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

[bucshunter]

What year did DR lose his job at Cold Spring Elementary? Were the growing developments in the case playing a part in their decision to part ways?

This is incorrect information.

 

[Sasquatch321]

This is incorrect information.

Thank you, I will have to do an intense dig to find the article that brought me to believe this. But it was my understanding that at some point the music program had been removed from the school due to budget problems. Which then sent DR to be a music teacher over at St. Johns. I guess I am aware now that he is still full time at cold spring.

 

[shergal]

Thank you, I will have to do an intense dig to find the article that brought me to believe this. But it was my understanding that at some point the music program had been removed from the school due to budget problems. Which then sent DR to be a music teacher over at St. Johns. I guess I am aware now that he is still full time at cold spring.

He teaches music part time at St. John's and part time at Clod Spring from what I understand. Someone who knows him may know his schedule better.

 

[Sasquatch321]

He teaches music part time at St. John's and part time at Clod Spring from what I understand. Someone who knows him may know his schedule better.

"An employee of the Rocori School District for more than 30 years, he has taught band at several schools in the district."

"This year, he was assigned to teach music at St. Boniface as a result of layoffs in the district. The Catholic school has a partnership with the public school district to provide music and physical education instruction."

Budget reductions have trimmed Rassier’s teaching assignment to teaching music half-time at St. Boniface and teaching band half-time at Rocori’s three elementary schools, St. Boniface and Sts. Peter and Paul Elementary School in Richmond.

He said the reductions to Rocori’s music program is a bigger concern than the spotlight that has been cast on him this summer.

“The kids are going to be hurt by the cuts. The whole issue of who is teaching the music class, in the end, the kids have lost no matter what I turn out to be,” Rassier said.

http://www.immelman.us/news/dan-rassier-teaching-concerns/

 

[ThePhantom]

The whole issue of who is teaching the music class, in the end, the kids have lost no matter what I turn out to be,” Rassier said.

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I always found that statement odd. Can't figure out if he intended for it to mean something else and didn't word it correctly, or, if it was the proverbial slip of the tongue.

 

[cGorg]

Hasn't it been noted in the past that St. John's Abbey is where 'predators' are sent? I think that would skew any statistical analysis.

Exactly. I would like to know the extent of the 'skewering'.

 

[chaplain1]

Up until the early 60's, it was one of two places nationally (St. Louis) that specialized in locking them down. Since the charter in 02, I have believed they must have stopped but who knows. With a lay President and lawyer, I have a hard time believing they would sign off on that risk anymore.

For the midwest, alcoholic priests have been sent to Rochester or Detroit.

 

[chaplain1]

I'm thinking 50ish

 

[chaplain1]

The whole issue of who is teaching the music class, in the end, the kids have lost no matter what I turn out to be,” Rassier said.

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I always found that statement odd. Can't figure out if he intended for it to mean something else and didn't word it correctly, or, if it was the proverbial slip of the tongue.

Definitely snark and sarcasm were intended.

 

[Alyssa2013]

Not to say that Dean Runkle isn't an interesting person to look at in this case, and also that he couldn't be interested in male children either... but it is much more likely that he was a suspect in Amy Mihaljevic's disappearance because he paid much more attention to the girls in his class and had taken a specific liking to Amy in particular. Although he was known for being a fun teacher overall, to both boys and girls, he definitely did pay more attention to the girls. Just something I thought I should point out.

 

[ThePhantom]

It is deeply troubling to look at the number of years many of these missing children and adults have been gone. In some of these cases, LE has always had a particular suspect in mind but not enough evidence to make a charge stick. So I suppose that could be the case with Jacob. Missing twenty five years and counting, perhaps never to be resolved if there just isn't enough evidence to convict. How sad is that.

 

[cGorg]

It is deeply troubling to look at the number of years many of these missing children and adults have been gone. In some of these cases, LE has always had a particular suspect in mind but not enough evidence to make a charge stick. So I suppose that could be the case with Jacob. Missing twenty five years and counting, perhaps never to be resolved if there just isn't enough evidence to convict. How sad is that.

