Jayme Closs update: Charging documents reveal suspect's tactics, horrific new details; bail set at $5M
BARRON, Wis. -- The man suspected of kidnapping a Wisconsin teenager and killing her parents appeared in court Monday, and the charging documents have revealed new details about how he hatched and carried out his kidnapping plan.
Jake Thomas Patterson, 21, has been formally charged with two counts of intentional homicide, one charge of kidnapping and one count of burglary. Charging documents in Wisconsin typically contain at least a partial narrative of what happened at a crime scene, as prosecutors try to prove there's probable cause to support the allegations.
Additional charges could come from Douglas County, where Jayme was held captive for 88 days, for crimes committed there, according to Douglas County District Attorney Mark Fruehauf.
Patterson appeared in court via video-link. Prosecutors requested and the judge set Patterson's bail at $5 million cash. He also ordered Patterson not to possess firearms and not to contact Jayme or any of the people who helped Jayme upon her escape.
Patterson told investigators that he spotted 13-year-old Jayme Closs boarding a school bus as he drove to his job at a cheese factory near Almena, Wisconsin, and "made up his mind to take her," according to charging documents.
Patterson went to the Closs home in an attempt to abduct the teen twice before successfully doing so, according to charging documents. Those first two kidnapping attempts were unsuccessful as too many people were around.
On Patterson's third attempt, investigators say he blew the door to the Closs home open with a shotgun. Jayme told investigators she had been asleep in her room when her dog started barking and she and her mother, Denise, saw a masked man dressed in black and armed with a gun approaching the door. Jayme and her mom hid in the bath tub, while the teen's father, James, went to see who was at the door, according to the criminal complaint. They heard a gunshot and knew James had been killed.
Investigators said early on in the search for Jayme that they had received a 911 call from an unknown person at around 1 a.m. That call was placed by Denise Closs, according to the complaint, before Patterson broke down the door, ordered Denise to drop her cell phone and put tape over her daughter's mouth. Patterson then shot her in front of her daughter, according to charging documents.
Jayme told investigators that she tried to hide from Patterson, but he dragged her out of her home and threw her in the trunk of his car, pausing to yield to three squad cars speeding toward the house with flashing lights, according to the complaint. Jayme could hear the sirens from the arriving officers as Patterson drove off with her, the complaint said.
Investigators previously said there was no evidence of any online interactions between Patterson and Jayme. Her family insists they don't know the man. Her grandfather, Robert Naiberg, told The Associated Press that Jayme told FBI agents she doesn't know Patterson at all.
Patterson confirmed for investigators that he had never met Jayme nor had any contact via social media prior to kidnapping her, according to the complaint. Patterson only learned his victim's name when he returned to his house after the abduction, and learned her parents' names after they were reported on the news.
The complaint details how carefully Patterson allegedly planned the crime.
Patterson used his father's 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun because it is commonly used and he thought it would be more difficult to trace, according to the complaint. It says he chose the gauge to do the most damage, and wiped shells and shotguns free of fingerprints and wore gloves to load the gun. The complaint also says Patterson shaved his face and head and showered prior to the attack. He was dressed all in black. It says he took the license plates off his car, put stolen plates on and disconnected the dome and trunk lights. Patterson also removed an anti-kidnapping strap in the trunk of the car so that Jayme couldn't escape once inside.
Jayme was missing for nearly three months. Patterson said he assumed he had gotten away with the slayings and kidnappings after two weeks went by, according to the complaint. Police collected more than 3,500 tips but no hard leads emerged.
TIMELINE: Missing teen Jayme Closs' kidnapping, discovery
Patterson took her to a cabin that he said was his, ordered her into a bedroom and told her to take off her clothes and get dressed in his sister's pajamas. He then threw her clothes into a fireplace in the cabin's basement.
Whenever he had friends over, he made clear that no one could know she was there or "bad things could happen to her," so she had to hide under the bed. He would stack totes, laundry bins and barbell weights around the teenager so she couldn't move without him noticing. The complaint says Jayme was forced to stay there for up to 12 hours at a time with no food, water or bathroom breaks.
When his father visited, Patterson told investigators, he turned up the radio in the bedroom to cover any noise she might make.
WATCH: Jayme Closs' rescuers describe finding her, calling 911
Then, on Thursday, a woman walking her dog in the town of Gordon, about an hour north of Barron, spotted Jayme on the street, wearing Patterson's shoes, which were too big for her, on the wrong feet. She begged the woman for help, saying Patterson had been hiding her in a nearby cabin and that she had escaped when he left her alone.
Neighbors called 911 and officers arrested Patterson within minutes. He has no criminal history in Wisconsin.
After Patterson's initial court appearance Monday, prosecutors credited the work of law enforcement officials and remarked on the miraculous nature of Jayme's rescue.
"Jayme deserves enormous credit as a 13-year-old, and she has such bravery to have done what she had done," said Barron County District Attorney Brian Wright. "But there are many, many others as well that, if all those pieces had not fallen into place on that particular afternoon, the outcome could have been very different."
Wright declined to say any more about Patterson's motive after the hearing. But he praised Jayme for surviving.
"She's 13 years old, and if you read the criminal complaint, you can see the amount of control that he was exerting over her. And at some point, she found it within herself at 13 years old to say, 'I'm going to get myself out of this situation.' I think it's incredible," Wright said.
Prosecutors said Patterson had no ties to Barron County other than working at Saputo Cheese Factory for two days before quitting.
Investigators previously said Patterson had also worked for two days at the same Jennie-O turkey plant where Jayme's parents worked, though they said there was no indication that Patterson and the Closses knew each other.
Patterson, who has no criminal history in Wisconsin, was described by people who knew him as a quiet and good student who participated in quiz bowl in high school. He wrote in his high school yearbook of wanting to join the Marines. But military records show he lasted for only about five weeks before being prematurely discharged in October 2015 at the rank of private.
Marines spokeswoman Yvonne Carlock said by email that Patterson's early discharge indicated "the character of his service was incongruent with Marine Corps' expectations and standards."
Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald has not said whether Jayme was sexually assaulted. But Patterson's attorneys, public defenders Charles Glynn and Richard Jones, have been lauded for taking high-profile cases with a special emphasis on sexually violent people, according to a state public defender office news release from February 2018.
Glynn and Jones issued a statement Saturday saying they are relying on the court system to treat Patterson fairly, but they are not sure where.
"It's been an emotional time for this community and a difficult time for this community. We don't take that lightly. But we have a job to do in protecting our client," Jones said.
Patterson is due back in court Feb. 6. The charges he faces could carry a sentence of life in prison if he's convicted.
WLS-TV and ABC News contributed to this report.
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