# Danny Heinrich *Minnesota man who pleaded guilty in 2016 to a federal child-pornography count and, in allocution, admitted the 1989 abduction and murder of Jacob Wetterling.* Danny Heinrich is a Minnesota man. On September 6, 2016, the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota announced that he had pleaded guilty to receipt of child pornography. Under the plea agreement, he admitted in allocution that he had abducted and murdered [[Jacob Wetterling]].[^1][^2] NPR's report that day described the admission as covering a 1989 kidnapping and murder.[^3] Heinrich was never charged with, or convicted of, the murder.[^1] He was sentenced to 20 years in prison plus lifetime supervised release. That term is the statutory maximum on the child-pornography count.[^4] The charge and sentence that the pack documents are federal. The record in the pack shows no state charge for Wetterling's death.[^1][^4] Separately, the *[[Star Tribune]]* reported that a Stearns County judge awarded $17 million in damages to a victim of a sexual assault by Heinrich.[^5] ## Who Federal releases identify Heinrich as the person who admitted, under a plea agreement, the abduction and murder of Jacob Wetterling. Both the District of Minnesota office and the Department of Justice's national press office issued releases on the admission.[^1][^2] The dates in the pack conflict. The USAO release dates the guilty plea and admission to September 6, 2016.[^1] A Time Table row citing the FBI's Wetterling page gives September 1, 2006, as the date the remains were found and Heinrich confessed. That same row describes the date as "27 years after abduction", which does not match a 1989 abduction.[^6] ## In the at-issue record The project's at-issue record carries two entries that name Heinrich. Both are paired with the White House's January 2026 fact sheet establishing a new Department of Justice division for national fraud enforcement. That fact sheet does not itself address the Heinrich case.[^7] - **Entry AI-Stearns-002.** This entry states that Heinrich was never charged with, or convicted of, killing Jacob Wetterling. It states that he pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography, admitted the abduction and murder in allocution, and received twenty years, the statutory maximum on that count. The federal releases support each of these facts.[^1][^4][^7] - **Entry AI-Stearns-015.** This entry relies on APM Reports and *Star Tribune* reporting that is not among the pack's citable sources. It states that in February 1990, Stearns County investigators arrested Heinrich, interviewed him while he was intoxicated, and released him for insufficient evidence. It further states that about twenty-five years later, a DNA test on a hair sample taken during that 1990 contact identified him. No primary source in the pack establishes these 1990 facts.[^7] ## In the Minnesota record ### When - **1989:** Jacob Wetterling was abducted and killed, according to NPR's account of Heinrich's admission.[^3] - **September 1, 2006:** A Time Table row records that Wetterling's remains were found and that Heinrich confessed. This date conflicts with the 2016 federal release.[^6] - **September 6, 2016:** The USAO announced Heinrich's guilty plea to receipt of child pornography, with the abduction and murder admitted in allocution.[^1] ### How much - **Sentence:** 20 years in prison plus lifetime supervised release, the statutory maximum on the count.[^4] - **Civil award:** $17 million in damages, awarded by a Stearns County judge to a sexual-assault victim of Heinrich, as reported by the *Star Tribune*.[^5] ## Notes [^1]: U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota, *Danny Heinrich Admits Murder of Jacob Wetterling* (September 6, 2016) — guilty plea to receipt of child pornography, with the abduction and murder admitted in allocution under the plea agreement; no murder charge or conviction. https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/danny-heinrich-admits-murder-jacob-wetterling [^2]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *Minnesota Man Admits Murder of Jacob Wetterling* — national release on Heinrich's admission. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/minnesota-man-admits-murder-jacob-wetterling [^3]: NPR, *Man Admits to Abducting and Killing Jacob Wetterling* (September 6, 2016) — news report of the admission to the 1989 kidnapping and murder. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/06/492849778/man-admits-to-abducting-and-killing-jacob-wetterling [^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota, *Danny Heinrich Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison* — sentence of 20 years plus lifetime supervised release, the statutory maximum on the count. https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/danny-heinrich-sentenced-20-years-prison [^5]: Star Tribune, *Stearns County judge awards Heinrich sexual assault victim $17 million in damages* — report of the civil damages award. https://www.startribune.com/stearns-county-judge-awards-heinrich-sexual-assault-victim-17-million-in-damages/501552811 [^6]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, *Jacob Wetterling* (Time Table row TL-0756) — row dating the finding of the remains and Heinrich's confession to September 1, 2006, "27 years after abduction". https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/kidnap/jacob-wetterling [^7]: The White House, *Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Establishes New Department of Justice Division for National Fraud Enforcement* (January 2026) — anchor document of at-issue entries AI-Stearns-002 and AI-Stearns-015; it does not itself address the Heinrich case. https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2026/01/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-establishes-new-department-of-justice-division-for-national-fraud-enforcement/