MN - Jacob Wetterling, 11, St. Joseph, 22 Oct 1989 - #13

[ThePhantom]

Cappuccino, what are your thoughts about who the primary suspect for Jacob/Jared might be? (a) DR (b) DAH (c) DH (d) Kevin (e) a monk (f) a known community member (g) unidentified suspect

 

[chaplain1]

As I have said many times, MO in the Jacob/Jared cases are simply too different to be ignored.
Why present yourself to three children with a mask and a gun if Jared was taken without any of these elements? I just think Stearns County has a heckuva lot of pedophiles unfortunately.

 

[chaplain1]

In one of the earlier threads on this a parent of one of his pupils posted and according to her he's really popular with the children he teaches. They all call him Mr Be Bop and seem to universally like him.

Has he ever had a bf or gf? More than one person has given me the suggestion that he has aspergers or spectrum disorder. Hey, we're all a little weird, which helps explain to me why he acted so strange.

 

[kemo]

The car would have been seen if he'd done that. I think if you wanted to hide the car from anyone cycling along the road you would turn into a laneway and park the car, then walk down the road and wait. And I'm pretty sure that back in 1989 anyone who drove into that road from the Tom Thumb direction, the first turn off they would reach would have been the Rassier driveway. Hence it would make sense for the crime to happen there.

As for DR himself, I think he's a huge red herring and I don't think he had anything to do with the crime. My gut feeling about him is that he reminds me of Chris Jeffries...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Joanna_Yeates

MOO.

The stand out evidence that was found at the crime scene was Jacob's footprints ending alongside unidentified tire tracks. This is very suggestive of the perp taking Jacob to a vehicle he had left there. It isn't "proof" but it certainly points in that direction.

I can't get past the fact that nobody went to DR's door to ask him if he had seen anything. Sloppy police work, but the obvious inference is that they believed there was a car and didn't think that car had gone all the way to DR's homestead to turn around. I'm wondering if there was evidence that the vehicle turned around at the woodpile.

Good point about Chris Jefferies. As I recall he was a bit eccentric but a well regarded teacher who was labeled the equivalent of a POI because he lived in the same building as the victim and he behaved "inappropriately" when questioned. I suspected that the police believed that he was the "type" that would confess pretty easily once pressure was applied. I think the same assumption was made about DR. Publicly identifying someone as the prime suspect is part of the "softening up" process that is intended to get the suspect to confess.

 

[cGorg]

The stand out evidence that was found at the crime scene was Jacob's footprints ending alongside unidentified tire tracks. This is very suggestive of the perp taking Jacob to a vehicle he had left there. It isn't "proof" but it certainly points in that direction.

snipped by me

I understand your point but within your sentence is the dilemma: the 'standout' evidence of an unidentified tire track(s) according to LE is Kevin's girlfriend's Grand Prix. So that leaves no tire tracks to suggest abduction by vehicle. Given this, what do you think LE's intention is by holding DR as the POI indefinitely?

 

[Cappuccino]

Cappuccino, what are your thoughts about who the primary suspect for Jacob/Jared might be? (a) DR (b) DAH (c) DH (d) Kevin (e) a monk (f) a known community member (g) unidentified suspect

An unidentified suspect. I've toyed with the idea of a monk, because I know some of the nearby ones have a history of sex abuse, but those guys all seem to fit into the profile of a paedophile who grooms his victims which is quite a different type of psychology than a sex offender who grabs a victim off the side of the road at gunpoint.

I think if we ever find out who took Jacob everyone who has been following this case will all go "who he?". It'll be somebody we've never heard of.

 

[Cappuccino]

As I have said many times, MO in the Jacob/Jared cases are simply too different to be ignored.
Why present yourself to three children with a mask and a gun if Jared was taken without any of these elements? I just think Stearns County has a heckuva lot of pedophiles unfortunately.

I'm sorry but I disagree. Jared was threatened with being shot if he looked back, even though he didn't see a gun. The three boys in this case can't be sure the man actually had a gun either, although they were also threatened with being shot if they looked back. As for the mask, he asked Jared repeatedly if he would be able to identify him, Jared said no but then gave a description to the police which was circulated in the local media. It would make perfect sense for the man in question to think of wearing a mask next time.

