Found Alive WI - Jayme Closs, 13, Barron, missing after parents found shot, 15 Oct 2018 *Arrest* #41

[Confusion]

In response to your request for Deputy Fick's Statement, please note the following. Detective Jeff Nelson is affirming for all the reports by LE.

Detective Jeff Nelson Subscribed and Sworn to the Criminal Complaint together with Brian H. Wright, District Attorney.

On pg 2, Detective Nelson has sworn that he had access to Deputy Fick's report, and just before his signature includes that the statements made by the law enforcement officers can be considered truthful, credible, and reliable because of the positions of trust they hold (pg 12).

Reference: Criminal Complaint pg 2/12

PROBABLE CAUSE:

Basis for this complaint is a statement by Jeff Nelson that he is a Detective with the Barron County Sheriff’s Department and as such has access to all reports and complaints filed with his department. Complainant is informed by the reports of Deputy James Pressley, Deputy Jon Fick, Deputy Erik Sedani, Detective Mary Dexter and Detective Jason Hagen of the Barron County Sheriff’s Department and Deputy Dittbrender, Deputy Carey and Sgt. Derosia with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department.

Thanks. As many times as I've read that thing, I seem to have skipped that paragraph every time.

 

[Wrenny]

If she were in my life, I'd probably tell her the same thing as I've told many other people who are: I'm sorry for what you went through, and I won't ask you for any details, but if you ever need someone to talk to who won't give advice, tell you what you could have done differently, dismiss your pain by saying "I know how you feel", or talk about it to anyone else, you know my number and where I live. I'll always be glad to be a sounding board, or help you if you ask me to.

Perfect!

One last thing. It's easy for us to look at the case with the knowledge we now have and say how things should have been done, but I do believe that all LE involved in the case did what they thought was best under the circumstances. The fact that JC was still alive and in good enough shape, physically and mentally, to escape makes me believe their decisions may have been the best options. If more pressure were put on him when they had no idea who he was, it's very possible she'd have been in much worse shape now and possibly dead.

Good point. It worked.

 

[Wrenny]

d
Yes, and frankly, I would not feel comfortable as a lay person opening anything under these circumstances. I hope they have a good way to check out each and every piece of mail and package before it gets to the family.

That was my thought too. Hope LE lets their detection dogs check them out before opening.

 

[ilovechili]

BBM, Yes we think LE is sometimes other than human in crime prevention and solving, but of course we know that is not always the case. Same as doctors, they can't always save lives, they are all only human after all and we all make mistakes sometimes. I certainly don't envy their jobs, and they deal with life & death situations on a daily basis, and thank goodness they are strong enough for such difficult work. All IMO.

Exactly. You get it, I can tell by your response. We all have a need to feel our surgeon is perfect and had a well rested night the night before, our LE will save us no matter what situation we are in, which is probably also why people have questioned the response when she escaped (I don't, no reason to so far), it is not bashing, it is not questioning. All are human. In any job, not superhuman although we like to believe that...

Something that always sticks with me is that LE is responding after facts. If they could predict what crime was going to go on in what neighborhood or what someone is thinking and what they can do about it, yep, it would be so easy if they had ESP. But it is after the fact and they have to determine what they have and so much more. Now if the perp called up and said this is what I am going to do, where, when and how.... Yeah right. They do not have an easy job. Never know what a day or night will bring. I in no way envy their job or position.

But I do think most of us like to hope and believe our LE, doctors, teachers, etc. are superhuman, can save one and all in any situation...

But it is not realistic....

 

[MemPat]

I thought it was interesting to note that there were no murders in Barron from 2002-2016. (I didn't see figures for 2017-18.) The overall crime rate in Barron is 94% lower than the national average. For every 100,000 people, there are 0.42 daily crimes that occur in Barron. Barron is safer than 94% of the cities in the United States. In Barron you have a 1 in 659 chance of becoming a victim of any crime.

I'm surprised anyone even locks their doors! Sorry if this has been discussed endlessly. I'm pretty new here.

