Man accused of kidnapping Wisconsin girl to appear in court

Law Firm News

A man accused of kidnapping a 13-year-old Wisconsin girl and killing her parents is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday for a preliminary hearing.

Jake Patterson, 21, is accused of killing James and Denise Closs on Oct. 15 and kidnapping their daughter , Jayme Closs, from their Barron home. Jayme escaped on Jan. 10, after 88 days.

Patterson is expected to be in the courtroom Wednesday, according to Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald. The purpose of a preliminary hearing is to determine whether there's grounds for a trial. Both sides can present evidence.

According to the criminal complaint, Patterson told investigators he knew Jayme "was the girl he was going to take" after he saw her getting on a school bus near her home. He made two aborted trips to the family's home before carrying out the attack in which he killed Jayme's mother in front of her.

In the days that followed, thousands of people volunteered to search for Jayme. Investigators believe Patterson hid Jayme in a remote cabin in Gordon, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) north of Barron, before she escaped and got help from a woman walking her dog.

Jayme told police that on the night she was abducted, she awoke to her dog's barking, then woke her parents as a car came up the driveway. Her father went to the front door as Jayme and her mother hid in a bathtub, according to the complaint. Jayme told police she heard a gunshot and knew her dad had been killed.

Related listings

  • Russian court sends Jehovah’s Witness to prison for 6 years

    Russian court sends Jehovah’s Witness to prison for 6 years

    Law Firm News 02/03/2019

    A regional court in western Russia on Wednesday sentenced a Danish Jehovah’s Witness to six years in prison, in arguably the most severe crackdown on religious freedom in Russia in recent years.The court in Oryol found Dennis Christensen guilty...

  • Family's fight for liquor license leads to Supreme Court

    Family's fight for liquor license leads to Supreme Court

    Law Firm News 01/10/2019

    Doug and Mary Ketchum chose Memphis, Tennessee, as a place to live with their disabled adult daughter because it has clearer air than their former home in Utah.That was the easy part. Their decision to support themselves by buying a liquor store has ...

  • Supreme Court sides with Ohio over death row inmate

    Supreme Court sides with Ohio over death row inmate

    Law Firm News 01/06/2019

    The Supreme Court is ordering a federal appeals court to re-examine the case of a convicted killer in Ohio whose death sentence was thrown out after he was found to be mentally disabled.In an unsigned opinion Monday, the justices said that the federa...

Business News