The attack on three boys instead of one alone isn't so much a difference in the two crimes as an escalation in the offender's behaviour.

 

[Cappuccino]

Has he ever had a bf or gf? More than one person has given me the suggestion that he has aspergers or spectrum disorder. Hey, we're all a little weird, which helps explain to me why he acted so strange.

Asperger's would be my guess too, or possibly he's homosexual and very discreet about his bf's because his family might disapprove.

 

[Cappuccino]

snipped by me

I understand your point but within your sentence is the dilemma: the 'standout' evidence of an unidentified tire track(s) according to LE is Kevin's girlfriend's Grand Prix. So that leaves no tire tracks to suggest abduction by vehicle. Given this, what do you think LE's intention is by holding DR as the POI indefinitely?

I think their intention is to put him under pressure because they think he's guilty. Chris Jeffries went through the same, Colin Stagg is another similar case and both were completely innocent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Rachel_Nickell

 

[Dave K]

Asperger's would be my guess too, or possibly he's homosexual and very discreet about his bf's because his family might disapprove.

And/or, just basically asexual. That would pretty much be my guess; it was discussed on here not too long ago.

 

[HEY YOU!]

It says in the video, "He insists the key to the case is a tan car similar to this one, likely a Monte Carlo," and they're showing the picture; just a picture of a Monte Carlo that looks like the one he described. Then he goes on to describe how a car like that sped into his driveway (and turned around) the afternoon of the abduction; and how he thinks that whoever was driving that car, that afternoon is responsible for the abduction. So, basically, that particular car is just being used as an illustration.

DR stated that an unknown vehicle (like the Monte Carlo) drove up the driveway that afternoon AND a small blue car with lights close together drove around the crime scene with a small passenger that he saw from his window around the time of the abduction. Neither of those claims have been verified, and law enforcement only had 1 set of unidentified tire tracks. If DR were telling the truth, there would be 3 sets of tire tracks laid down in his driveway that were unaccounted for until Kevin came forward. Once Kevin came forward there would have been an additional 2 sets of tire tracks that were not identified. Cops identified all tracks except for Kevin's at the time of the crime. This statement alone means he is lying. Why would DR lie?

 

[Trackergd]

One of the much discussed points in this case is the abductor asking the boys their ages. To me, as a teacher, DR would have been able to easily estimate the boys ages and would not have bothered to ask. The comment about the gun and shooting the boys if they looked back is not language I would expect a pedophile priest to use, or a teacher for that matter. The comments do not seem consistent with the types of individuals we have been discussing.

My feeling is that this was an organized abduction with a specific age boy in mind. Could be a pedophile paid an experienced abductor to abduct a boy that met his specific tastes. Could be a motive we have not yet considered. What are the potential reasons an abductor would want a specific age boy?

The history of criminal investigation has proven one thing time and again, that it's way too easy to get focused on one POI and one scenario to the exclusion of all else.

 

[HEY YOU!]

One of the much discussed points in this case is the abductor asking the boys their ages. To me, as a teacher, DR would have been able to easily estimate the boys ages and would not have bothered to ask. The comment about the gun and shooting the boys if they looked back is not language I would expect a pedophile priest to use, or a teacher for that matter. The comments do not seem consistent with the types of individuals we have been discussing.

My feeling is that this was an organized abduction with a specific age boy in mind. Could be a pedophile paid an experienced abductor to abduct a boy that met his specific tastes. Could be a motive we have not yet considered. What are the potential reasons an abductor would want a specific age boy?

The history of criminal investigation has proven one thing time and again, that it's way too easy to get focused on one POI and one scenario to the exclusion of all else.

I may agree if it weren't for the secluded location and the small window of opportunity and time for planning. The perp had to see these boys going TO Tom Thumb in order to know that they likely would come back past DR driveway. There is a very small time window of 40 minutes if that. I find it hard to believe that a person was laying in wait for a boy to walk by DR driveway in a sparsely populated, dead end street neighborhood. Also being ON a private driveway and not knowing if or when someone would come out and ask what they are doing there. Too much risk. A guy wearing a mask is not a very risky guy.

