Eric Hanson Trial Begins Today
'We were the ones who told him,' said Karen Tom, a Wheaton woman who visits Hanson weekly to minister to the 33-year-old man she considers a son. 'I took his hand as my husband read the Bible and told him he lost the appeal. He looked very sober. There was a tear in his eye. He did say he was preparing himself for that.'
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Hanson is the second-youngest of 16 men on Illinois' death row at Pontiac Correctional Center. A DuPage County jury convicted him in 2008 during a high-profile trial in Circuit Judge Robert Anderson's courtroom.All death sentences are appealed directly to the state high court. Hanson argued the jury convicted him with circumstantial evidence during a trial riddled with reversible legal errors. His attorney cited nine issues, such as testimony from Hanson's older sister about an incriminating conversation she said she had with the slain sister weeks before the murders.On Sept.
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29, 2005, police discovered the bludgeoned bodies of Katherine 'Kate' Hanson-Tsao, 31, along with her husband, Jimmy Tsao, 34, in their home in the White Eagle subdivision in Aurora. Terrance Hanson, 57, and his wife, Mary, 55, also were found slain there. The elder couple were shot in their bed in their Naperville home, on Rock Spring Court, where Eric lived, then taken to Kate's house five miles away.The defendant's other sibling, Jennifer Williams, who lived out of state, identified him as a suspect within an hour of the grisly discovery. She said Hanson threatened to kill their sister, Kate, six weeks earlier if she told their dad Eric stole more than $80,000 from the parents in a credit card scheme.Prosecutors lacked a confession, both murder weapons and, despite two crime scenes with four bodies, a single hair, fiber, fingerprint or shoe print or DNA placing Hanson at either location. In fact, seven unidentified partial bloody shoe prints found at his sister's home were not traced back to Eric.But the existence of a second crime scene in Naperville was crucial because Hanson placed himself in the home that night. He told jurors he was sleeping downstairs and didn't hear a disturbance, despite the killer's extensive cleaning of the crime scene.
There were no signs of forced entry. Police arrested Hanson after he returned from a one-day trip in Los Angeles to visit his ex-fiancee. Officers found Kate's $24,000 wedding ring and Jimmy's Rolex watch in Hanson's SUV. He explained he simply was returning the jewelry, but didn't get a chance before his trip.But he couldn't explain another piece of evidence crucial to the prosecution.
Hanson raised several issues on appeal, including that the DuPage County judge erred in allowing testimony from his oldest sister, Jennifer Williams. For example, White barred Stacy's pastor, Neil Schori, from testifying that she admitted in a counseling session to providing Drew Peterson with a false alibi the weekend Savio died. Schori still will be allowed to take the stand, but his testimony will be limited.The judge also barred Stacy Peterson's similar confession to her friend Scott Rossetto. And White did not allow testimony from Peterson's stepbrother, who said he helped Drew move a heavy blue barrel from the home the weekend Stacy vanished.DuPage State's Attorney Joseph Birkett confirmed he and Glasgow discussed the high court's Hanson opinion and how it may favorably impact the Peterson case for the prosecution.' The court said reliability hearings aren't necessary for nontestimonial statements,' Birkett said.
'The defendant forfeited that right by killing the victim.' Attorney Joel Brodsky, who leads the Peterson defense team, said the two murder cases are dissimilar. He said the forfeiture doctrine applies criminally, not civilly, and much of the hearsay statements in Peterson came from the latter, such as in divorce proceedings.'
I don't think it affects the Drew Peterson situation in any way, shape or form,' Brodsky said of Hanson. 'Judge White is familiar with the law. The motion will be denied.' If White doesn't budge, prosecutors may choose to file a direct appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court, which would delay the start of the trial. Brodsky said he doubts that will happen since Peterson would have to be let out of jail while the issue is pending.Jury selection in Peterson's murder trial begins July 9.Besides the Hanson issue, White also will hear arguments regarding the defense's request to bar noted pathologist Dr. Michael Baden from testifying for the prosecution.
Baden performed a private autopsy after Savio's body was exhumed, with the assistance of former Fox News Channel producer Steph Watts, whose role in the proceeding is being questioned.Watts, who lives in Pennsylvania, will be called to testify Friday.