Eric Hanson Trial Begins For Isaak

On the morning of Sept. 30, 2005, a Wisconsin state trooper stopped the Chevy Trailblazer driven by Eric C. Hanson in the south-central region of the state. Hanson was heading to Minnesota.

He wanted, he later said, to talk with his sister about the grisly scene discovered a day earlier in Illinois, where his parents had been executed and his other sister and brother-in-law had been beaten to death. But authorities didn't buy his story. They contend Hanson, a self-employed mortgage broker with time spent behind bars for burglary and shoplifting, more likely was going to Minnesota to finish the savagery they allege he inflicted on his family -- to kill the sister who knew of his deception and who later cooperated with authorities investigating the quadruple homicides. Starting Tuesday, attorneys on both sides of the case will begin questioning 100 potential jurors who not only could determine Hanson's guilt or innocence, but also decide whether he should be put to death if convicted. On Friday, those potential jurors filled out 12-page questionnaires. Jury selection is expected to take about five days, and the trial, to be held in Wheaton, will take about five weeks. 13, 2005, Hanson reportedly threatened his 31-year-old sister, Kate Hanson-Tsao, with death if she told their father of Eric's financial fraud of the family, fraud that has been estimated at $80,000.

'If you tell Dad, I will. Kill you,' Eric Hanson is alleged to have said to her.

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Hanson says that he was in a different room of the house when the killings occurred. And in a Tribune interview a few days after the killings, Hanson denied guilt. He became agitated when questioned about his alleged involvement in the killings and would not talk in detail about his version of events. Prosecutors say Hanson, 31, followed through on the threat on Sept. 28, 2005, when he surprised Hanson-Tsao and her husband, Jimmy Tsao, in their Aurora home. Police allege Hanson bludgeoned Jimmy Tsao, 34, multiple times as Tsao was working at his computer in the family living room. Hanson then beat Hanson-Tsao to death, police say.

Later that night, Hanson drove to the Naperville home he shared with his parents -- Terrance, 57, and Mary Hanson, 55 -- and shot each of them once in the head while they slept in bed, prosecutors said. He then allegedly wrapped the bodies, placed them in his Trailblazer and drove back to the Tsaos' home in Aurora.

He placed his mother's body in the kitchen and his father's in the garage, authorities said. The bodies were discovered Sept. Police suspected Hanson about an hour later, after talking with Jennifer Williams, Eric Hanson's other sister, who relayed the threat Hanson allegedly made several weeks earlier. The same day the bodies were found, Hanson took a flight to Los Angeles, in part to attend a concert with his ex-fiance. While there, police contacted him and planned to meet him at Los Angeles International Airport.

The next day, in another phone call with police, Hanson claimed he was still in Los Angeles. But authorities tracked his cell phone to Wisconsin, where a state trooper stopped him without resistance Sept.

Authorities said a search of the truck yielded DNA evidence connecting Hanson to the crime scene. One month after the stop, prosecutors charged him with 15 counts of first-degree murder, two counts of armed robbery, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of home invasion, a count of theft of more than $10,000, and one count of mail fraud.

'This crime defies human understanding,' DuPage County State's Atty. Joe Birkett said in announcing the charges. Williams, his lone remaining sibling -- whom authorities believe Hanson was planning to kill -- has stated that she opposes the death penalty in this case. 'My mom and dad would never want that,' she said in February 2006, adding that she believes he is guilty. Investigators have found no murder weapons. And shortly after Hanson's apprehension in Wisconsin, a Warrenville woman who she had been dating Hanson told the Tribune he had an amicable relationship with his parents.

'He's very smart, witty, clever, charming, charismatic, always put a smile on my face,' Melody O'Neal said at the time. 'He never would strike me as somebody who could do this.' In the Tribune interview on Oct. 8, 2005, Hanson said he was 'shocked' anyone would consider him a suspect. Although authorities contend he committed the killings to cover his fraud, Hanson said he worked and had 'zero money problems.' But prosecutors plan to enter evidence in the trial that they say shows Hanson made about $9,000 a year, not the $19,000 a month he allegedly claimed he made.

WHEATON - Prosecutors, defense attorneys and the judge presiding over the quadruple-murder trial of Eric C. Hanson tentatively agreed to place two men on the jury Tuesday, the first day of questioning prospective jurors. Sixteen jurors, including four alternates, are needed. Hanson, 31, of Naperville, is charged in the slayings of his parents, Terrance and Mary Hanson; and his sister, Kate Hanson-Tsao and her husband, Jimmy Tsao.

Authorities allege Eric Hanson, a self-employed mortgage broker, killed the family members after Kate Hanson-Tsao discovered her brother stole almost $80,000 from his parents and threatened to tell their father. Hanson bludgeoned to death his sister and brother-in-law Sept. 28, 2005, in their Aurora home and drove to the Naperville home he shared with his parents and shot them while they slept, prosecutors said.

He was arrested Sept. 30 in Wisconsin and is being held without bail in DuPage County Jail in Wheaton.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in a trial expected to last about five weeks. Jury selection is set to continue Wednesday. The license plate caught the trooper's eye. Earlier, he'd read a bulletin to be on the lookout for a dark 2005 Chevy Trailblazer, with Illinois plates, that might be heading through Wisconsin.

Police wanted to question the driver -- possibly armed and dangerous -- about a murderous rampage in an Aurora neighborhood. The trooper followed. The plate matched.

He radioed for backup. Minutes later, Eric C.

