The man accused in the abduction of Barron County teen Jayme Closs and the murder of her parents confessed to the killing and abduction, according to a recently filed criminal complaint.
Jake Thomas Patterson confessed to killing James and Denise Closs shortly after detectives began interviewing him Jan. 10. He told them he targeted Jayme randomly after seeing her one day get on a school bus.
It’s unclear from the criminal complaint why Patterson had decided to abduct someone in the first place.
Patterson told investigators that he worked at Saputo Cheese Factory, south of Almena for two days before quitting.
On his drive to the cheese factory on one of the two mornings he worked there, he had stopped behind a school bus on U.S. Highway 8, where he watched Jayme Closs get on the bus.
Patterson told investigators that he had no idea who she was, nor did he know who lived at the house, according to the complaint.
When he saw Closs, “he knew that was the girl he was going to take,” according to the criminal complaint.
Patterson meticulously planned Closs’ abduction.
Patterson went to the Closs home two times earlier, before eventually abducting Closs on Oct. 15, 2018.
Among his preparations, Patterson stole licences plates from another vehicle that he put on his own car to avoid being detected, according to the complaint.
On the night of the killings and abduction, Patterson said he took his father’s 12 gauge Mossberg pump shotgun, because his research showed the gun was common and would be difficult to trace.
Patterson also shaved his face and head so no hair could be left behind at the scene.
Patterson told investigators he was, “determined he was going to take Jayme that night and was going to kill anyone in the house because he could not leave any eyewitnesses behind,” according to the complaint.
He also was prepared for a shootout with police if he had been stopped, according to the complaint.
After shooting James and Denise Closs, Patterson bound Jayme Closs with duct tape, dragged her to his car, and locked her in the trunk.
Patterson kept Closs in a space under his own bed, barricading it with plastic totes filled with barbell weights, according to the complaint.
Patterson said he believes Closs tried to get out at least two times and that he would threaten her and scare her to not try to escape.
After Closs’ escape, police converged on the Patterson cabin where they came upon Patterson in his car, who was out looking for Jayme.
Police say that when Patterson got out of the car, he told them, “I did it.”
Patterson told detectives that he thought he had gotten away with the killings because he hadn’t been caught in the first two weeks. He also said he never would have been caught if he would have planned everything perfectly.
Patterson has been charged with two counts of first-degree-intentional homicide in the deaths of Jayme’s parents.
He also faces one charge of kidnapping and one charge of burglary with a dangerous weapon.
Patterson is expected to appear in Barron County Circuit Court at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Investigators believe Patterson broke into the Closs home near Barron on Oct. 15, gunned the couple down and abducted 13-year-old Jayme Closs. She was missing for nearly three months before she escaped from the cabin in Gordon where she said Patterson had been holding her.
https://wkow.com/news/closs/2019/01/14/complaint-suspect-charged-with-four-felonies-in-abduction-of-jayme-closs-murder-of-parents/