He’ll spend the rest of his living years in prison, but before he was taken away in cuffs on Friday at a sentencing hearing in Barron County, Wisconsin, 21-year-old killer Jake Patterson heard a powerful statement written by 13-year-old Jayme Closs.
Jayme endured 88 days of hell while being held captive in Patterson’s Gordon, Wisconsin, house. Patterson shot Jayme’s parents to death in October 2018, inside their Barron County home. He then bound Jayme with duct tape and abducted her.
Jayme, hailed as a hero, managed to escape the killer’s remote residence in January. Patterson was arrested the same day Jayme escaped.
On Friday, Barron County Judge James C. Babler sentenced Patterson to life in prison without the possibility of parole, for two counts of intentional homicide. He received an additional 40 years in prison for kidnapping.
Jayme wasn’t present during the sentencing hearing, but an attorney read the girl’s words on her behalf.
Read Jayme’s full statement below.
“Last October, Jake Patterson took a lot of things that I love away from me. It makes me the most sad that he took away my mom and my dad. I love my mom and my dad very much and they love me very much. They did all they could to make me happy and protect me. He took them away from me forever.
I felt safe in my home and I loved my room and all my belongings. He took all of that too. I don’t want to even see my home or my stuff because of the memory of that night. My parents and my home were the most important things in my life. He took them away from me in a way that will always leave me with a horrifying memory.
I have to have an alarm in the house now just so I can sleep. I used to love to go out with my friends. I loved to go to school. I loved to dance. He took all of those things away from me too.
It’s too hard for me to go out in public. I get scared and I get anxious. These are just ordinary things that anyone like me should be able to do but I can’t because he took them away from me.
But there are some things that Jake Patterson can never take from me. He can’t take my freedom. He thought he that he could own me but he was wrong. I was smarter. I watched his routine and I took back my freedom. I will always have my freedom and he will not.
Jake Patterson can never take away my courage. He thought he could control me but he couldn’t. I feel like what he did is what a coward would do. I was brave and he was not.
He can’t ever take away my spirit. He thought that he could make me like him, but he was wrong. He can’t ever change me or take away who I am. He can’t stop me from being happy and moving forward with my life. I will go on to do great things in my life and he will not.
Jake Patterson will never have any power over me. I feel like I have some power over him because I get to tell the judge what I think should happen to him.
He stole my parents from me. He stole almost everything I love from me. For 88 days he tried to steal me and he didn’t care who he hurt or who he killed to do that. He should stay locked up forever.”
[Feature Photo: Jayme Closs, Jake Patterson/Police Handout]
