Elmhurst man gets 67 years at new sentencing

An Elmhurst man who had tried to win a shorter prison stint in the 2001 shooting of a Delnor-Community Hospital executive was re-sentenced to 67 years in prison Thursday, authorities said.

The new sentence is about two years more than what Joseph A. Hauschild initially received in the botched break-in at the St. Charles home of Thomas Wright, who was asleep with his wife, grieving the recent death of their son.

In handing out a new sentence, Chief Judge Don Hudson called the late-night raid on the house an "unimaginable nightmare" for the couple.

"This was a very horrific crime, Hudson said. "If you can't be safe in your home, where can you be safe?"

Hauschild was 17 when he and Ethan Warden broke into the home in a bid to steal a safe, which the Wrights' son, who had recently died, had told them was in the house, prosecutors have said.

Thomas Wright fought the invaders, who both opened fire with handguns, hitting him four times in the chest, abdomen, arm and leg. He survived but suffered permanent damage to his right arm.

Hauschild in 2003 was convicted and sent to prison for 65 years but two years later won an appeal, upheld by the Illinois Supreme Court, ordering him to be resentenced, in part because of changes to state sentencing laws.

Hauschild's new sentence breaks down to 24 years for the attempted murder, with 15 years added because a gun was used, and eight years for robbery. He also is serving concurrent sentences of 35 years for home invasion and two years for criminal damage to property.

Hauschild was given credit for 2,380 days in prison or the county jail. The 23-year-old must serve at least 85 percent of his new sentence before he is eligible for parole.

Warden, now 22, pleaded guilty to lesser offenses and is serving a 12-year sentence.