Hanson was in custody, a day after the Sept. 29, 2005, discovery of his slain parents, sister and brother-in-law. Detectives developed Hanson as a suspect a half hour after uncovering the savagery. Bringing charges would be more difficult. Intimidation charge They traveled four states, secured search warrants for homes, cars, bank and phone records, interviewed dozens of witnesses and analyzed GPS and cellular technology. As pathologists autopsied the dead, evidence technicians scoured two crime scenes.

More than two years later, Hanson is about to stand trial for a crime the 31-year-old Naperville man insists he did not commit. Prosecutors accuse him of executing his family after they learned he stole more than $80,000 in forged checks and credit cards from his parents, with whom he lived. Hanson admits stealing, but he says they agreed he'd pay it back over time, without involving police.

His accusers lack a confession, any murder weapons and will be challenged on how one person could have pulled off such a crime alone. But they said other physical evidence and a reconstructed timeline point to just one person -- Eric Hanson. He may face the death penalty if convicted in a DuPage County case sparked by a chilling 911 call.

The unfathomable When the four victims didn't show up at work, worried relatives and co-workers went to their homes. Katherine 'Kate' Hanson-Tsao and her husband, Jimmy, lived in the affluent White Eagle subdivision on Aurora's far east side. There, Jimmy's brother, Chiu-Ter, couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong. He and his daughter, Annie, peeked in a window and saw a body. Annie alerted police. Her 911 call came at 2:39 p.m.

29 -- a Thursday. More than 50 officers swarmed Jeremy Ranch Court. They first came upon the bludgeoned body of Kate, 31, likely attacked with a golf club as she walked out of a bedroom, just 10 feet from the front door.

Both her arms were broken when she covered her face. She suffered a broken nose, ribs and horrific face and head injuries. But police suspect the killer struck her husband first, and most brutally. Tsao, 34, a successful computer exporter, was attacked from behind.

The killer hit him in the head while he sat on a couch working on his laptop. He typed the last keystroke at 10:43 p.m. 28, one night before being found. Officers kept searching.

They came upon Mary Lynn Hanson, 55, near the kitchen. Her killer shot her once in the head.

Her body, clothed in a nightgown and barefoot, lay on a painter's drop cloth. Terrance Hanson, 57, was wrapped in a drop cloth in the attached garage. His killer shot him in the back of the head, at close range.

His head was wrapped in a plastic bag. He, too, wore sleep attire. His 2005 Chevrolet Impala was parked in his daughter's driveway. Evidence technicians scoured it, but they did not find any evidence. In the house, there were no signs of forced entry. No weapons were left behind.

Valuables were untouched. Police, though, uncovered another crime scene. Investigators found the elder couple's blood after flipping over a mattress in a guest room in their Rock Spring Court home in Naperville, 5 miles from Kate's. In the master bedroom, evidence technicians found someone patched over a bullet hole in the headboard and wall. A bullet was recovered in the attic. In her garage, Mary Hanson's Saturn contained blood stains in the back seat -- later traced to her husband. Authorities theorize the killer likely sneaked into the Tsao home and killed the younger couple, both still in their day clothes.

Later that night, the attacker shot the Hansons in their bed, then transported them to Kate's. The killer thoroughly cleaned the Naperville home, which did not have signs of forced entry. The mattress in the master bedroom appeared switched with one in another bedroom. The couple's bed was made with clean sheets and a blanket; as was Eric's in the basement. A vacuum held wood chips from the headboard. A fire still crackled in the fireplace hours later. Police also found a note in the kitchen.

It was from Eric. In it, he wished his parents a good weekend in Galena, and left them some money. A suspect emerges Thirty-one minutes after the 911 call, police had a suspect and a motive. A neighbor in the crowd near the Tsao home handed her cellular phone to Aurora detective Michael T. Nilles, a veteran cop too familiar with grisly crime scenes. It was 3:10 p.m. The Hansons' oldest child, Jennifer Williams, who lives in Bloomington, Minn., was waiting on the other line.

Police said she identified her younger brother, Eric, a mortgage broker who spent time behind bars for burglary and shoplifting, as the culprit. Jennifer said her brother was a chronic liar with a short fuse whose flagrant spending and constant freeloading caused family fights.

In fact, she said, Kate told her in an Aug. 13 call that Eric threatened to kill her if she told their father about the credit card fraud he committed in Mary's name. Mary, worried her son might try to hurt himself, planned to cover for Eric. But Kate was livid, and threatened to tell. 'She told me that he said, 'If you tell Dad about this, I will (expletive) kill you,' Williams testified during a May 2 pretrial hearing.

'She was very upset. She told me she had a very unsettling feeling.'

Also waiting outside Kate's house was her cousin, Robert Stutelberg. A salesman at Terry Hanson's business, Stutelberg, went to his uncle's Naperville home that Thursday because he had missed a meeting. No one was home. He headed to Kate's. Police and firefighters beat him there, having responded to the other relative's 911 call. 'It's not good,' a firefighter responded to his inquiry. Stutelberg called Jennifer.

'I know who did this,' she told him, according to a Sept. 30 police interview. Jennifer named her brother. Stutelberg talked to Eric Hanson hours earlier, at 10:15 a.m., when Hanson called to say he was running late for a flight to Los Angeles. Eric also complained about his aching back, Stutelberg told police, which he blamed on a bad mattress. Stutelberg said Hanson called back a bit later to say he made it, was at the gate, eating McDonald's. Stutelberg, recalling the earlier phone call, hit redial.

Hanson picked up. His cousin told authorities Hanson sounded 'fake,' as if 'playing dumb,' when told of the murders. Stutelberg handed his phone to Nilles.

