We asked before on another thread if Eric Hanson should get the death penalty, but now it's a reality after a jury took just 90 minutes to decide his fate. He'll be heading off to death row for the cold-blooded slaughter of four family members, where he'll probably spent at least 15 years (or maybe more due to the Illinois moratorium on capital punisment) before his sentence is carried out. Would a more fitting penalty be life without parole for the killer? Maybe he'd suffer more that way for his heinous crime. But, in broader terms, we'd like to ask: Does the state have the right to take a human life, even if that life belongs to Eric Hanson? His case opens the grounds for discussing whether capital punishment - banned in most European countries - is a fitting or even moral punishment no matter how evil the crime, or a throwback to the old days when it was an "eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." What do you think...and make no mistake, we have no sympathy here for Eric Hanson. We're just posing the question.
Crime: February 2008 Archives
In the latest bizarre twist to the case of former Bolingbrook cop Drew Peterson, the death of his third wife - Kathleen Savio - has been officially determined a homicide by Will County authorities. Prior to this ruling the death had been classified as an accident, the probable result of a fall in the bath tub. Peterson - already a suspect in the disappearance of fourth wife Stacy Peterson - has been laying low as of late, pretty much shunning the media that he so actively courted just weeks if not months ago. What effect will this latest ruling have in the scrutiny of Peterson who is currently the subject of a grand jury investigation? The latest development doesn't seem to bode well for Peterson and is it just a matter of time before he is taken into custody? We'd like to know your thoughts on this mysterious case. Does it make Peterson look guilty and - let's not forget - whatever happened to Stacy Peterson? The conversation is now open.
A DuPage County jury has convicted Eric Hanson of Naperville of killing four members of his family after he stole about $100,000 from his parents. Should he get the death penalty?
The shooting deaths at Northern Illinois University renew the debate over gun control. A Sun editor offers his opinion about why access to guns should be restricted.
State legislators including Republican leader Tom Cross made the rounds in Will and DuPage counties, trying to drum up support for a package of proposed laws they say will keep the Internet safe for children. The laws would be among the toughest in the nation.
An investigative piece in Tuesday's Sun reports how Naperville-area residents who paid thousands of dollars thought they would get a good piano in return, but instead the store run by the Biasco brothers went out of business. What's more, court records show the Biascos have a history of closing stores and never delivering pianos that people paid for, only to open up new stores under new names.