 

[Wrenny]

• Also JP doesn't confess to hurting JLC in captivity, yet in the PDF, JLC mentions he hit her with something on her back.

We don't know what all he confessed to. The CC lists enough probable cause for the charges from Barron County - 2 murders, kidnapping and armed burglary. Anything related to what happened in her captivity would be with probable cause for charges from Douglas County.

• JP's confession isn't true, he's just bragging (like an earlier poster stated) about what the police already knew.

Seems like a possibility that can't be overlooked. Of course that's why they don't release all the info, there are things in the CC we never knew, and some I wish I still didn't. Only people directly involved in the crime or the investigators would have known these things, UNLESS he had heard them from someone with direct knowledge.

<modsnip: removed rumor>

 

[MemPat]

Since I have a 14 year old girl in my life I can say that most of the kids at school are going to move on from Jayme's crisis pretty quickly. In a short time (if not already) they'll be much more about who they think is cute and what they're planning for Spring Break. thank goodness!

 

[Wrenny]

It would help if we knew her size, what she needs and what she likes. If she receives too much stuff, she can pass it forward. But she will know people are thinking of her.

The pink tank top taken by he whom we can't discuss was size XS 4, according to his CC. That doesn't tell us whether it was her current size, an old one, or a new one she was still growing into though.

 

[Wrenny]

So you start with Barron and the surrounding counties. Search for the first impression of the deputy - red or maroon Ford Taurus, older model. Now you have a working list. As for the license plate frame, you can narrow from there with surveillance to ones without a license plate in the frame. But hey, I’m not trying to tell anyone how to do their job. Just thinking out loud.

They probably did.

 

[MemPat]

We don't know what all he confessed to. The CC lists enough probable cause for the charges from Barron County - 2 murders, kidnapping and armed burglary. Anything related to what happened in her captivity would be with probable cause for charges from Douglas County.



Seems like a possibility that can't be overlooked. Of course that's why they don't release all the info, there are things in the CC we never knew, and some I wish I still didn't. Only people directly involved in the crime or the investigators would have known these things, UNLESS he had heard them from someone with direct knowledge.
Shortly (days?) before his capture there was a rumor going around (was it from BarronBowHunter's questions? I don't remember) that COULD also fit the circumstances.

I'm thinking JP's confession will be of little importance. Jayme's eyewitness account will put him in jail for life. She certainly didn't drive herself to his house and crawl under the bed! If the jury wants some forensics for good measure, the boot print in blood and the murder gun in the trunk on his property should suffice. Since they have his clothes, I expect the gloves have some blood on them as he slipped in it and probably had to steady himself. He's cooked! I imagine his lawyers will drag things out as long as they can so he gets to stay as long as possible in a local jail before he gets shipped off to real prison. I would expect them to plead him out before the trial ends (or maybe right before it begins). General Population is not going to be a happy place for this boy, I'm thinkin'. MOO, of course.

 

[MsBetsy]

Thank you, that sounds so much better than him being smart. A fear of authority could also be why he shot JC through the door rather than just turning and leaving again; he may have been afraid he'd come out after him. MOO

I don't think he feared authority at all. He went to that house with the full intention of killing everyone except Jayme. He did not shoot James because he feared he would run after him, he shot him because he wanted to. He was fully prepared to shoot LE had they stopped him as well. Imo

 

[Wrenny]

I firmly think that LE should have shared the information about the Taurus with the public at large, as there would've been more eyes looking out for it. Instead, the public was told to look out for 2 other vehicles that were a point of interest.

They wanted to hear from the owners/drivers of the 2 vehicles of interest, and any others who had been on Hwy 8 during the time frame. I think they wanted to know if they had any more identifying info on the Taurus. I also think once they did NOT hear from the Taurus, that they became a lot more suspicious of it. But I think mentioning it might have put Jayme in even more danger.