Hanson still was on the line. It was 5:55 p.m. 'I made several requests to turn himself in or come home,' Nilles would tell a coroner's jury. 'He refused.'

Police knew Hanson at 11:10 a.m. Boarded a plane at Midway Airport -- after rescheduling an earlier flight -- for a planned trip to visit his ex-fiancee in Los Angeles, where the couple planned to see a Neil Diamond concert. They never made it to the concert, though, and meanwhile, authorities reached the woman, Allison Beck, who knew Hanson for about four years and had lived with him in Phoenix and Palatine.

Beck, who called Eric at his parents' house to ask about his travel plans, told police Terrance Hanson also answered at the same time, then hung up after hearing Eric. It was about 11:30 p.m.

Beck told police she was at work the next afternoon when Eric arrived in L.A. She left a key for him under a mat. They were talking on the phone when Eric got another call, from Stutelberg. There was an emergency, Hanson told Beck; he had to go.

Twenty minutes later, Beck called back. She said he was crying hysterically. His family was dead, and later, he told her, 'they' thought he did it. He denied any role.

She believed he was being genuine. Dub Show. Still, Beck told police, she hesitated meeting him. Weeks earlier, Kate told her about Hanson stealing from their parents. She said he was angry after learning the two spoke. Rather than meeting Hanson as planned, Beck drove to a local police station.

By the time police got to Beck's place, Hanson was gone. He had showered, shaved and washed his clothing, leaving behind a suitcase, but they did not find any evidence of a crime. Chicago police searched the airports for Hanson's SUV.

Detectives worked with L.A. Police and federal marshals to pick up Hanson, but, without an arrest warrant, they ran into red tape, and he remained free. Within hours, though, DuPage State's Attorney Joseph Birkett obtained a $4 million cash warrant on a charge of felony intimidation, based on Eric's alleged threat of Kate. Aurora police remained in cell phone contact with Hanson.

He agreed to meet them at the Los Angeles International Airport the next morning -- Friday, Sept. Two detectives boarded a plane for L.A. Hanson was a step ahead. Shoe leather At 4:55 a.m., Hanson left L.A. He made his way back to Midway, where he parked his Chevy Trailblazer one morning earlier.

Authorities said he stopped at a girlfriend's house in DuPage County, then headed north along I-90 toward Bloomington, Minn., where Jennifer lives. He didn't announce the visit.

Hanson did, however, call around to try to find a lawyer. He also called Nilles, and said he was in California. But, with his suspect on the line, Nilles used another phone to check with the FBI, which tracked Hanson through his cellphone usage. The FBI told Nilles their suspect was heading west on I-88 toward I-39, west of DeKalb. Police feared he might try to harm Jennifer, whose fearful family fled its home the night before. Earlier, police notified authorities in a 40-mile area in south-central Wisconsin to be on the lookout for his SUV with an Illinois license plate.

At 10:56 a.m. 30, a Wisconsin state trooper spotted Hanson traveling alone and made the stop near Portage, 20 miles north of Madison. He was arrested on the intimidation warrant.

He was unarmed, carrying $747 cash. Detectives and prosecutors rushed there to interview him. Despite several conversations, including one 12-hour talk, Hanson did not confess. Prosecutors played snippets of their taped interviews during a May 12, 2006, court hearing. Police said he seemed shocked at his arrest, at times tearful, but wasn't emotional when they spoke of his family's brutal end. Hanson said he had drinks with a girlfriend that night, then returned to Naperville to pack for his trip. He was sleeping that night and didn't hear a disturbance.

A neighbor told police the lights were on at 1:50 a.m. Constitutional Law Of India By J N Pandey Pdf Download. In the Naperville home. A week later, evidence technicians finished scouring the homes and cars.

They handed off hundreds of pieces of potential evidence to crime lab experts. One of Eric Hanson's golf clubs in his parents' garage held a speck of blood, but tests didn't tie it to the murders.

Authorities, though, said Hanson's Trailblazer contained key evidence. One of four gloves found in the SUV held Terry Hanson's blood, prosecutors said. The gloves were in a plastic bag, similar to those found in the Hanson home.

They said Kate's diamond wedding ring and Jimmy's Rolex watch also were in Hanson's SUV. The watch had a speck of Terry's blood, prosecutors said. Moreover, an extra pair of Eric Hanson's shoes in his SUV had a mixture of three people's blood. Experts couldn't pinpoint whose it was, but none of the four victims were excluded. Detectives also followed a long trail of financial records. In fact, just one day before the murders, prosecutors allege, Hanson forged his mother's name to a $13,800 check drawn out of his father's bank account and deposited it into his own. Some 15 local, state and federal agencies, from the FBI to postal inspectors, took part in the intense probe.

In one trip, detectives flew to Kansas City, where the GPS system on Hanson's SUV was made. It was on when he was out with the girlfriend, until about 10 p.m., court records showed, but was turned off afterward, when the murders began. Prosecutors argue that shows premeditation.

A reasonable doubt? Thirty-seven days after the bodies were found, the investigation culminated in a 23-count complaint accusing Hanson of murder, armed robbery, aggravated kidnapping, home invasion, theft and mail fraud. He returned to Illinois days later after waiving extradition in Wisconsin, eager to try to clear his name. But, despite the exhaustive investigation, it isn't a perfect case for prosecutors. They lack a confession and both murder weapons. In fact, experts couldn't pinpoint what type of gun and blunt-force cylindrical instrument were used.

