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Megan Wickenhauser
ENG 121
Jenna Hanson
11 December 2016

Cover Letter

The strongest part of my essay is my introduction. It's important for the introduction to be
interesting or people won't continue to read it. The best part of my introduction is that statistical
hook that I used. Many people will read this and instantly want to know more about the things
that go on in Stearns County. I think because the statistic used tells how someone is a victim of a
crime every two hours people are curious and want to know more about the things that go on in
Stearns County.
The weakest part of my essay is probably my conclusion. I find it difficult for myself to
write a conclusion without bringing up any new topics. I like to write my conclusion separately
to make sure I'm doing it correctly. I don't want to confuse my readers by making my conclusion
too confusing. I don't want my readers to be left with any large questions that should have been
answered in my essay.

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Megan Wickenhauser
English 121
Jenna Hanson
11 December 2016
Unsuccessful Stearns County
Within a seven year span, between 2002 and 2008, there were over 31 thousand total
crimes reported in Stearns County. This included nine murder cases. On average, someone is a
victim of a violent crime in Stearns County every two hours (RecordsPedia). Although these
statistics are fairly recent, Stearns County has never been a safe place to live. In fact, Stearns
County has been making crime related mistakes for nearly thirty years. Twenty seven years ago,
Jacob Wetterling was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and murdered. Sadly, this case went
unsolved until 2016. Jacob's case was not the only violent crime case that went unsolved for a
number of years in Stearns County. Jacob along with several other children suffered because of
Stearns County's mistakes. Stearns County did not put in the effort, time, or care they should
have to save so many innocent children and families.
Stearns County did not take appropriate measures to solve several cases in the past that
eventually turned into tragedies. Stearns County falsely accused several people of crimes they
did not commit. If the county would have followed through with proper police procedure, they
would have been able to accuse the right people, and have the cases taken care of in a much more
timely fashion. Also, many people argue that the Jacob Wetterling case and many others
happened so long ago. If they happened today they would have been solved much easier because
of the technology. Again, police procedure was not taken seriously. The amount of technology
might play a factor in several cases, but in the Jacob Wetterling case it was not needed. If the
police would have followed protocol, they could have found the man who kidnapped Jacob,

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possibly even before Jacob was killed. Lastly, there were many other cases that went unsolved
for long periods of time. There were several cases that were so clear someone off the street
would have been able to solve it, but the police obviously did not put in the effort needed to
solve them.
According to WCCO Minneapolis, two men are filing lawsuits against Stearns County,
claiming that the county ruined their reputations (WCCO). Dan Rassier is one of the men filing a
civil rights lawsuit against Stearns County. Dan was declared a person of interest in the Jacob
Wetterling case. Rassier was considered a person of interest for twenty seven years. He was
finally cleared when Danny Heinrich confessed to killing Jacob. Ryan Larson is the other man
filing against Stearns County. Larson was arrested for killing a Cold Spring police officer. He
was also found not guilty when they found a man to who had committed suicide, guilty (Baran).
These are two instances in which men were falsely accused by Stearns County. Although the
main focus is that these men were falsely accused, we must remember that while they were being
falsely accused, the guilty were running free.
In another case, Joseph Ture murdered Alice Huling and three of her children. Her
youngest son was unharmed. Joseph was arrested, but later released. The stories Ture used to
explain himself were contradicting. For example, he had taken one of Alice's son's toys; the toy
he took was a small batmobile car. When the police had seen it and asked him about it, he
claimed it was his grandsons. At this time, Ture was hardly even 30 years old, making it near
impossible for the car to have belonged to anyone who could have been his grandson. When this
was pointed out, he changed his story to the car belonging to his nephew. Stearns County failed
to check up on this, and Ture was released from custody. He later went on to murder another
woman and rape several others. It took the police nearly twenty years to convict him (Baran). If

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Stearns County would have followed through on the toy car and several other questionable
situations, Ture could have been arrested after the first murders and many women would not
have been victimized.
Secondly, Technology can be both good and bad when it comes to crimes. Technology
can be a resource and be very helpful when it comes to solving some crimes, but it also has the
potential to be the reason a crime happens. Many people say that the advances in technology
have helped reduce crimes. There are several people residing in Stearns County who believe that
cases such as the Wetterling case, the Huling murders, and the Cold Spring police officer murder
would never have happened today. These cases all took place a long time ago; however, it is
clear that they could have been solved if Stearns County would have taken the right measures.
One thing I believe they should have done was interview everyone the night Jacob was
kidnapped. Instead, only about three people are positive that they were interviewed the night
Jacob was taken. Several people do not think they were ever interviewed. Technology wouldn't
have helped, but this measure should have been taken.
According to APM Reports In The Dark podcast, there were less than five people that
were positive they were interviewed the night that Jacob Wetterling was kidnapped(Baran).
Several people said they were interviewed over two weeks later. Many people said they were
never interviewed at all. Communication is key in crimes like the Wetterling case because there
are so many people that could have seen something (Baran). Even if they may not have been able
to discover where Jacob was right away, it is not to blame on lack of technology. Technology
would have played a part in the case if it was present. It is hard to believe that this case could
have been solved regardless of the technology if the police simply would have done their jobs
correctly.

