Man convicted of killing 4 family members
WHEATON, Ill. It was a relatively fast verdict for a quadruple murder case. The jury came back at 8:37 p.m. Wednesday, after deliberating for three hours and 12 minutes.
The eight men and four women found Eric Hanson guilty of four counts of murder, two counts of armed robbery, two counts of aggravated kidnapping and two counts of identity theft.
Hanson was charged in the September 2005 murder of his parents, Terrence and Mary Hanson of Naperville and his sister, Kate Hanson Tsao and her husband, Jimmy Tsao, of Aurora.
Prosecutors said Eric Hanson committed the murder to cover up a theft of more than $80,000. There was blood evidence in the SUV that Hanson was driving in Wisconsin when he was arrested, as well as some of the victims' personal belongings.
On Thursday morning at 10 a.m. begins the death penalty phase of this trial. DuPage County prosecutors will argue that Hanson is eligible for the death penalty, and should receive lethal injection.
