Closs kidnapper gets life, Jayme and Judge have harsh statements for the murderer
Following his capture back in January, 21-year-old Wisconsin native Jake Thomas Patterson pleaded guilty to murdering both of Jayme Closs’ parents and kidnapping 13-year-old Jayme. The brazen home invasion and abduction went down at the home Jayme shared with her parents in Barron, Wisconsin, on October 15. Patterson kept Jayme subdued in his rural Wisconsin cabin for the next 88 days until Jayme seized an opportunity and made her escape.
Patterson was sentenced for those murders and kidnapping yesterday in a Wisconsin courtroom. Prior to rendering his sentence, the judge overseeing Patterson’s case had some harsh words for the convicted murderer and kidnapper, saying that “he was the embodiment of evil.”
Patterson was sentenced to life in prison without possibility for release on each homicide count and 25 years in prison on the kidnapping count. The sentences will be served consecutively. Those were the maximum sentences the judge could impose. Wisconsin does not have the death penalty. ~ per The Los Angeles Times
Jayme did not appear at Patterson’s sentencing hearing, but the heroic survivor had plenty to say in a prepared statement read in court by her family attorney, Chris Gramstrup. Jayme said in that statement that she was “smarter” than her captor and that she’d be forever free while Patterson would spend the rest of life in prison.
Jayme’s full statement appears below:
“Last October, Jake Patterson took a lot of things that I loved away from me. It makes me the most sad that he took away my Mom and my Dad. I loved my Mom and Dad very much and they loved me very much. They did all they could to make me happy and protect me. He took them away from me forever.
I felt safe in my home, and I loved my room and all of my belongings. He took all of that too. I don’t want to even see my home or my stuff because of the memory of that night. My parents and my home were the most important things in my life. He took them away from me in a way that will always leave me with a horrifying memory.
I have to have an alarm in the house now just so I can sleep. I used to love to go out with my friends. I loved to go to school. I loved to do dance. He took all of those things away from me too. It’s too hard for me to go out in public. I get scared and I get anxious. These are just ordinary things that anyone like me should be able to do, but I can’t because he took them away from me.
But there’s some things that Jake Patterson can never take from me. He can’t take my freedom. He thought that he could own me but he was wrong. I was smarter. I watched his routine and I took back my freedom. I will always have my freedom and he will not.
Jake Patterson can never take away my courage. He thought he could control me, but he couldn’t. I feel like what he did is what a coward would do. I was brave. He was not.
He can never take away my spirit. He thought that he could make me like him, but he was wrong. He can’t ever change me, or take away who I am. He can’t stop me from being happy and moving forward with my life. I will go on to do great things in my life, and he will not.
Jake Patterson will never have any power over me. I feel like I have some power over him, because I get to tell the judge what I think should happen to him. He stole my parents from me. He stole almost everything I love from me. For 88 days he tried to steal me, and he didn’t care who he hurt or who he killed to do that.
He should stay locked up forever.”
~ per The Madison State Journal
After court adjourned, Closs’ family said that they were satisfied with Patterson’s sentence. Jennifer Smith, Jayme’s aunt, said that having Patterson locked up forever would go a long way in helping Jayme to be able to “move forward.”
Smith said Jayme has made progress, but has much work left to do. She has spent time with her friends, is doing homework, and hanging out with her dog.
Prosecutor Brian Wright says the case has always been about the courage of a 13-year-old girl who overcame incredible odds to escape and return home. ~ per AP News
~ Written by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter
Also see:
- Missing for 85 days, 13-year-old Jayme Closs found alive in Wisconsin
- Jayme Closs kidnapper and her parents’ murderer identified as Wisconsin man
- Florida man, 71, charged with sexually abusing a child for years, beginning when child was 9-years-old
- Wayne Arthur Silsbee: Alleged child rapist surrenders to police after 23 years in hiding
