- Jake Patterson, who pleaded guilty to kidnapping Jayme Closs and murdering her parents, was sentenced to life without parole on Friday.
- In a statement read by Jayme’s attorney, Chris Gramstrup, Jayme vowed never to let Patterson control her life.
- She said Patterson took away her home and her parents, which she called “the most important things in my life,” and asked a judge to sentence him to life in prison for his crimes.
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Jayme Closs vowed never to let her kidnapper control her in a powerful statement read at the sentencing hearing of Jake Patterson, who has pleaded guilty to murdering the 13-year-old’s parents and holding her captive for months.
In a statement read by Jayme’s attorney, Chris Gramstrup, the teen said Patterson took away her home and her parents, which she called “the most important things in my life.”
“He took them away from in a way that will always leave me with a horrifying memory,” she said in the statement published by CNN. “I have to have an alarm in the house now just so I can sleep. I used to love to go out with my friends. I love to go to school. I love to dance. He took all of those things away from me, too. It’s too hard for me to go out in public. I get scared and I get anxious. These are just ordinary things that anyone like me should be able to do. But I can’t because he took them away from me.”
Patterson pleaded guilty in March to two counts of intentional homicide and one count of kidnapping. He was sentenced to life without parole on Friday.
He admitted to kidnapping Jayme after killing her parents, James and Denise Closs, on October 15 at the family's home near Barron, Wisconsin, telling investigators that he targeted the teen after seeing her get on a school bus.
Jayme escaped in January after being held captive for 88 days in Patterson's cabin in Gordon, Wisconsin, some 60 miles from her home.
Jayme told investigators she was often forced under Patterson's bed for hours without food or bathroom breaks. She was able to escape Patterson's house by pushing the storage boxes that barricaded her under the bed while he was not home.
Read more: The man accused of kidnapping Jayme Closs and killing her parents has pleaded guilty
"I watched his routine and I took back my freedom. I will always have my freedom and he will not," Jayme said in her statement. "Jake Patterson can never take away my courage. He thought he could control me, but he couldn't."
Jayme was not in court for the sentencing, but still asked the judge for the maximum sentence.
Patterson "will never have any power over me. I think I have some power over him," she said in the statement, asking the judge to sentence Patterson to life in prison.
Ahead of his sentencing, Patterson faced up to life in prison for each homicide count and up to 25 years for the kidnapping charge. Prosecutors asked for the maximum sentence on each charge, with no chance of release, the Associated Press reported.
- Read more:
- Jayme Closs' alleged captor claims he and the teen played board games and cooked together in the 2 months he held her hostage
- 'I can't believe I did this': Jayme Closs' alleged kidnapper reportedly confesses in a letter from jail
- Jayme Closs is getting $25,000 in reward money after saving herself from her kidnapper
- Jayme Closs' suspected kidnapper reportedly hosted a Christmas party in the house where police say he was holding the 13-year-old girl