Hanson's lawyers question whether one person could pull off such a physical crime in less than a 13-hour window, which is the time Jimmy typed his last keystroke to when Eric boarded the plane. They argue the jewelry in Hanson's SUV is explainable and the blood evidence -- a few specks in a scene of carnage -- isn't insurmountable. The defense team also plans to attack the alleged financial motive. Hanson maintains his father knew about his son's thefts, and he already began paying it back, without involving police.

Lawyers return to court Tuesday to continue jury selection. They need five more jurors, four of whom will serve as alternates.

The trial's opening statements may begin later this week. Eric is expected to testify. From his jail cell, Hanson says he doesn't know who killed his family. 'All I know is,' he said, 'I didn't do it.' After rescuers forced open the door, Chiu-Ter Tsao rushed past the bloodshed and up the stairs without realizing one of the bodies he saw was his younger brother.

'I called out his name,' he said. Tsao said he repeated his brother's name up to six times as he searched, praying in vain for a response that would not come. Jimmy Tsao suffered such a brutal beating that even his own brother didn't recognize him. His remains were found Sept. 29, 2005, in his upscale Aurora home, near the bodies of his wife and her parents. The horror that unfolded there was told Thursday to a solemn DuPage County jury at the opening of a quadruple murder trial. Intimidation charge Eric C.

Hanson is charged with fatally beating his sister, Katherine 'Kate' Hanson-Tsao, 31, and her husband, Jimmy, 34, and shooting his parents, Terrance, 57, and Mary Lynn, 55. Hanson, 31, maintains his innocence and will testify. The former mortgage broker, who lived with his parents in Naperville, may face the death penalty if convicted. His only living sibling, Jennifer Williams, buried her face in her hands and wept as prosecutors described a crime that was so savage, blood even covered treasured family photos on a fireplace mantel. Prosecutor Michael Wolfe said physical evidence, a reconstructed timeline and testimony will prove Hanson made good on an Aug. 13 threat to kill Kate if she told their father about Eric's $80,000 of credit card fraud, mostly in his mother's name.

Williams, the one who alleged the threat, will testify later in the trial. Wolfe said Hanson stole from his parents to keep up a jet-setting lifestyle of expensive electronics, cars, jewelry and vacations. 'It's a motive as old as time -- greed,' Wolfe said. Hanson admits the thefts, though he isn't certain how much money was involved.

DuPage County Public Defender Robert Miller argued Hanson was repaying his parents. He said prosecutors lack a confession, witnesses and the murder weapons. Miller said there isn't one fingerprint or any DNA evidence linking Hanson to the scene, including a bloody shoe print at the Tsao home. 'Everyone assumes Eric Hanson must be the one who was involved,' Miller said. Authorities theorize the elder couple was executed in their home on Rock Spring Court in Naperville, then taken 5 miles to the White Eagle subdivision.

Back in Naperville, evidence technicians found the elder couple's blood after flipping over a mattress. Miller said Eric Hanson did not hear a disturbance.

He left for the airport the next morning, assuming his parents were at work. Police later found some money and a note in the kitchen. It was from Eric, wishing them a fun weekend in Galena.

Hanson was arrested Sept. 30, 2005, near Portage, Wis., hours after returning from a one-day trip to Los Angeles to visit his ex-fiancee. He was on his way to Minnesota, where Jennifer lives. Hanson was held on an intimidation warrant for the alleged threat. More than one month later, prosecutors charged him with murder. They said his SUV held key evidence: A glove contained Terry's blood; Eric also had Kate's $30,000 ring and Jimmy's Rolex.

On the witness stand, Chiu-Ter Tsao identified the Rolex -- which he said he bought his slain brother. The trial, before DuPage Circuit Judge Robert Anderson, continues this morning in Wheaton. An Aurora evidence technician testifying Tuesday in the trial of a Naperville man charged in the slayings of his parents, sister and brother-in-law described a grim and bloody inventory of the home where the four bodies were found Sept.

For almost two hours in the DuPage County trial of Eric Hanson, Aurora Police Sgt. Kimberly Groom described the bloody tableau she documented on Sept. 29 and 30 at the home in Aurora's upscale White Eagle subdivision.

Groom said she had found the severely beaten bodies of Kate Hanson-Tsao and Jimmy Tsao and those of Terry and Mary Hanson, who had been shot, in a five-minute walk through the home. Authorities allege the four were killed by Eric Hanson, 31, a self-employed mortgage broker who had become angry after his sister, Kate Hanson-Tsao, had discovered that he had perpetrated a credit-card fraud scheme against their parents that totaled $80,000. About eight weeks before the killings, Eric Hanson had threatened to kill his sister if she told their father of his fraud, authorities allege. Police say he committed the crimes as revenge.

Hanson was arrested Sept. 30, 2005, while driving his sport-utility vehicle in Wisconsin, en route to visit his remaining sibling who lives in Minnesota.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Hanson. Jurors heard Groom describe the severe head wounds inflicted on Kate Hanson-Tsao, 31, who was found in the doorway to the master bedroom, and Jimmy Tsao, 34, who was slouched on a love seat in a great room.

He had been beaten so severely that blood spatters were recovered from the ceiling and from photographs atop a fireplace mantel several feet away, Groom testified. She later found the bodies of Terry and Mary Hanson, Eric Hanson's parents. Mary Hanson, 55, dressed in a blood-soaked nightgown, was found in a kitchen hallway, next to a painters' tarp. Terry Hanson, 57, dressed in black gym shorts and a bloody T-shirt, was found between two cars in the Tsaos' garage, Groom said, atop a blood-soaked tarp. She took dozens of photographs and shot a 25-minute video of the scene, she testified. Authorities contend that Eric Hanson fatally beat his sister and brother-in-law, then drove to the Naperville home he shared with his parents.

