Advertisement

Jayme Closs kidnapper: 'If it wasn't Jayme, it would probably be someone else'

Case files released Friday show Jake Patterson thought about "taking a girl" for two years.

December 21, 2019 at 4:20AM
Jake Patterson, accused of abducting 13-year-old Jayme Closs after murdering her parents and holding her captive for three months in a northern Wisconsin cabin, arrived in court during a hearing where he pleaded guilty at the Barron County Justice Center in Barron, Wis., on Wednesday, March 27, 2019.
Jake Patterson, shown entering a guilty pleaded guilty at the Barron County Justice Center in March, (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

In the weeks and months after washing out of the Marine Corps, Jake Patterson was "basically lost," he told police.

As he drifted through a series of short-term jobs near his hometown of Gordon, Wis., a thought grabbed hold of him: "taking a girl."

And it could be any girl, Patterson told police in the hours after his arrest in January in the murder of James and Denise Closs at their Barron, Wis., home and the abduction of their 13-year-old daughter, Jayme, in the dark of an October 2018 morning.

"If it wasn't Jayme, it would probably be someone else," he told police.

That chilling detail was revealed in hundreds of pages of investigative documents released by authorities Friday in the Closs murders and kidnapping, a terrifying case that gripped the nation for months following Jayme's disappearance and her daring escape after 88 days of captivity in Patterson's secluded rural Wisconsin home.

Patterson, then 21, was arrested just minutes after Jayme's escape. He later pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and one count of kidnapping and is serving two consecutive life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole.

The police files released Friday shed new light on Patterson's motivation and his actions while he kept Jayme prisoner.

A year after Patterson was discharged from the Marines in 2015, he began thinking about abducting a girl.

Advertisement
Advertisement

"I just thought about that a lot. … I was starting to think about, how actually do I do this? Like more specifically, not just in general," he said, according to a transcript of the police interview.

Then he spotted Jayme getting on a school bus one day.

"She was the first girl I thought, like hey, I can do this," he said.

Within days, he made his first attempt, but "chickened out," he told police. He made a second attempt but also turned back.

On Oct. 15, he went through with his plan, showering and shaving his face and head so as not to leave any evidence at the scene. He cleaned a Mossberg .12-gauge shotgun and loaded it with six slugs, wiping each one before slamming them into the gun.

Missed opportunity

The reports reveal just how close police were to catching Patterson immediately after his attack on the Closs family, whom he'd never met.

Advertisement

As officers responded to a frantic 911 call from Denise Closs, they passed a maroon Ford Taurus heading east from the home on busy Hwy. 8. An officer switched on his radar, then let the car go when the readout showed it traveling 54 mph in a 55 mph zone.

What they didn't know is that it was Patterson making his escape with Jayme bound and gagged in the trunk.

When Patterson got Jayme to his family's cabin, set among heavy woods outside Gordon, some 75 miles from Barron, he was immediately struck with remorse for the horrific crime he'd committed.

"I felt super, super, super, super bad," he told police. "Like it was instant, instant regret."

At first he was convinced he would soon be caught, but after about two weeks, he began to think, "I might get away with this."

It was fear that kept Jayme imprisoned in the shabby house.

Advertisement
Advertisement

"I know she was … terrified of me," he said. "I mean, she's just a kid."

Patterson told police that he and Jayme passed some of their days watching TV and playing board games. Occasionally, on nice days, they'd go out in the yard and play catch or badminton.

They never talked about the night of the murders.

"She talked about her parents as if they were still alive," he said. "I couldn't tell her they weren't."

Patterson had only vague thoughts of the future, he told police.

"It was pretty impulsive-ish," he said. "I mean, I just thought I'd get a job, rent an apartment.

Advertisement
Advertisement

"Like, I honestly, until barely right now, thought about the murders."

On a few occasions, he and Jayme heard news broadcasts about the case. Each time, Patterson said, he quickly switched to another station and apologized to Jayme: "I just told her that I'm not gonna kill you."

Jayme often asked how long she would be held there, he said. About a year, he'd tell her.

About two weeks before Jayme's escape, he allowed her to write a letter to her aunts.

"I was looking at her, and I felt really guilty," he told police. "I wanted to let her at least tell her family that she's OK and alive." But he never delivered the letter.

On the afternoon of Jan. 10, Patterson left Jayme alone when he went to his mother's home in Haugen, Wis. When he returned, Jayme was gone. She'd grabbed some shoes and he saw her tracks in the snow. She was found by a neighbor walking her dog. Patterson, who was cruising the neighborhood looking for Jayme, was arrested minutes later.

Advertisement

"I guess," Patterson told police, "she deserves … to [expletive] be free."

Staff writer Dan Browning contributed to this report. marylynn.smith@startribune.com 612-673-4788 john.reinan@startribune.com 612-673-7402

The Closs family: James, Denise and Jayme
The Closs family: James, Denise and Jayme (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
The cabin in Gordon, Wis., where Jayme Closs was held for 88 days was surrounded by law enforcement vehicles Saturday morning on Jan. 12, 2019. Jake T. Patterson, of Gordon, was arrested for the suspected kidnapping of Jayme and murder in the deaths of Jayme Closs' parents.
The cabin in Gordon, Wis., where Jayme Closs was held for 88 days, shown in January. Jake Patterson told police that when he got Jayme to the cabin, he was immediately struck with remorse for the horrific crime he’d committed. (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Advertisement
about the writers

about the writers

John Reinan

Reporter

John Reinan is a news reporter covering Greater Minnesota and the Upper Midwest. For the Star Tribune, he's also covered the western Twin Cities suburbs, as well as marketing, advertising and consumer news. He's been a reporter for more than 20 years and also did a stint at a marketing agency.

See Moreicon

Mary Lynn Smith

Reporter

Mary Lynn Smith is a general assignment reporter for the Star Tribune. She previously covered St. Paul City Hall and Ramsey County. Before that, she worked in Duluth where she covered local and state government and business. She frequently has written about the outdoors.

See Moreicon

More from No Section

See More

Kyiv was targeted with waves of drone and missile attacks overnight into Friday in the largest aerial assault since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began more than three years ago, officials said, amid a renewed Russian push to capture more of its neighbor's land.

Advertisement
Advertisement