Fate of killer hangs in balance
If he is allowed to live, Eric C. Hanson still will pay a high price for killing his family.
That's the message his attorneys pitched Tuesday while trying to persuade jurors to spare his life.
Two defense experts -- a psychologist and a retired prison warden -- agreed Hanson faces a harsh reality if sentenced to life in prison.
A DuPage County jury will deliberate today whether the 31-year-old Naperville man should live or die for a murderous rampage discovered Sept. 29, 2005, in Aurora.
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The panel of eight men and four women will be sequestered overnight in a hotel if it cannot reach a swift verdict.
The same jury convicted Hanson Feb. 20 of executing his parents, sister and her husband. Hanson will become the 14th man on Illinois' death row if jurors sentence him to death.
The verdict will end an arduous court battle that included more than 80 witnesses and 430 pieces of physical evidence presented during 13 days of often-emotional testimony.
Prosecutors said Hanson killed his family out of greed after stealing more than $80,000 from his parents. They argue he is a remorseless killer who does not deserve a life of any kind.
On Sept. 29, 2005, police discovered the bludgeoned bodies of Katherine "Kate" Hanson-Tsao, 31, along with her husband, Jimmy, 34, in their upscale Aurora home.
Terrance Hanson, 57, and his wife, Mary, 55, also were found slain there. The elder couple was shot in their bed in Naperville, where Eric lived, then taken to Kate's home 5 miles away.
Regardless of the brutality of the crimes, the jury must consider various mitigating factors that may be present in the defendant's background.
It may be a hard sell for the defense since Hanson does not meet many of them. For example, he has a criminal history and does not suffer from a mental illness, diminished IQ, or a history of emotional or physical abuse.
But that does not mean he hasn't experienced struggle. A defense psychologist, Marva Dawkins, testified Tuesday about her observations after interviewing Hanson three times and poring over records into his past.
She said he was raised by loving parents who, despite some marital troubles, gave him a supportive home. Hanson suffers from attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, for which he took medication as a child, and had a learning disability, behavioral issues and emotional problems.
Though she did not find Hanson to have a psychotic disorder, Dawkins did diagnose him with narcissistic personality disorder with certain antisocial and dependency features. She said he lacks the ability to form deep bonds or feel much empathy for others.
"He has the persona of presenting himself as a macho guy, someone who has it together," she said. "But, from what we have learned #8230; he's actually a very vulnerable, weak individual in terms of his own self-esteem.
"Prison confinement can be very difficult, to say the least, for someone like this."
Roger Cowan, a retired warden, also gave jurors a preview into Hanson's future in a maximum-security prison. Hanson will be allowed restricted visits, recreation and outdoor access. But for the most part, he'll spend 19 hours a day locked with another inmate in a 7-by-11-foot cell in a block for violent felons.
"That's home," the retired warden said.