He shot them once each in the head as they slept about 11:30 p.m. Hanson then wrapped their bodies in tarps and drove them to the Aurora home, authorities allege. Testimony continues Tuesday afternoon. On the day of his parents' killings, Eric Hanson deposited a $13,000 check he stole from his father's credit union account, a former Naperville bank teller testified Thursday. The stolen check was placed into a TCF Bank account opened Sept. 28, 2005, the day prosecutors allege Hanson fatally shot his parents in their Naperville home before bludgeoning to death his sister and brother-in-law in Aurora.

No cash was withdrawn during the transaction, the teller testified in the second week of the DuPage County trial. Other witnesses Thursday described how Hanson, 31, allegedly used financial accounts and credit cards he had opened in his parents' names, then had billing statements sent to a Naperville post office box instead of the home he shared with Terry and Mary Hanson. Assistant State's Atty. Robert Berlin has argued that Hanson killed his four relatives after his financial schemes began to unravel and became known to some family members. Public Defender Robert Miller has said Hanson admits to the financial crimes but denies any involvement in the slayings of his parents, his sister Kate Hanson-Tsao and her husband, Jimmy Tsao.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Hanson. Alicia Bill, the former teller from the TCF Bank branch, said the stolen check was drawn on Terry Hanson's credit union account at Ashland Chemical Co., his employer. The TCF Bank account was fraudulently opened in Eric Hanson's mother's name and known only to the defendant, prosecutors allege. Representatives of various banks and credit-card companies testified Thursday that purchases made with the accounts included airline tickets around the country, clothing, a tattoo, as well as cash advances to pay off other credit cards. One of the credit cards, obtained in Hanson's parents' names, was used to buy a 42-inch plasma TV that he gave to his father as a birthday gift, according to prosecutors. Testimony in the trial, expected to last several more weeks, continues Friday. In her final moments, Katherine 'Kate' Hanson-Tsao fought to live.

But she was unable to thwart her attacker, whose merciless blows left the 31-year-old Aurora woman with catastrophic injuries. In a nearby room, her husband, Jimmy Tsao, 34, never saw it coming. He likely was struck from behind. The heart-wrenching testimony came Friday as a forensic pathologist who conducted the couple's autopsies told jurors in explicit detail how they died. His findings capped off an emotional week in a DuPage County court saturated with crime scene photos and graphic testimony. Hanson may face the death penalty if convicted of killing his parents, sister and brother-in-law in late September 2005 after stealing $80,000 from his folks in an elaborate credit card scheme. Hanson, 31, is expected to testify that his parents were letting him pay them back, thus he lacked a financial motive to kill.

Prosecutors, though, presented evidence Hanson continued the scam, even after his sister and mother confronted him, to keep up his lavish lifestyle. On Friday, forensic pathologist Scott Denton testified Kate and Jimmy Tsao died from catastrophic skull and brain injuries after being pummeled with an unknown pipe-like object.

Tsao did not have defensive wounds. The killer repeatedly beat him on his head and face while he sat on a love seat watching television and playing a game on his laptop computer.

But Kate put up a fight to live. She suffered horrific face and head injuries, defensive wounds and massive blood loss. Her older sister, Jennifer Williams, left the courtroom before Denton began detailing each injury. A stoic Eric Hanson listened, but declined to review autopsy photos of his slain sister. Authorities allege he attacked his sister and brother-in-law, then hours later, fatally shot his parents, Terry and Mary Hanson, as they slept in their Naperville home, where Eric also lived. Police did not find signs of forced entry to either home; valuables weren't touched. The Hansons' bodies were moved to the Tsao home in Aurora, and someone cleaned up evidence of the shooting to try to conceal the second crime scene.

Its existence is crucial because, if true, that means Eric Hanson was home when his parents were killed but, as he will testify, didn't hear anything. Prosecutors presented about 40 witnesses and 350 pieces of physical evidence, including many graphic photos. They lack a confession and the murder weapons. Instead, they are focusing on the financial motive, timeline and other evidence. They said a rubber glove with his father's blood was in Hanson's SUV, along with Jimmy's Rolex watch and Kate's $24,000 wedding ring. John Collins, the DuPage County sheriff's crime lab director, testified Friday that the two bullets in the victims' bodies were identical to a third fired bullet found in the Hansons' attic space near the bed where they were shot.

Collins also told jurors other physical evidence, such as the plastic baggie that held the rubber glove, is similar to those found in the Naperville house. The trial continues Wednesday.

------------------------------------------------------------------- He really needs the DP. After police told Eric C. Hanson that four of his family members were found slain, the Naperville man didn't exactly catch the first flight home from his girlfriend's in Los Angeles. A DuPage County jury listened to testimony Thursday morning from the lead Aurora police detective who investigated the grisly Sept. 29, 2005, discovery in the affluent White Eagle subdivision on the city's far-east side.

Detective Michael Nilles described more than six hours of telephone conversations he had with Hanson that night and into the next morning, shortly before Hanson was arrested after returning to Illinois and heading toward the home of his other sister, Jennifer Williams, in Minnesota. Police said Hanson became a suspect less than an hour into the investigation when Williams told them he had been stealing from their parents. Nilles said Hanson admitted some of the thefts but denied killing his family. Nilles said Hanson was at times tearful, but resisted meeting with police.

