The family of Chad McLean pumped their fists into the air in celebration as the judge announced that Peter Hanson was guilty of the murder of McLean almost 16 years ago. They hugged each other and wiped away tears after the verdict was read Wednesday.
They had waited a long time for this day.
For nine years after McLean’s body was discovered in the Pensaukee River in Abrams, the family put up posters, handed out fliers and even purchased a billboard in the pursuit of the killer.
“We’re happy with the verdict,” one family member said when approached by the Times Herald.
Hanson, 52, covered his face with his hands as Judge Michael Judge read the verdict.
A jury of nine women and three men, after deliberating for almost five hours, found Hanson guilty of the intentional homicide of McLean.
Special prosecutor Vincent Biskupic said the culmination of the five-day trial is just one step of a two-step process. The second step will be the prosecution of Hanson’s alleged accomplice, Charles Mlados. In February, Mlados will be tried on charges of intentional homicide-party to the crime and perjury.
“We’re pleased with the verdict,” Biskupic said. “Starting tomorrow, we’re going to get geared up and started for the next trial.”
McLean, 19, had a chance encounter with Hanson and Mlados after he and a friend stopped at a home in Abrams on Feb. 22, 1998, after scouting for fishing spots in Oconto County. McLean was missing for a month before his body was found in the river about a mile from Hanson’s Abrams home. The autopsy showed he died of gunshot wounds to the head.
A few dozen witnesses testified in the trial, including a neighbor of Hanson’s who said she heard shots about 10 or 10:30 p.m. Another neighbor said Hanson showed him a .22-caliber gun he had modified so it fired in rapid succession, which an expert witness said accounted for the placement of McLean’s three bullet holes.
Security video from an Abrams truck stop and restaurant showed Hanson and Mlados buying beer on three occasions on Feb. 22, 1998, for a night of partying. McLean and his friend joined in the beer drinking at the home of the friend’s relatives, and when it was time to return to McLean’s Green Bay apartment, the friend backed into a ditch and McLean instead left the home with Mlados and Hanson. Although Hanson told investigators they took McLean to the truck stop to find his own way home, security tapes and employee testimony didn’t back this up.
Instead, in what Biskupic described as a “senseless” killing, McLean was taken to Hanson’s Abrams property and never seen alive again.
A date for sentencing was not set. Hanson faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
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