Minnesota man admits to abducting, killing 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling in 1989

By Timothy Mclaughlin, Reuters

CHICAGO - A man in Minnesota admitted in court on Tuesday to the 1989 abduction and killing of an 11-year-old boy whose remains were found last week, local media reported.

Danny Heinrich said he kidnapped and shot to death Jacob Wetterling, who was riding his bike on a rural Minnesota road nearly 27 years ago, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

'I panicked. I pulled the revolver out of my pocket ... I loaded it with two rounds. I told Jacob to turn around,” Heinrich told the court, the newspaper said.

'I told him I had to go to the bathroom,” Heinrich said. 'I raised the revolver to his head. I turned my head and it clicked once. I pulled the trigger again and it went off. Looked back, he was still standing.”

'I raised the revolver again and shot him again.”

Authorities last October named Heinrich a person of interest in the disappearance and suspected homicide of Wetterling, whose parents, Patty and Jerry Wetterling, have become advocates for missing children since his disappearance.

(Reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin; Editing by James Dalgleish and Peter Cooney)