 

[ilovechili]

I thought it was interesting to note that there were no murders in Barron from 2002-2016. (I didn't see figures for 2017-18.) The overall crime rate in Barron is 94% lower than the national average. For every 100,000 people, there are 0.42 daily crimes that occur in Barron. Barron is safer than 94% of the cities in the United States. In Barron you have a 1 in 659 chance of becoming a victim of any crime.

I'm surprised anyone even locks their doors! Sorry if this has been discussed endlessly. I'm pretty new here.

Are you talking about the city? Or the county? And it is probably far safer than like living in Detroit, etc. I have learned the past few year about semantics and statistics too.

And in the past few years, I have learned that apparently homicide and murder are not the same.

I am NOT saying this about Barron but about the game in general with statistics in the US etc.

If a big city for instance brags about murder rates going down thanks to a new mayor, maybe take a look at how many pleas went on and how many arrests occurred or how many dead they have that were just judged accidental or some such. Then amazingly, no statistic as for any charges... Hence, a lower rate.

I am talking generally about the US not Barron.

Or someone goes on about unemployment rates going down in their state but what the average citizen does not know is the laws were changed on who can apply and receive and what stats are they using and what is missing from the report?

Assaults are charged as disorderlies or pled down. Again less felonies on a record.

Statistics.

But yes, if I had to guess, it is still safer than many areas but some of these rural areas are starting to show some very bad things to pay attention to. Small towns but yet look what happened...

Just my opinion and just speculating.

 

[MemPat]

The pink tank top taken by he whom we can't discuss was size XS 4, according to his CC. That doesn't tell us whether it was her current size, an old one, or a new one she was still growing into though.

Young teens are pretty specific about their clothes choices. I don't imagine any of us could know what Jayme would like to wear. Seems to me that gift cards for major chains or Amazon would be good choices....for her age, maybe Target or WalMart. MOO

 

[MassGuy]

I don't think he feared authority at all. He went to that house with the full intention of killing everyone except Jayme. He did not shoot James because he feared he would run after him, he shot him because he wanted to. He was fully prepared to shoot LE had they stopped him as well. Imo

Agreed. He didn’t fear authority, he despised it.

 

[Andreee]

Young teens are pretty specific about their clothes choices. I don't imagine any of us could know what Jayme would like to wear. Seems to me that gift cards for major chains or Amazon would be good choices....for her age, maybe Target or WalMart. MOO

Under the circumstances, she may very well not want any Pink clothes anymore anyways.

 

[Pretty Go Pale]

Agreed. He didn’t fear authority, he despised it.

Impossible to know, of course, but I agree. Without a gun, he was a walking vulnerability -- someone w/out the backbone to stand up to any challenges life might mete out.

 

[Wrenny]

now, with what happened to the Closses, we can learn that in this scenario it might be best to run out the backdoor to the neighbors and call police and not to even give any attention to the front door. not many people would immediately run out the back of the house in this situation, but now we might decide that should be part of our safety plan and we can discuss this plan with our kids.

I absolutely considered this, but unfortunately with their open floor plan, their back door (the patio door) was in view of the front door, once James was down and Denise realized just how terrible the situation was. And their windows were above exit height. It's a great argument for a home design where there's a back door that is not in view from the front door. We still don't know where the basement stairs are, and whether they would have been in view from the front door, but it sounds like the bathroom door may have been.

 

[MassGuy]

Impossible to know, of course, but I agree. Without a gun, he was a walking vulnerability -- someone w/out the backbone to stand up to any challenges life might mete out.

Yup. He was a coward in every sense.

On that fateful night in October, he was a coward with a gun.

 

[ilovechili]

The pink tank top taken by he whom we can't discuss was size XS 4, according to his CC. That doesn't tell us whether it was her current size, an old one, or a new one she was still growing into though.

For all, I do not have a link but saw it way earlier today, the aunt put out a list. Clothing I am pretty sure was a small women's. Busy work, crafts, she had details of exactly what but I do not recall exactly. Loves green and blue for colors. It was for people who want to send things. I would guess the list was put out because they have so many asking and wanting to help. There were a couple of other things on it, but I do not recall what they were.