Background

Whitney Heichel, 21, is the cute Pacific Northwest barista who mysteriously went missing on her way to work. Tragically, her body was found in the woods an hour from her home. Her neighbor, and fellow Jehovah’s Witness, Jonathan Daniel Holt, decided to voluntarily talk to investigators, but when his story didn’t add up, he became the lead suspect. His DNA was reportedly found in Heichel’s car and on her body, and police say he made a full confession. In his shocking story he said that he waited outside of her apartment in the morning, asked for a ride, then pulled a gun on her and made her drive to a secluded area where he raped her and then shot her four times. Holt was charged with seven counts, including aggravated murder with a firearm, kidnapping, robbery and sodomy.

Jonathan Holt pleaded guilty to aggravated murder on July 8, 2013. He will receive life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“All the things that were said about me are true,” Holt told the court after changing his plea. “Because of my selfishness, I have stolen a daughter, a sister and wife. I’m sorry for what I did.”

Charges

Jonathan Holt faced three charges of aggravated murder for the abduction, sexual assault and killing of Whitney Heichel.

Facts

Whitney Heichel was awake early and on her way out the door on October 16, 2012. She gave her husband a good bye kiss before stepping out into the chilly pre-dawn morning in Gresham, Oregon. Her shift as a Starbucks barista was scheduled to start at 7 am.

At 8 a.m., Heichel’s manager called her husband, Clint Heichel, and told him Whitney had not come to work. He knew instantly something was wrong. For the next two hours, he called and texted his wife frantically before finally calling the police just before 10 a.m.

The Heichels are part of a tightly-knit community of neighbors and church members. As soon as the police arrived, so did the community volunteers, organizing search parties and looking for clues to Heichel’s disappearance.

It would be four days before police found Whitney Heichel’s body on Larch Mountain, a 40-minute drive from her home up winding roads and across county lines.

During that time, police and volunteers embarked on an around-the-clock search for the 21-year-old Heichel. Personnel from two counties and eight agencies were involved, as were members of the Heichel’s Jehovahs Witness church.

One of the first clues was Heichel’s 1999 black Ford Explorer in a Walmart parking lot with the passenger side window smashed. Walmart surveillance videos showed that the car was discarded there at 11 a.m. on the day of Heichel’s disappearance, but the identity of Heichel’s kidnapper was unclear.

Neighborhood children found Heichel’s cell phone, which police later said had evidence connecting them to Jonathan Holt, a neighbor and fellow church member of the Heichels.

The final piece of the puzzle was a trace left by Heichel’s ATM card, last used at a gas station near Larch Mountain. The investigation fanned out from that point until Heichel’s body was found.

A neighbor who had seen Holt outside the apartment complex on the morning of Heichel’s disappearance led police to conduct two interviews with Holt. His story seemed to change, according to the police, who then collected his fingerprints and DNA.

Holt was nowhere to be found in the immediate aftermath of Heichel’s disappearance, when neighbors were looking all over Gresham for the missing young woman. Investigators flagged him as suspicious and found him at work on October 19.

Holt left work in the middle of his shift. Police watched him go to his car, retrieve a gun from the trunk of his car and drop it in the bushes. He then drove to a field and dropped 9 mm ammunition and a holster in the grass. The police continued to follow Holt to the police station, where he was scheduled to be interviewed. In front of the police station, he hid a handgun in a plant.

In his interview with police, he allegedly admitted that he kidnapped Heichel, forced her to perform oral sex and then killed her. He had asked her for a ride to work that morning before he pulled a gun on her.

Holt changed his plea to guilty on July 8, 2013, and he will receive life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“All the things that were said about me are true,” Holt told the court after changing his plea. “Because of my selfishness, I have stolen a daughter, a sister and wife. I’m sorry for what I did.”

Players

Jonathan Holt: Holt is a 24-year-old acquaintance and neighbor of the Heichels who is accused of murdering Whitney. He became a suspect when he volunteered for a series of interviews which authorities say didn’t add up. He also voluntarily gave fingerprint and DNA samples to police, who used them to match his fingerprints and DNA in Whitney’s car. According to Clint Heichel, Whitney’s husband, Holt is married and attends the same Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall. He even said he cared for the Holts’ plants and pets when they were away and helped Holt jump-start his motorcycle only two weeks before the murder. Holt pleaded guilty July 8, 2013 to aggravated murder. “All the things that were said about me are true,” Holt told the court after entering a guilty plea. “Because of my selfishness, I have stolen a daughter, a sister and wife. I’m sorry for what I did.”

Whitney Heichel: Holt is a 24-year-old acquaintance and neighbor of the Heichels who is accused of murdering Whitney. He became a suspect when he volunteered for a series of interviews which authorities say didn’t add up. He also voluntarily gave fingerprint and DNA samples to police, who used them to match his fingerprints and DNA in Whitney’s car. According to Clint Heichel, Whitney’s husband, Holt is married and attends the same Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall. He even said he cared for the Holts’ plants and pets when they were away and helped Holt jump-start his motorcycle only two weeks before the murder.

Clint Heichel: – Whitney Heichel’s husband. “It’s very difficult, we only had a year and nine months together and when you get married you bet on forever,” he said. “She was just a beautiful little person, just full of love, and she was just a ray of light to everybody.” After Holt pleaded guilty Clint Heichel, a Jehovah’s Witness, said “What do you say to the man who has taken the love of your life?” Adding, “my life has been ripped apart and turned upside down…But know this: I will see her again.”

Videos

One Confession Leads To Another… For Child Porn?

Young Barista Goes Missing, Found Murdered

Legal Commentary

Between the literal trail of physical evidence leading from Whitney Heichel’s body to Portland, where Holt was apprehended by the police, and his confession to law enforcement, it seems impossible that there will be any outcome other than a conviction in this matter.

Jonathan Holt tied up the case against him in a neat little package when he messily discarded weapons, ammunition, bloody linens and a car with remnants of Heichel’s blood in between the cracks in the seats as he attempted to escape the scene of the crime. His confession just sealed the deal.

Apparently, confessing to Heichel’s rape and murder was not enough. He also told investigators that he has a stash of child pornography on his computer. Holt seems to be suffering under the weight of his guilty conscience – something that he will have ample time to do in the years of incarceration to come.

With the information that has been released to the public thus far, the only possible defense Holt might have is a mental health defense. He was on suicide watch when he made his first video court appearance, tending to prove that his mental state is fragile.