Very sad.....but unavoidable. Just watched an episode of Forensic Files: a woman who had been raped + stabbed repeatedly(fortunately she survived) had a very good look at her perp....yet in the end she was wrong in her identification of the perp. She identified an innocent man who happened to look almost like a brother to the actual perp. The fingerprint evidence did not match the man she identified yet when LE discovered another similar case they found the DNA evidence matched and that perp was convicted for life on both accounts. The point being: eyewitness testimony does not trump DNA evidence AND LE could not move forward without solid evidence.

 

[cGorg]

IDK how many of you have tried this....? Maybe most of you? If you use Google Earth....trace DR's route of his run as described in Joy's blog. Forget the time of day....just look at the path. And don't 'Google Walk' the path(it won't work anyway)....pretend that you can fly(don't use the 'Drag to enter street view' icon), stay in the air and simply follow the path from above-like Peter Pan. You can look all around....of course there's no detail where the Google car could not drive but nonetheless you can see ALOT. You can see the wood pile, the burn pit, the missing(burned down buildings), the now demolished Del Win, the Tom Thumb. You can also see how the Rassier farmhouse is very removed + isolated from the abduction site. The 'driveway' is very long. Now given all this.....why would DR set out on a run....proceed north thru field stubble....past the Del Win....then either cutting it short on E Baker Street-cross country- or going further north on E Minnesota St(past the Tom Thumb) and then down south 91st(16th Ave SE) and ultimately at his own mailbox + driveway? Now contrast this with the boys' possible + most likely route.

 

[Trackergd]

It is deeply troubling to look at the number of years many of these missing children and adults have been gone. In some of these cases, LE has always had a particular suspect in mind but not enough evidence to make a charge stick. So I suppose that could be the case with Jacob. Missing twenty five years and counting, perhaps never to be resolved if there just isn't enough evidence to convict. How sad is that.

If LE is convinced that they will never bring the suspect to trial, they might as well share what they have in the hopes that someone else can connect the dots or might have a missing part of the puzzle. Doing something is far better than doing nothing.

 

[Trino]

Ann Barber was murdered in 1995 in Minnesota. Because her husband was suspected, the insurance company would not pay. He sued. In the course of the lawsuit, police were asked to turn over information. They refused and were forced to turn over the info. The judge ruled that information that was shared by LE with a third party could not be kept confidential.

This could be interesting in the JW case because I would guess LE has shared information with a third party at some point. Now, if only someone such as PW would sue to get the info...

 

[Sasquatch321]

"Officially, "person of interest" means..well, nothing. No one has ever formally defined it — not police, not prosecutors, not journalists. The terms "accused," "allege," "arrest" and "indict" all are dealt with in the Associated Press Stylebook, but there is no listing for "person of interest." Similarly, the U.S. Attorneys' Manual — the official guide to federal criminal prosecution — uses the terms "suspect," "subject," "target" and "material witness," but "person of interest" gets no mention. So what are reporters to do?"

"The reporter should be on notice that it is a vague term that has no real understandable definition," says Gerald B. Lefcourt, a New York defense attorney and past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. His advice to journalists:"You have to ask the police what they mean."

http://ajrarchive.org/Article.asp?id=4042

 

[ThePhantom]

I wonder if Jacob recognized his abductor and the man possibly said to him, "do you recognize me?," and Jacob, being an honest soul, said to him, "yes, I recognize you from (fill in the blank) _______________ (hockey/when I was fishing/in the neighborhood/on TV/radio/school/from the Tom Thumb, etc). If this happened and Jacob admitted he recognized the abductor, that may have resulted in his death, as the perpetrator most definitely didn't want to be found out.

It's not a huge community -- if the perpetrator was local, which I believe he was, it's very possible Jacob may have at least seen him before -- enough to say, "yes, that's the man who assaulted me -- I recognize his voice and his face."

I remain convinced that if those here who have been diligently studying this case could see the actual files (of LE), it would not be long before you would be able to not only identify the culprit but also understand why he has not been charged in Jacob's abduction (and possibly others?).

