Jurors say all decisions made swiftly

Jurors who sentenced Eric Hanson to die for murdering four family members said the prosecution's case was too strong for his defense to overcome.

"This wasn't a lack-of-evidence case," said Donald Sutton, a juror from Downers Grove. "His lawyer did more than anyone else could have done, but he had nothing to go on. He got lied to, too."

None of the jurors who spoke after rendering Hanson's death sentence Wednesday identified a single witness or piece of evidence that pushed the case over the top and against Hanson, instead the jurors said it was the totality of the prosecution's case.

"There was just a lot of evidence against him," said Matthew Veldt, a juror from Clarendon Hills. "You could tell it was the truth and it didn't match what (Hanson) was putting out there."

The jury's guilty verdict was swift and so was their decision to place him on death row. Sutton said it took about a half hour to find Hanson guilty last week, but they discussed their decision for roughly two more hours. The decision to give him death took 90 minutes.

"It was always 12-0," Sutton said. "Each time we would discuss it and the first and only vote was always 12-0."

Hanson, who testified in his own defense, did not make a sympathetic witness. Jurors told lawyers after Wednesday's decision that he might have received a lesser sentence if he had shown any remorse.

"I just kind of feel like the verdicts said everything we had to say," said Margaret Lantz, a juror from Lombard.

The state's current moratorium on putting convicted inmates to death didn't make it an easier decision for Veldt.

"I took that decision seriously," he said. "I took nothing lightly. I looked at it from the standpoint of how I would want a jury to look at it if it was one of my loved ones facing death."

The tightknit group has been together since Jan. 31 and many went out to dinner together after court Wednesday, jurors said.

"Nobody had a problem with each other," Sutton said. "During breaks we talked about our lives, mainly stuff we were missing out on with our families or at work."

"It wasn't like '12 Angry Men,'" Veldt said, referring to the famous jury room play and movie. "We had a real good jury group."

Sutton said he hoped he would be picked for the jury after learning what the case was.

"I wanted to be on it," he said. "I'm retired and don't do much of anything but cook for myself. I think I have more common sense than most people these days."

Veldt said he wasn't that thrilled to be seated, but was impressed by the process.

"It was good to see how the process worked and see how well our tax dollars are being spent," he said.

Hanson's jury was made up of eight men and four women.