Mom to man who killed son, 11: 'He just wanted to go home'

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota man who abducted, sexually assaulted and killed 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling 27 years ago apologized in court Monday for his "evil acts" as he was sentenced to 20 years in prison on a child pornography count that let authorities close the books on a mystery that had haunted the state for nearly three decades.

Jacob's mother, Patty Wetterling said Heinrich deliberately set out to hurt a child the night he abducted Jacob on Oct. 22, 1989, while her boy was biking with his brother and a friend near their home in the central Minnesota community of St. Joseph.

The sentence was the maximum the law allowed, and Heinrich technically could complete it in 17 years with good behavior, but the plea deal allows state authorities to seek his civil commitment as a sexual predator at the end of his federal prison term, which could prevent him from ever going free.

While some of Jacob's siblings said they want Heinrich to spend the rest of his life in prison, the family agreed with prosecutors and investigators that the plea deal was their best hope of learning Jacob's fate.

[...] he came under renewed scrutiny when authorities decided to take a fresh look at the case around the 25th anniversary of the kidnapping.