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Bill could give Minnesota cold cases a fresh look
Minnesota cold case murders could warm up soon if the family members of victims want a fresh look.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Minnesota cold case murders could warm up soon if the family members of victims want a fresh look.
There are at least 2,000 unsolved murders in Minnesota, so a lot of families are dealing with a major loss without any answers. A new bill gives them some power to force police departments to re-open cases and could give some hope to people who say they often feel hopeless.
For 27 years, law enforcement could not solve the mystery of 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling, who was abducted near his home in St. Joseph, Minnesota. His mother, Patty Wetterling, says she never gave up, and neither did investigators. But as the case went cold, she faced a new emotional struggle.
"It's very defeating as a victim to not have energy on the search or on the answers," she said.
A reopened cold case led to the killer’s arrest and the discovery of Jacob’s body in 2016. Patty Wetterling supports giving other families an avenue to reopen cold cases.
Sen. Jim Carlson’s bill lets immediate family members get a police agency to reopen a homicide case that’s at least three years old.
"It needs to be a different person that investigates it the second time," said Sen. Carlson (DFL-Eagan).
Police have to analyze what may have been missed initially, whether they should interview or re-interview witnesses, and check if additional testing might produce relevant new information.
That’s the hope for George Jensen’s family.
"Fear has become part of our lives," said one of his sons, Barry. "Somehow, it was shameful to have our father’s murder go unsolved. Did it mean we didn’t care?"
They’ve never given up on solving the World War II veteran’s 1979 murder in Bloomington.
The police department is moving forward on new DNA testing that could help in several cold cases, including Jensen’s, but Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges notes those tests can run thousands of dollars each.
"I do like the bill," the chief said. "But I do think that there has to be some financial resources in there for agencies to access new technology and even possibly fund additional detectives."
The bill doesn’t include any extra funding as it stands.