He said Hanson hung up on him several times during their conversations, declined to meet with Los Angeles police and was elusive about his whereabouts, including fleeing an L.A. Airport when a ticket agent tipped him off he was wanted. 'I told the defendant it seemed like he was running from the police,' Nilles testified. 'The defendant stated he had some things to think about and hung up.' The 20-year officer's testimony continues Thursday afternoon. The DuPage County jury is expected to view Hanson's videotaped interview with police while in a Columbia County jail lockup in Wisconsin, near Portage. Hanson did not confess, but prosecutors want the jury to view his demeanor.

The prosecution team - Robert Berlin, Michael Wolfe and Nancy Wolfe - presented about 50 witnesses and 400 pieces of physical evidence, including graphic photos. It is expected to wrap up its case either Thursday or Friday. Prosecutors plan to pursue the death penalty if Hanson is convicted of killing his parents, sister and brother-in-law in late September 2005 after stealing $80,000 from his folks in an elaborate credit card scheme. Hanson, 31, is expected to testify Friday that his parents were letting him pay them back and thus he lacked a financial motive to kill. Prosecutors, though, presented evidence Hanson continued the scam, even after his sister and mother confronted him, to keep up his lifestyle.

Authorities allege he attacked his sister and brother-in-law, Kate and Jimmy Tsao, and then hours later fatally shot his parents, Terry and Mary Hanson, as they slept in their Naperville home, where Eric also lived. Police did not find signs of forced entry to either home; valuables weren't touched. The Hansons' bodies were moved to the Tsao home in Aurora, and someone cleaned up evidence of the shooting to try to conceal the second crime scene. Its existence is crucial because, if true, it means Eric Hanson was home when his parents were killed but, as he will testify, didn't hear anything. Prosecutors lack a confession and the murder weapons. Instead, they are focusing on the financial motive, timeline and other evidence.

They said a rubber glove with his father's blood was in Hanson's SUV, along with Jimmy's Rolex watch and Kate's $24,000 wedding ring. Still, despite a bloody scene with four bodies, none of Eric Hanson's fingerprints, shoeprints, hairs, saliva, blood, or trace evidence were recovered. Seven partial bloody shoe prints were found in the Tsao home and garage - none of which were traced to Eric. Jury members are expected to being deliberating Wednesday. If the panel convicts Hanson, the death penalty eligibility phase and sentencing hearing would follow immediately. Hanson admits he is a habitual liar and a thief, but he denies being a killer. The 31-year-old Naperville man testified for five hours Friday in front of a DuPage County jury that is expected next week to decide his fate in the death penalty trial.

He is charged with murdering his parents, sister and brother-in-law in late September 2005 out of greed after an elaborate credit card scam in his parents' names began to unravel. Hanson remained calm, even during prosecutor Robert Berlin's heated three-hour cross examination. The large courtroom was packed, including with several relatives who support the prosecution. His lone living sister, Jennifer Williams, listened while wiping away tears. Intimidation charge Hanson said he was sleeping downstairs when his parents, Terry and Mary, were shot in their Naperville home, where he also lived. Hanson said he did not hear a disturbance, even when the killer fired three shots and cleaned the crime scene, including moving a bloody mattress and drilling the headboard to hide damage.

'You slept really sound that night, right?' Berlin asked sarcastically. 'No more than any other night,' Hanson said coolly. His parents' bodies were then transported to the Aurora home of their daughter, Kate, who earlier was bludgeoned along with her husband, Jimmy Tsao. Their four bodies were discovered the next afternoon, Sept. Police arrested Hanson one day later after he returned from a one-day trip in Los Angeles to visit his ex-fiancee.

Officers found Kate's $24,000 wedding ring and Jimmy's Rolex watch in his sport-utility vehicle. Hanson explained he simply was returning the jewelry, but didn't get a chance before his trip.

He couldn't explain another piece of evidence crucial to the prosecution. Hanson told jurors he had no idea how a rubber glove with his father's blood ended up in a zipped plastic bag, along with three other gloves, in his SUV. His explanation didn't sit well with Berlin. 'Are you telling me you don't know how these gloves got in your car?' The prosecutor asked sternly.

'That's exactly what I'm telling you,' Hanson responded. Most of his testimony focused on his more than $80,000 credit card fraud. Hanson admitted stealing, but said he and his parents worked it out.

He continued the thefts, though, even after he promised to pay it back. For example, he obtained $16,800 in his father's name one day before the grisly discovery. 'I had the best intentions,' he said. 'I just didn't follow through.' Hanson said the thefts began modestly in 2004 and he always made at least the minimum payments on time, but it spiraled out of control and became a shell game in which he stole from one account to pay another. He had more than a half dozen fraudulent credit cards. 'There were a few things I wanted to buy and didn't have the money,' he said.

'I figured if I charged it; paid it off, it'd be no big deal.' 'It just seemed like free money. It was easy.' Police developed Hanson as a suspect within an hour.

Williams, who lives in Minnesota, identified her brother after telling police he earlier threatened to kill Kate --which Hanson denied. His testimony came near the start of the defense's case. DuPage Public Defender Robert Miller and Elizabeth Reed, a senior assistant defender, noted prosecutors lack a confession, eyewitnesses and murder weapons. Despite two bloody crime scenes, none of Hanson's prints, hairs, saliva or blood were recovered.

