Jurors must decide if Hanson deserves death penalty

Weeks ago, Eric C. Hanson said he hadn't thought much about the death penalty.

"I guess I haven't gotten to that yet," he said in a Jan. 4 Daily Herald jail interview. "But the idea of living in an institution, I can't think of anything worse."

A DuPage County jury will make that decision for him. It returns to court this morning for the sentencing phase of an arduous court case sparked 2½ years ago when Hanson killed his parents, sister and her husband after stealing at least $80,000 from his folks in credit card fraud.

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

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The panel of eight men and four women still must decide whether the 31-year-old Naperville man should die for his crimes or spend the rest of his life in prison. His sentencing hearing is expected to end in the middle of next week.

In Illinois, to be eligible for death, a defendant must be at least 18 and be found to have committed at least one of several statutory factors.

Prosecutors argued Hanson was eligible under four: He killed two or more people; did so during another felony, in this case robbery and kidnapping; and acted in a cold, calculated, premeditated manner.

The jury agreed.

"None of the murders were an accident," said prosecutor Nancy Wolfe, the office's first assistant. "He knew what he was doing."

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

His rampage was discovered Sept. 29, 2005, in the home of 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, 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 his SUV, among other evidence.

His remaining relatives, including an older sister, Jennifer Williams, support the prosecution. In the Jan. 4 Daily Herald interview, Hanson maintained his innocence and acknowledged he is alone and scared, but said he is trying to remain hopeful.

"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."

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 sent to a Minnesota home for troubled youths and was accused in middle school of chasing Kate with a knife. He 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. Hanson, though, attributes the arrests to teen acts, such as stealing beer from garages.

"I can only remember a couple of times in my whole life that I'd ever been in a fight," he said. "And that was a long time ago."

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. It is made up of a nurse, teacher, administrative assistant, contractor, mechanic, dispatch supervisor, two accountants, two retirees and two managers, one of whom serves as jury foreman.