Hanson jury hears of his troubled youth

Eric C. Hanson's troubled youth was described this morning to a DuPage County jury weighing whether he should be put to death for murdering his family.

A half dozen prosecution witnesses, mostly in law enforcement, told jurors Hanson began getting into trouble early in life while growing up in Minnesota and Michigan.

Hanson was arrested at 14 for keying the car of one of his sister's friends at Apple Valley High School in 1991 in Minnesota. The student, Leslie Butler, told jurors Hanson had threatened to beat her up days earlier.

Most disturbing, though, was a 911 call involving his sister, Kate, on Feb. 10, 1993, when she told police he held a knife against her throat during a dispute in their home. Eric was 16. An officer read the words Kate wrote in a police report.

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"(He) got very mad at me and grabbed the top of my hair and threw me down on the hardwood floor," said Officer Eric Gieseke, of the Burnsville, Minn. police department, quoting Kate. "His face turned color because he was so angry. He said, 'I might as well kill you because as soon as my probation officer finds out, I'll be sent away, anyway.' He said, 'I can cover it up. No one will know.'Ãcirc;brvbar;"

Kate, with a friend, fled to a nearby grocery store and called police. Twelve years later, she was not so lucky.

Eric Hanson, 31, of Naperville, was convicted earlier this week of killing his sister, parents and brother-in-law after his elaborate credit card fraud in his parents' names unraveled.

The jury found Hanson eligible for capital punishment in 30 minutes Thursday, a day after convicting him of murder, armed robbery, aggravated kidnapping and identity theft.

The panel of eight men and four women still must decide whether he should die for his crimes or spend the rest of his life in prison. His sentencing hearing is expected to end next week.

If sentenced to death, Hanson would become the 14th condemned man in Illinois.

Hanson denied being violent, but prosecutors plan to call witnesses who allege years of thefts, lies, cocaine use and batteries, according to court and police reports.

As a child, Hanson was repeatedly sent to a Minnesota home for troubled youths.. He also spent time in prison for a series of Michigan home invasions in the mid-1990s and was convicted of felony retail theft for a 1998 arrest.

His murderous rampage was discovered Sept. 29, 2005, in the home of his sister, Katherine "Kate" Hanson-Tsao, 31, and her husband, Jimmy, 34. The couple was bludgeoned in their White Eagle home in Aurora one night earlier.

Terrance Hanson, 57, and his wife, Mary, 55, were shot shortly later in their Naperville home, where Eric also lived. The elder couple's bodies, each clad in sleeping attire, were transferred to Kate's home five miles away. Police did not find signs of forced entry to either home.

Detectives developed Hanson as a suspect within an hour. His other sister, Jennifer Williams, who lives in Minnesota, identified her brother as a suspect, and said he threatened to kill Kate six weeks earlier if she told their father about the thefts.

The discovery of a second crime scene in Naperville, which the killer tried to conceal, was crucial because Hanson told jurors he was sleeping and didn't hear a disturbance. Police said they later found a glove with his father's blood in Eric's SUV, among other evidence.

His remaining relatives, including Williams, support the prosecution. In a Jan. 4 Daily Herald interview, Hanson maintained his innocence and acknowledged he is alone and scared, but said he is trying to remain hopeful. Hanson said he could think of no worse punishment than life in prison.

"I do feel like everyone is against me," he said. "It's kind of overwhelming."

He added: "I hope I'm afforded the opportunity to have a family of my own. You always have to have hope."

During his trial, Hanson told jurors he stole from his parents. He denied killing his family, saying they were letting him pay the money back without police involvement.

The jury convicted him after three hours of deliberations late Wednesday. The panel comprises a nurse, teacher, administrative assistant, contractor, mechanic, dispatch supervisor, two accountants, two retirees and two managers, one of whom serves as jury foreman.

Hanson's sentencing hearing continues this afternoon before DuPage Circuit Judge Robert Anderson.