Barron County Judge James Babler speaks to Jake Patterson during a hearing at the Barron County Justice Center, Wednesday, March 27, 2019, in Barron, Wis. Patterson pleaded guilty Wednesday to kidnapping 13-year-old Jayme Closs, killing her parents and holding her captive in a remote cabin for three months. (Renee Jones Schneider/Star Tribune via AP, Pool)
BARRON, Wis. (AP) – A Wisconsin man pleaded guilty Wednesday to kidnapping 13-year-old Jayme Closs and killing her parents, in a move that spares the girl held captive in a remote cabin for three months from the possible trauma of having to testify at his trial.
Jake Patterson, 21, sniffled and his voice caught as he pleaded guilty to two counts of intentional homicide and one count of kidnapping. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors dropped a count of armed burglary. Patterson faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced May 24; Wisconsin does not have the death penalty.
In a bizarre remark as he left the courtroom, Patterson turned back and said “Bye, Jayme.” His victim wasn’t there.
Patterson had said he would plead guilty in a letter sent this month to a Minneapolis TV station, saying he didn’t want the Closs family “to worry about a trial.”
Lynn Closs, aunt of Jayme Closs, leaves the courtroom after Jake Patterson plead guilty Wednesday, March 27, 2019 at the Barron County Justice Center in Barron, Wis. Patterson pleaded guilty Wednesday to kidnapping 13-year-old Jayme Closs, killing her parents and holding her captive in a remote cabin for three months. (Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP)
Patterson admitted kidnapping Jayme after killing her parents, James and Denise Closs, on Oct. 15 at the family’s home near Barron, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) northeast of Minneapolis. Jayme escaped in January, after 88 days in Patterson’s cabin in near the small, isolated town of Gordon, some 60 miles (97 kilometers) from her home.