After emotional plea from victim's family, Hawes gets life in prison

The judge was quick to sentence Hank Hawes to life in prison Thursday in the stabbing death of USC professor Jennifer Wilson.

But first, he heard from Wilson’s mother, Pat, who recalled her daughter as a little girl climbing a favorite tree to read and as a promising young educator who loved the classroom. Then, she read out a half-dozen names of women Hawes had met online in the days just before Jen Wilson’s death – Amy, Antoinette, Joy, Rachel, Monica – saying they should not have to live in fear.

She asked Judge J.C. Nicholson Jr. of Charleston “to please remove Mr. Hawes from society.”

He did.

Under the state’s murder statute, a life sentence means that Hawes will die in prison, victims advocate Laura Hudson said.

Hawes apparently did not have any friends or loved ones in the courtroom to speak for him. He didn’t take the opportunity to speak for himself, either.

The five-woman, seven-man jury had taken just 30 minutes Thursday to conclude their deliberations, which began late Wednesday.

When their verdict was announced, Hawes closed his eyes for a moment and his cheeks flushed but, otherwise, he did not react.

Later, foreman Jay Richardson issued an eloquent no comment, saying only that he wished to “let the deliberations stay in the jury room.”

The jury could have chosen to find Hawes guilty of a lesser crime, voluntary manslaughter, what Hawes’ lawyers called “a crime of passion” between two people obsessed with each other.

But their unanimous decision was that Hawes was guilty of murder; they found he had demonstrated “malice” in the killing of his lover at her Shandon home in the early morning hours of Aug. 28, 2011.

“We are very, very pleased with the outcome,” Ted Bondor of Aiken said in the lobby, tears pooling in his eyes. “It’s always very difficult to have 12 people agree on a verdict, but the evidence spoke clearly and, hopefully, this will bring closure to the Wilson family.”

His daughter, Janelle, was a close friend who testified that Wilson had become “terrified” of Hawes. The couple met on an Internet dating site and, for about six months, carried on a tumultuous, “on-again, off-again” relationship.

“The whole thing was very sad,” said Harriet Adkinson, an acquaintance of Wilson’s through the University of South Carolina, where Wilson taught in the education department. “But I do think that justice was done.”

David Virtue, interim chairman of USC’s teacher education department, testified for the prosecution, then remained at the trial to its conclusion.

He said Hawes got a fair trial, a hard-fought defense and an appropriate sentence.

“Unfortunately, there’s no way to balance the scales for the Wilsons or the many of us who loved Jen very much,” Virtue said.

“Jen is still gone.”

Advocates said the case demonstrated that people from all walks of life are vulnerable to domestic violence.

Friends testified they were worried about Wilson: She wouldn’t introduce them to Hawes and seemed anxious, thin, unable to sleep. Hawes wanted to be in contact constantly.

“It’s all about control,” prosecutor Luck Campbell had said.

Nancy Barton, longtime director of the battered women’s shelter Sistercare, was in the courtroom during a day’s testimony about text messages pulled from cellphones carried by Wilson and Hawes. The private and at times explicit messages defined the trial, as both the prosecution and defense tried to characterize the couple’s relationship.

“I sat there thinking, ‘How could she have been freed of him?’” Barton said. “He wasn’t going to let her go.”

The jury was not allowed to hear from other domestic-violence victims in Hawes’ past, women who’d been frightened by his aggressive behavior, verbal threats and weapons. But prosecutor Dolly Justice Garfield told the judge before sentencing that Hawes had two prior domestic-violence arrests in Florida and “multiple acts of violence” against women, including former wives.

Public defender Doug Strickler protested that one case was dropped and the other, which ended in a pre-trial diversionary program, should have been expunged from his client’s record.

An autopsy showed Wilson could have died six times over from stab wounds to her neck and upper body — 12 in all, half of them cutting vital organs and arteries. She had slashes all over her body, as well as defensive wounds and bruises, testimony revealed.

Police found her unclothed and washed body on a sofa, covered in a white comforter. Hawes, who had moved to Columbia to be near Wilson and was renting a home in the Melrose Heights neighborhood five minutes away, was taken into custody quickly.

At trial, Hawes did not deny that he killed Wilson, but claimed he acted in self-defense. He said he went to Wilson’s Monroe Street home to break off their relationship when she flew into a rage and grabbed a knife.

The sensational trial lasted eight days. It was sidetracked briefly when an ex-boyfriend of Wilson’s lunged at Hawes as he was being led out of the courtroom in handcuffs and shackles one evening. The judge was furious. He sent Matt Cronin of Chicago to jail for six months – the maximum sentence for contempt of court – but relented after Cronin spent the weekend in jail.

Strickler said he would “pursue appropriate avenues on behalf of Mr. Hawes.” The defense has 10 days to appeal the verdict.

Nicole Holland, a spokeswoman for the 5th Circuit solicitor’s office, said Hawes would be taken to a reception and evaluation center in Columbia before being assigned to a state prison.

This story was originally published October 16, 2014 at 8:44 PM with the headline "After emotional plea from victim's family, Hawes gets life in prison."