 

[ThePhantom]

An unidentified suspect. I've toyed with the idea of a monk, because I know some of the nearby ones have a history of sex abuse, but those guys all seem to fit into the profile of a paedophile who grooms his victims which is quite a different type of psychology than a sex offender who grabs a victim off the side of the road at gunpoint.

I think if we ever find out who took Jacob everyone who has been following this case will all go "who he?". It'll be somebody we've never heard of.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Or, some have heard of and the rest of us never knew. I have reconsidered my theory and I have better clarity after going through the threads numerous times. Since the sheriff hasn't revealed all the information he has in the Wetterling case, I can only believe he has a specific reason for not doing so. But it will take copious amounts of time to unearth that reason. Perhaps someone on this very board will do that -- that is -- if they are aware of a possible culprit unknown to the rest of us. I hope so.

Thank you for sharing your insights. I believe we would all have clarity as crystal clear as the Caribbean sea if we could see that file.

 

[Sasquatch321]

One of the much discussed points in this case is the abductor asking the boys their ages. To me, as a teacher, DR would have been able to easily estimate the boys ages and would not have bothered to ask. The comment about the gun and shooting the boys if they looked back is not language I would expect a pedophile priest to use, or a teacher for that matter. The comments do not seem consistent with the types of individuals we have been discussing.

My feeling is that this was an organized abduction with a specific age boy in mind. Could be a pedophile paid an experienced abductor to abduct a boy that met his specific tastes. Could be a motive we have not yet considered. What are the potential reasons an abductor would want a specific age boy?

The history of criminal investigation has proven one thing time and again, that it's way too easy to get focused on one POI and one scenario to the exclusion of all else.

Kenneth Parnell wanted specific aged boys that hadn't hit puberty yet. When Steven Stayner died in May of 1989 I wonder if Parnell went on a hiatus and wound up here in Mn, or one of his accomplices.

 

[thenotebook]

I may agree if it weren't for the secluded location and the small window of opportunity and time for planning. The perp had to see these boys going TO Tom Thumb in order to know that they likely would come back past DR driveway. There is a very small time window of 40 minutes if that. I find it hard to believe that a person was laying in wait for a boy to walk by DR driveway in a sparsely populated, dead end street neighborhood. Also being ON a private driveway and not knowing if or when someone would come out and ask what they are doing there. Too much risk. A guy wearing a mask is not a very risky guy.

Or the perp was already at Tom Thumb, saw the boys go inside the store, and drove down the street and pulled in DR's driveway and waited for him. He's a local guy who already knew where the boys lived.

 

[cGorg]

I think their intention is to put him under pressure because they think he's guilty. Chris Jeffries went through the same, Colin Stagg is another similar case and both were completely innocent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Rachel_Nickell

Thx for the link...the case of Rachel Nickell is very interesting and provides food for thought regarding Jacob's case.

 

[chaplain1]

And/or, just basically asexual. That would pretty much be my guess; it was discussed on here not too long ago.

Long history in the upper Midwest of the asexual farmer.

 

[Wisdom]

Or the perp was already at Tom Thumb, saw the boys go inside the store, and drove down the street and pulled in DR's driveway and waited for him. He's a local guy who already knew where the boys lived.

Our unknown perp must have been driving a hovercraft that didn't leave any tracks

 

[Sasquatch321]

Or the perp was already at Tom Thumb, saw the boys go inside the store, and drove down the street and pulled in DR's driveway and waited for him. He's a local guy who already knew where the boys lived.

The problem I have with this theory is it was pitch black out that night and the distance from tom thumb to the farm. This guy would have had to make a few left and right turns then go over a couple hills before pulling into the gravel driveway. Why put yourself in position on the other side of a hill that you can't see them coming for sure? Why disguise yourself but then leave your evidence behind on the driveway and also be witnessed by the person at the farm?