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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
v.

Plaintiff,

DANNY JAMES HEINRICH,

Defendant.

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Criminal No. 15-340 (JRT/LIB)

DEFENDANTS SENTENCING
POSITION

Nothing. There is nothing Danny Heinrich can do or say to lessen the

immeasurable pain that he caused the Wetterling family when he took Jacobs life. And
there is nothing he can do or say to make up for the prolonged anxiety he caused by
remaining silent for 27 years and preventing the Wetterlings and the community from
being able to answer the most basic question, What happened to Jacob?
Danny Heinrich understands this harsh reality all too well. He has replayed the
night of October 22, 1989, in his head a thousand times, every time wishing he had never
left his house, had never seen the boys on that dark road, had never taken Jacob. Every
time wishing that he had not taken the life of an innocent child. Still not even
understanding how he could have done something so heinous when he never had any
intention to do so.
Some have tried to paint a picture of Danny Heinrich as something less than a
human being. Understandably it might be easier to accept that reality because then we
dont have to try and understand how he could commit these unforgivable acts. But the
truth is he is just a man; a man with human failings. Unquestionably, none of these

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failings justify or excuse his conduct, but they do help to give us a clearer picture of
Danny Heinrich as a person.
It is hard to understand how some children struggle through their difficult
beginnings and are able to become emotionally healthy individuals, while others emerge
from similar circumstances emotionally damaged and completely unable to form healthy
relationships as children or adults.
Danny Heinrich could never shed the constantly ingrained notion of his
inadequacy; not a good enough son, athlete, or student. Not handsome enough or
physically fit. Danny remembers the words more accurately as ugly, fat, stupid, etc. For
an adult these constant criticisms can be hurtful, but for a child to be subjected to this by
the person they love the most, these criticisms can be emotionally damaging. The alcohol
abuse in his home exacerbated the situation and made the criticism all the more harsh.
Danny accepted that he was worthless. He hated himself and wished and pretended he
could be someone else. When you grow up feeling that way about yourself, it is not
surprising that you feel ill-equipped to form emotionally healthy relationships with
others. The result in Danny Heinrichs case was that he isolated himself emotionally.
All of this was further complicated by a complete inability to understand his
feelings about his own sexuality or to be able to express those feelings. He was unable to
have any significant sexual relationships with women and couldnt even consider having
one with a man. He was at a loss to understand himself or to know how to go about living
a normal life.

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For almost 30 years he has desperately searched his soul trying to understand what
caused him to be this way. He has given serious consideration to a number of
possibilities, no matter how remote. He suffered head injuries as a childcould that
have altered his brain and affected his behavior? He was sexually assaulted as a young
mancould that have had an effect? Was he just born this way? He has also
considered that there really is no explanation for how he could have done these terrible
things. He just doesnt understand how he came to be that person. He feels a great deal
of guilt and remorse for the pain and anguish he has brought the Wetterling family and
Jared Scheierl.
Like all Minnesotans he has observed the Wetterlings pain as they searched for
their son and pleaded for someone to come forward with information about Jacob. But
unlike other Minnesotans, he had the information they were seeking. He struggled with
the secret of what he had done every day and he thought about the Wetterlings often. He
was haunted by the secret but at the same time terrified about what would happen to him
and his family if he confessed. So many times he had felt that he just couldnt stay silent
another day. He tried to think of a way that he could reveal to the Wetterlings Jacobs
location without incriminating himself. The problem was that Jacob was buried in
Paynesville, the town he lived in. Since he had been a suspect in the case he knew the
location itself would be incriminating. Also there was the problem of DNA. The
investigators in the case had told him enough about DNA during his prior interrogations
that he believed if he revealed Jacobs location that his own DNA would be discovered.
He realized that there was no way to tell the Wetterlings where to find Jacob without
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accepting that to do so would reveal his identity as the man responsible for Jacobs death.
Ultimately, his fear stopped him from taking that step.
Danny Heinrichs crimes against Jacob Wetterling and Jared Scheierl have defined
his life. Not simply that he will forever be remembered for those crimes but that his life
since October 22, 1989, has been about his efforts to live with the guilt. For 27 years he
kept to himself, worked a job, and never touched another child. He willed himself to be a
better person but that didnt change what he had done. Any quiet moment in the day
would allow the nightmare of what he had done to slip back into his thoughts. There was
no escaping that this was now his reality and would be for the rest of his life. It is not
expected that this information will make anyone feel sympathy for Danny Heinrich, nor
should theyhe killed an innocent little boy. But if the truth is important, then we should
at least recognize that he is a human being who feels remorse and over the past 27 years
has shed countless tears for Jacob and his family.
Recognizing that there is nothing he can say or do to change the pain and anguish
he has caused, Danny Heinrich is still hopeful that on November 21, 2016, he can
somehow convey how sorry he feels for the terrible crimes that he has committed.

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Dated: November 17, 2016

Respectfully submitted,
s/ Reynaldo A. Aligada, Jr.
KATHERIAN D. ROE
Attorney ID No. 214668
REYNALDO A. ALIGADA, Jr.
Attorney ID No. 319776
Attorney for Defendant
107 U.S. Courthouse
300 South Fourth Street
Minneapolis, MN 55415