UPDATE: August trial date set for Milbank man charged with murder

January 5, 2022
Mike Tanner

MILBANK, S.D. (AP) — A Milbank man will face trial this summer on charges of killing his brother and pregnant sister-in-law.

Fifty-seven-year-old Brent Hanson appeared court Tuesday where Judge Dawn Elshere set a jury trial to begin Aug. 11th.

Police say Hanson hit his brother, Clyde Hanson, in the head with a baseball bat Dec. 12 at a residential property they both owned, but where they lived in separate spaces.

Authorities say Jessica Hanson, who was nine months pregnant, returned home the following morning and the defendant struck her in the head with a machete.

The couple’s bodies were found Dec. 15 after police were called to do a welfare check. Their 3-year-old child was found sleeping and unharmed. 

Brent Hanson is being held on five million dollars cash only bond.