Seven partial bloody shoeprints were found -- but none were traced to Eric Hanson. A partial fingertip print on the plastic bag couldn't be traced to him, either. The prosecution team --Berlin, Michael Wolfe and Nancy Wolfe -- rested its case Friday with more than 50 witnesses and 400 pieces of physical evidence. Prosecutors argue the financial motive, timeline, other evidence such as the bloody glove and Hanson's multiple lies are overwhelming proof. The trial before DuPage Circuit Judge Robert Anderson continues next week. Eric Christopher Hanson was born into a family of privilege, the youngest child and only son of two high school sweethearts. But, instead of honoring the two people who gave him life, the Naperville man stole tens of thousands of dollars in an elaborate credit card scheme in their names.

Hanson admits being a thief, but he argued that does not make him a cold-blooded killer. A DuPage County jury did not agree. After three hours of deliberations, jurors swiftly convicted Hanson late Wednesday of killing his parents,sister and her husband in late September 2005 in a murderous rampage discovered in the affluent White Eagle subdivision on Aurora's far-east side. Intimidation charge Hanson, 31, dressed in a blue suit, appeared sullen but did not outwardly react when a clerk read the verdict at 9 p.m. Outside the courtroom, about one dozen relatives and their friends shared tearful embraces with prosecutors. The group, including Hanson's oldest sister, Jennifer Williams, supported the prosecution.

Hanson was convicted of all counts of first-degree murder, armed robbery, aggravated kidnapping and identity theft. The jury of eight men and four women listened to more than 50 witnesses and considered about 415 pieces of physical evidence during 10 days of testimony before rendering its verdict. The panel's work, though, if far from over in the death penalty case. DuPage Circuit Judge Robert Anderson instructed members to return Thursday morning to decide whether Hanson is eligible for capital punishment and whether to impose it.

If so, Hanson will become the 14th condemned man on Illinois' death row. The verdict ends the first phase of a hard-fought trial. DuPage Public Defender Robert Miller argued prosecutors lack a confession, both murder weapons and, despite two crime scenes with four bodies, a single hair, fiber, fingerprint or shoe print or other forms of DNA placing Hanson at either location. In fact, seven unidentified partial bloody shoe prints found at his sister's home were not traced back to Eric. 'Tell me how Eric committed a mass murder without leaving one bit of evidence that a 21st-century crime lab could not detect?' Miller asked. The murderous rampage was discovered Sept.

29, 2005, in the home of Katherine 'Kate' Hanson-Tsao and her husband, Jimmy, in Aurora. Kate, 31, and her 34-year-old husband were fatally bludgeoned in their home, likely at 10:43 p.m. 28, 2005, the final keystroke on Jimmy's laptop, found lying near him. Prosecutors said 57-year-old Terrance Hanson and his wife, Mary, 55, were shot a short time later in their Naperville home, where Eric also lived. The elder couple's bodies, each clad in sleeping attire and lying on a painter's drop cloth, were transferred to Kate's home five miles away. Police did not find signs of forced entry to either home; valuables weren't touched.

The existence of a second crime scene in Naperville was crucial in the trial because Hanson placed himself in the home that night. He told jurors he was sleeping downstairs and didn't hear a disturbance. Police said they discovered a bloodstained mattress; a fired bullet in the attic, which is on the other side of a wall behind the headboard to the Hansons' bed; and evidence someone used a drill and wood filler to cover the headboard's bullet hole. 'I guess someone else sneaked into that house while he was sleeping and murdered the parents whom he was stealing from,' prosecutor Robert Berlin said.

'Who else has a motive to clean up and make it look like the murders didn't happen in that house?' Police also found bloodstains elsewhere in the bedroom and in the passenger seat of Mary Hanson's Saturn SUV. Detectives had developed Hanson as a suspect within an hour. His other sister,Williams, who lives in Minnesota, identified her brother and said he had threatened to kill Kate six weeks earlier if she told their father about the credit card fraud. Hanson, though, denied making the threat. But prosecutors presented a jailhouse letter he later wrote to his cousin in which he admits threatening Kate.

Hanson told jurors both his parents knew and agreed to let him pay the money back without police involvement. Police arrested Hanson one day after the grisly discovery after he returned from a one-day trip in Los Angeles to visit his ex-fiancee. Officers found Kate's $24,000 wedding ring and Jimmy's Rolex watch in his sport-utility vehicle.

Hanson explained he simply was returning the jewelry, but didn't get a chance before his trip. He couldn't explain another piece of evidence crucial to the prosecution.

Hanson told jurors he had no idea how a rubber glove with his father's blood ended up in a zipped plastic bag, along with three other gloves,in his SUV. The prosecution team - Berlin, Michael and Nancy Wolfe - argued the financial motive, timeline, GPS technology, and the other evidence such as the bloody glove and Hanson's multiple lies were overwhelming proof. Miller and Elizabeth Reed, a senior assistant defender, contend police zeroed in on Hanson from the onset, never considering any other possible suspect. WHEATON, Ill. (WLS) -- Eric Hanson will be executed for the 2005 slayings of his parents, sister and brother-in-law. A DuPage County jury announced the fate of the Naperville man on Wednesday after 1 1/2 hours of deliberating. The same jury deliberated for about three hours before finding the 31-year-old guilty of first-degree murder and other charges last week.

He was convicted in the 2005 slayings of his parents, sister, and brother-in-law. Prosecutors said Hanson committed the murders because his sister found out he had stole $80,00 from their parents. Story continues belowAdvertisement Hanson's attorney told the jury, 'They are asking each and every one of you to kill someone.' The prosecutor countered and said, 'Let's be clear. We are not asking you to kill anyone.

We are asking you to follow the law, something Eric Hanson has never done.' Hanson's surviving sister, Jennifer Williams, testified. She told the jury her parents tried to help him and Eric 'murdered the only people in his life that loved him unconditionally.' Williams cried after the verdict was read.

