A potentially key witness in the Wetterling case may have been agitated and stressed to death last week by a sensationalistic Twin Cities news media, led by
the local CBS affiliate WCCO.
Whether and to what extent MN criminal investigators were able to leverage Delbert Hubers desire to change or improve his son Tims current situation as an inmate at the state correctional facility in Rush City, Minnesota, before the news media descended on Delbert at the state correctional facility in Faribault, Minnesota, last week remains to be seen. (Timothy John Hubers appeal of his Kandiyohi county murder conviction is currently pending before the Minnesota Court of Appeals (Case Number A13-1928)). To be sure, any further opportunities for investigators to negotiate with Delbert Huber for information relevant to the Wetterling case ended when he took his last breath a few days ago.
The WCCO hype machine has fed on the Wetterling case since the early 1990s, using the case to tantalize and titillate the public especially during annual television ratings periods. See, for example, "Inside the Wetterling Files," May 13-14, 1992, Trish Van Pilsum reporting, claiming unprecedented access" and "we'll show you evidence that has never before been released." Despite such publicity, regardless of how arguably well-intended it may be, the Wetterling case remains as publicly unresolved in 2014 as it was in 1992.
True to form, the Delbert Huber interviews recently broadcast by MN television news channels reveal nothing new in the Wetterling case, yet may have contributed to the death of an individual who likely was a material witness. A material witness is someone who can testify about matters having some logical connection with the consequential facts of the case, especially where few others, if any, know about the matters in question. If so, an opportunity to obtain valuable testimonial evidence has been irretrievably lost, no doubt much to the relief of the actual perpetrator.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions, but its still the road to hell . . .
Prov. 11:14