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Many people agree that the times have changed. Many crimes are able to be solved much
quicker by using GPS tracking often on cell phones. When Jacob was kidnapped, he was only 11
years old. According to Tom's Guide to Smartphones, even today, only one-third of eleven-yearolds actually have phones; therefore, there is a good change Jacob would not have had a phone
anyway (Tom's Guide). At the time Jacob was kidnapped, they did not know who had kidnapped
him. There was no way for them to track anything at the time, and even if it happened today,
there would have likely been nothing to track. It happened at night in a small neighborhood, so
any road surveillance cameras would not have caught it in the dark.
Once again, I believe that it does not matter how times have changed if the police
department failed to follow proper police procedure. If Jacob would have been kidnapped today,
I honestly do not think technology would have had anything to do with it. Many people also
argue that they were not equipped to handle a kidnapping simply because kidnappings did not
happen back in the day. The police are trained professionals and although they may have never
experienced something like this, they should have put in their best efforts. There were several
small crimes that were reported to police that could have stopped Jacob from being kidnapped if
they were followed through. Several things in the same community that Jacob lived in were
reported to the police. If they would have followed protocol, they could have had Danny
Heinrich in custody and he never would have had the chance to be anywhere near Jacob. This
also would have kept many other young children safe.
Previously documented were several cases that seem to be nothing short of a failed case.
There is no reason that so many cases should have ended the way they did, and there was no
reason so many people should have had to go through such horrific events. The Huling family
murders were horrifying. Alice and three of her children were killed, while her youngest son was

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hiding under the covers witnessing everything. Alice's son was young, and unable to confirm
who the man was that had killed his family (Baran). They had a reason to believe that Joseph
Ture was the man who had murdered the family, but they did nothing. They questioned him, and
when things got more and more suspicious, they simply let him go. I'm positive I'm not the only
one that notices that this is not okay. I personally find it incredibly surprising that these families,
the Hulings and Wetterlings, have never filed a civil lawsuit against Stearns County for several
years of failed service.
It is important to realize how poorly Stearns County law enforcement is run. Many
innocent people have been falsely accused of crimes they did not commit. Dan Rassier was
named a person of interest in the Jacob Wetterling case and was not declared innocent for over
twenty-seven years. Ryan Larson was also arrested for the murder of a Cold Spring police
officer, and later they discovered that the man who had killed the officer was dead (Baran).
These are just two instances of people who have been falsely accused. Jacob Ture murdered the
Huling family, was released from custody, and then went on to murder and rape several other
women. These are two very clear instances that Stearns County did not take appropriate
measures to protect their people. The idea that times have changed since these cases occurred is
invalid, considering that technology does not make a difference of how the police department
runs and follows procedures. Also, the problems did not stop or start at Jacob Wetterling. There
are four very solid cases that were done poorly. It is easy to pin-point the things that were done
wrong in each of these cases. These three reasons lead me to believe that Stearns County did not
take appropriate measures to not only save lives, but keep people safe in their communities.
Stearns County law enforcement has failed to protect their people.

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Work Cited
Collin, Liz. "2 Men Suing Stearns County In Separate Cases." WCCO CBS Minnesota. CBS
LOCAL, 21 Nov. 2016. Web. 10 Dec. 2016.
Free, Marvin D. "Minorities As Perpetrators and Victims of Crime." Encyclopedia of Violence,
Peace and Conflict, edited by Lester R. Kurtz, Elsevier Science & Technology, 2008.
Credo Reference,
http://rclwproxy.mnpals.net/login?url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/est
peace/minorities_as_perpetrators_and_victims_of_crime/0. Accessed 29 Nov 2016.
"In The Dark." Interview by Madeleine Baran. Audio blog post. APM Reports. American Public
Media, 2016. Web. 3 Dec. 2016.
"Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (Lemas)." World of Criminal
Justice, Gale, edited by Shirelle Phelps, Gale, 2002. Credo Reference,
http://rclwproxy.mnpals.net/login?url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/wo
rldcrims/law_enforcement_management_and_administrative_statistics_lemas/0.
Accessed 29 Nov 2016.
"Sex Offenders." Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law, edited by Gale, 2013. Credo Reference,
http://rclwproxy.mnpals.net/login?url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/gal
egel/sex_offenders/0. Accessed 29 Nov 2016.