She has not given her opinion on the death penalty. The four bodies were discovered in the Aurora home of Hanson's sister. WHEATON - An execution date has been set for Eric Hanson - July 14. The convicted killer offered no remorse before DuPage County Circuit Court Judge Robert Anderson, who set the date Thursday and ordered Hanson be turned over to the Illinois Department of Corrections. Instead, Hanson, 31, shrugged his shoulders and said had he not been convicted of killing his four family members, Anderson would not have imposed the maximum sentence, 15 years, on the two counts of identity theft that the same jury also found him guilty of - the motive in the 2005 slayings of his parents, sister and brother-in-law.

Hanson shot his parents, Mary and Terrance Hanson, while they slept in their Naperville home. In an attempt to conceal the crime at the home he had shared with his parents, Hanson moved their bodies to his sister's upscale Aurora home after bludgeoning Kate and Jimmy Tsao earlier that evening. After six weeks of testimony from 50 witnesses and more than 400 pieces of evidence, it took a jury less than three hours to find Hanson guilty of the Sept. 28, 2005 murders. In addition, the same jury convicted Hanson of aggravated kidnapping for moving his parents' bodies; aggravated robbery for the theft of Kate's wedding ring and Jimmy's Rolex watch, which were found in Hanson's car when arrested; and identity theft for the elaborate credit card scheme in which he stole more than $100,000 from his parents. Although his defense attorneys' motion for a new trial was denied, Bob Miller successfully argued that Hanson be sentenced separately on the charges of identity theft, while the remaining kidnapping and robbery convictions be merged with the murders - for which Hanson has been sentenced to death. Hanson became the 14th man sent to death row since former Gov.

George Ryan declared a moratorium on state-sanctioned executions in 2000 citing concern that innocent men had been placed there. Two years later he commuted the sentences of about 160 death row inmates to life in prison. That is the sentence Hanson will serve unless the moratorium from carrying out the death penalty is lifted, something that can only be done via gubernatorial order. ------------------------------------------------------------------- I think Illinois had to give a date.

It's a waste of time and not worth even noting. Naperville man's death sentence affirmed by judge----But appeal, moratorium delay Eric Hanson's execution indefinitely Eric Hanson was sentenced Thursday to be executed July 14 for murdering 4 members of his family, but an automatic appeal with the Illinois Supreme Court and the state moratorium on executions could delay the punishment indefinitely. Hanson, 31, appeared calm when DuPage Judge Robert Anderson announced the sentence unanimously approved earlier this year by the jury that convicted the Naperville man of killing his parents, Terrance and Mary Hanson; his sister, Kate Hanson-Tsao; and her husband, Jimmy Tsao on Sept. No other members of Hanson's family, including his surviving sister, Jennifer Williams, were in the Wheaton courtroom. 'Death is the appropriate sentence,' Anderson told Hanson. 'You are bright, intelligent and articulate, but you used your intelligence for awful crimes.'

When asked by Anderson if he had any comments, Hanson shrugged, saying that if it weren't for the murder convictions, he probably would not get the maximum sentence for identity theft because it was his 1st conviction. In addition to the death sentence, Anderson gave Hanson 15 years for identity theft, for using his parents' identity to illegally obtain credit cards in their name. That term is to run concurrently with time served awaiting the death sentence.

The judge entered convictions for home invasion and armed robbery, but set no specific punishment, ruling that those convictions merge into the murder conviction. After the hearing, Hanson was transferred to Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet.

DuPage County Public Defender Robert Miller made a last-ditch effort to secure a new trial for Hanson. Miller argued that Eric's comment to his sister, Kate Hanson-Tsao, 'If you tell dad, I will kill you,' didn't appear to have been taken seriously by her and shouldn't have been allowed at trial. Miller also said the statement was too prejudicial and carried excessive weight for the jury. Assistant State's Atty. Robert Berlin countered that it had been taken seriously because Kate Hanson-Tsao called Williams within two days and told her about the comment. Anderson said he had approved the introduction of that comment during a pretrial hearing and 'carefully considered and allowed it.'

Miller also gave a 10-minute endorsement of his client's attitude toward him and his legal defense team before and during the trial. However, he noted that 'during the sentencing phase we were desperate for family members or someone to give positive statements, but at the end of the day we had an empty basket.' George Ryan issued a death-penalty moratorium in 2000 and, in 2003, commuted the death sentences of about 160 prisoners, citing a flawed system in which more than a dozen people were improperly put on death row. Rod Blagojevich has continued the moratorium, but state Rep. Dennis Reboletti (R-Elmhurst) has introduced a House resolution asking Blagojevich to resume executions. A state committee reviewing the impact of death-penalty reforms will report its findings this year.

Hanson is the 15th man--and the second from DuPage County--to be sentenced to death since 2003. Hearing held in death penalty case SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - An attorney for death row inmate Eric Hanson has told the Illinois Supreme Court there was no concrete evidence to convict the Naperville man of the 2005 murders of his parents, sister and brother-in-law.

In his attempt to win a new trial or a new death penalty hearing for Hanson, defense attorney Steven Clark said Tuesday most modern death penalty convictions involve confession, eyewitnesses or forensic evidence. Clark said Hanson's case doesn't involve any of those factors. Assistant Attorney General Eric Levin acknowledged no forensic evidence directly ties Hanson to the murders, but he added that there was an overabundant amount of circumstantial evidence. Hanson's 2008 death sentence was automatically appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court. The justices issued no ruling Tuesday and are under no immediate deadline to do so.