Brent Hanson
MILBANK, S.D. (KFGO KWAT) – A Milbank man will spend the rest of his life in prison for murdering his brother, sister-in-law, and her unborn child.
Fifty-seven-year-old Brent Hanson appeared in Grant County Circuit Court in Milbank and pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder as part of a plea agreement in which the prosecution agreed to not seek the death penalty.
Circuit Court Judge Dawn Elshere accepted the plea deal, and said each count will run consecutively with no chance for parole.
Three alternate counts of Second Degree Murder were dismissed.
Brent Hanson, in an interview with police, admitted he, “snapped” when he hit his brother, Clyde Hanson, in the head with a baseball bat on December 12, 2021 at a residential property they both owned, but where they had separate living spaces.
Clyde Hanson’s wife, Jessica Hanson, who was nine months pregnant at the time, returned home the following morning and was struck in the head with a machete.
The couple’s bodies were found three days later after police were called to conduct a welfare check.
Clyde Hanson’s body was found behind sheetrock, and Jessica Hanson’s body was found under a tarp.
Brent Hanson had a previous dispute with the couple six months before their deaths when he was arrested and charged with Misdemeanor Assault and Domestic Violence. He pushed around the couple after an argument over the care of Jessica Hanson’s dog. Brent Hanson declined to speak at the sentencing.
He’ll spend the remainder of his life as an inmate at the South Dakota Penitentiary.
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