Visit to give police a Christmas card ends in confession of family slaughter
Brent Hanson said he “snapped” with brother and pregnant sister-in-law
Brothers Brent and Clyde Hanson shared a home in Milbank, South Dakota. Brent lived in the basement area while his older brother lived upstairs with wife Jessica and their three-year-old son. The brothers had joint ownership of the two-storey property but while they were all part of the Jehovah’s Witnesses community and active churchgoers, it was not a harmonious household.
Clyde, 59, and Jessica, 29, were quiet and modest. They’d met through a matchmaking service and, despite their age gap, were happily building a family. Clyde worked for a retail outlet while Jessica was a devoted mum and was pregnant with their second child.
The couple showed kindness to their neighbours, as their religion encouraged, but in July 2021, Jessica called the police and said her brother-in-law Hanson, 57, had pushed and hit her during an argument. She was four months pregnant and, at the time, was being treated for some mental health struggles at a local facility.
Before going away for her treatment, Jessica had asked Hanson to look after her dog. When she returned, after less than two weeks, her pet was gone.
Hanson said he’d taken it to a farm because he didn’t want to look after it – but he wouldn’t say where. A row ensued and, according to Jessica, Hanson turned violent, repeatedly hitting her over the head and threatening to throw her out of the house.
Jessica admitted to officers that it was out of character for Hanson to be violent, but she went on to say she was fearful for her safety and worried about how he was going to react once he discovered she’d reported him.
Of course, Hanson did find out she had gone to the police when he was charged with assault. The incident would undoubtedly have caused further friction in the home.
‘I killed them,’ he said, making a slashing gesture over his neck
Blood spotted on the door
By December, Jessica was nine months pregnant and ready to give birth to a little girl they’d already named Annika. Would the new arrival heal the household?
On 15 December, Hanson was due to meet Milbank Police Chief Boyd Vanvooren. The chief had arranged it the night before, via social media, saying he wanted to “exchange a Christmas card from a church”. Hanson arrived at the station at around 9.10am to make the festive gesture. During the visit, the chief, who knew about the outstanding assault charges, asked Hanson whether there were any further issues at the house with Clyde and Jessica. He replied, “They no longer live here.”
Within minutes, at 9.45am, the chief overheard a call to the station requesting a welfare check at the Hansons’ home. A food delivery worker had reported going to the
residence and seeing what he feared was blood on the door.
Officers were dispatched and the chief asked Hanson where his brother had moved to. His reply was shocking.
“I snapped,” Hanson said, before making a motion with his thumb across his neck, in a slashing gesture. “I killed them on Sunday.”
It was a startling confession. Surely the family troubles hadn’t escalated to murder? Did Hanson really have it in him to kill his brother and his heavily pregnant sister-in-law? He was taken into custody as officers went to the house.
When they arrived at around 10.05am, they found Jessica’s body under a blue tarpaulin in an area of the house that was yet to be made habitable. She had lacerations to her body that were consistent with a machete assault. Her unborn baby had also died as a result of the attack.
Clyde’s corpse was behind some dry walling panels in the house, with serious head injuries
that had been caused by a beating with a baseball bat. Their three-year-old son was there too, alive and physically unharmed.
Shock admission
Back at the station, Hanson again admitted that he’d killed his brother and sister-in-law. “I totally flipped,” he confessed.
It was shocking. The man who had calmly walked into the police station that morning to exchange Christmas cards had taken two weapons and slaughtered his family. Hanson said he’d attacked his brother with a bat on 12 December, when Jessica was away visiting her family.
According to the police report, he said he’d gone upstairs, where Clyde was alone, and “whacked” him on the head “enough times so he was gone”.
When Jessica returned the following morning, he killed her, and her unborn baby, with a machete. Hanson said he’d “whacked” Jessica too “and that was the end of her”.
After moving the bodies, he said he hadn’t harmed their three-year-old son. He’d been watching him for several days before he’d made the confession to the police chief.
Hanson was charged with three counts of murder for the deaths of Clyde, Jessica and their baby. He was held on a $5 million cash-only bail and the wider family were left reeling. Clyde and Jessica had been murdered by their own kin – and unborn Annika had been denied life. But why?
As Hanson was heading towards a trial in
October this year, loved ones hoped they’d get some answers. Had tensions grown after the row about the dog?
Sadly, the grieving families would be denied those answers. In September this year, they were angered to learn Hanson made a plea deal to admit guilt, avoiding a trial and a possible death penalty. They claimed they were not consulted.
“We are heartbroken with the brash decision to enter into this plea agreement without the knowledge nor approval of the family,” said a statement by Jessica’s older sister, Jasmine King.
“The decision is not an appropriate punishment in light of the charges and actions of Brent Hanson. In our eyes, the state attorney sided with the defendant by giving him his life back while our family continues to grieve over the stolen lives of our loved ones with no peace in sight.”
Hanson was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole.
He will never walk free but, agonisingly for the families, he is also unlikely to ever give any form of closure by explaining just what drove him to commit such a sickening crime.
He went upstairs and ‘whacked’ Clyde on the head ‘enough times so he was gone’