thing.

1. It was darker than dark that night. No street lights, no moon until after midnight. Ben Bina claims he saw Lou and a car, and the Bahners in a ditch. How could he see anything at all?

2. Ben's claims were investigated by LE and found not be not credible. I believe Bina was doing this to get a reduction in jail sentence.

Ben is the about the same age as Jacob, I thought the information was obtained by LE in 1989 from Ben and his dad and that they saw the B bros. and LK on their way to the convenience store that Jacob went to, not when he wanted to get off of some crime when he was an adult. Am I wrong on that? I know he has been arrested several times in years past in Granite Falls MN, I don't know if he still lives in Granite.