After all, to the best of my knowledge, no one here has any conflict of interest, nor baggage related to this case, nor "official"mistakes made in pursuing the perpetrator, nor any kind of blackmail or threats, or anything else that might impede us from objectively assessing ALL the suspects in the context of the FACTS and what is known to be true and truthful. Unfortunately, we are not entitled to know all the facts, and what is true and truthful, except that which we can deduce based upon the minimal amount of information we have. (yes, minimal, because I assure you that file is huge and filled with all kinds of interesting info).

 

[Dave K]

I wonder if Jacob recognized his abductor and the man possibly said to him, "do you recognize me?," and Jacob, being an honest soul, said to him, "yes, I recognize you from (fill in the blank) _______________ (hockey/when I was fishing/in the neighborhood/on TV/radio/school/from the Tom Thumb, etc). If this happened and Jacob admitted he recognized the abductor, that may have resulted in his death, as the perpetrator most definitely didn't want to be found out.

It's not a huge community -- if the perpetrator was local, which I believe he was, it's very possible Jacob may have at least seen him before -- enough to say, "yes, that's the man who assaulted me -- I recognize his voice and his face."

I remain convinced that if those here who have been diligently studying this case could see the actual files (of LE), it would not be long before you would be able to not only identify the culprit but also understand why he has not been charged in Jacob's abduction (and possibly others?).

After all, to the best of my knowledge, no one here has any conflict of interest, nor baggage related to this case, nor "official"mistakes made in pursuing the perpetrator, nor any kind of blackmail or threats, or anything else that might impede us from objectively assessing ALL the suspects in the context of the FACTS and what is known to be true and truthful. Unfortunately, we are not entitled to know all the facts, and what is true and truthful, except that which we can deduce based upon the minimal amount of information we have. (yes, minimal, because I assure you that file is huge and filled with all kinds of interesting info).

Tracker:

"If LE is convinced that they will never bring the suspect to trial, they might as well share what they have in the hopes that someone else can connect the dots or might have a missing part of the puzzle. Doing something is far better than doing nothing."

I've given consideration to the possibility that Jacob possibly 'knew' the abductor, even to some really limited extent. In other words, maybe at some point, Jacob had been around him, even somewhat limitedly, given that, at some point, it may have come back to Jacob who the man was, possibly by his voice or whatever triggered his memory; and, for this reason, that's why the man took Jacob as opposed to the others. So, possibly the man knew that he and Jacob had some, possibly extremely limited (or not extremely limited) interaction and for that reason, he couldn't let Jacob go; and, that's why he took Jacob of the three. Just a possibility.

I fully agree with you about the concept that if 'All' the facts of the scenario were available; that there are people in the public who could easily add to the investigation, quite significantly. Also, agreeing with what Tracker said in an earlier post, just before yours about releasing the information to the public.

 

[human]

Ann Barber was murdered in 1995 in Minnesota. Because her husband was suspected, the insurance company would not pay. He sued. In the course of the lawsuit, police were asked to turn over information. They refused and were forced to turn over the info. The judge ruled that information that was shared by LE with a third party could not be kept confidential.

This could be interesting in the JW case because I would guess LE has shared information with a third party at some point. Now, if only someone such as PW would sue to get the info...

A third party? Why?

I doubt if there is insurance money.

 

[human]

"Officially, "person of interest" means..well, nothing. No one has ever formally defined it — not police, not prosecutors, not journalists. The terms "accused," "allege," "arrest" and "indict" all are dealt with in the Associated Press Stylebook, but there is no listing for "person of interest." Similarly, the U.S. Attorneys' Manual — the official guide to federal criminal prosecution — uses the terms "suspect," "subject," "target" and "material witness," but "person of interest" gets no mention. So what are reporters to do?"

"The reporter should be on notice that it is a vague term that has no real understandable definition," says Gerald B. Lefcourt, a New York defense attorney and past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. His advice to journalists:"You have to ask the police what they mean."

http://ajrarchive.org/Article.asp?id=4042

It was a term made because of the incorrect suspect in the Atlanta bombing case.