A San Diego woman who was a teenager when she teamed with her sibling to kill their stepfather and stage the crime scene as a home-invasion robbery in 2007 was found suitable for parole Friday.
Read more US plans to pay $850 million of the $5 billion it owes the United Nations
Brea Hansen, now 37, was 17 years old when longtime attorney Timothy MacNeil was shot four times in his Rolando home. She initially told police that she and her stepfather had been surprised by an intruder dressed in black. But she slipped up in subsequent interviews and referred to the intruder by the name of her 19-year-old sibling.
At Hansen’s trial in 2009, prosecutors argued that the pair had plotted to kill MacNeil, 63, for money. They also argued that although Hansen’s sibling had pulled the trigger, Hansen was the mastermind.
On Friday, District Attorney Summer Stephan said in a statement that her office was “deeply disappointed” with the decision to grant Hansen parole. She called the slaying “a callous, premeditated murder motivated by greed.”
Hansen’s attorney, who is with the Post-Conviction Justice Project at University of Southern California Gould School of Law, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday afternoon.
Laws regarding incarceration of youthful offenders — age 25 or younger at the time of the crime — have evolved since the siblings were tried. Hansen’s sentence was first reduced to 25 years to life, and the state later created a pathway to earlier parole for many youthful offenders serving life sentences.
Both siblings were convicted of first-degree murder, although Hansen was also convicted of a special circumstance allegation of lying in wait. Her sibling, who is transgender and now goes by the name Aerith Asora, was sentenced to 25 years to life. Hansen was sentenced to life without parole.
Each sibling had their first parole hearings last year, and each was denied parole. Asora’s next hearing was set for 2030. Hansen was told she could try again in three years, but corrections officials later agreed to pull her hearing forward to this year.
Read more Oceanside creates openings for two more cannabis retail licenses
Stephan said Friday that her office “stood with MacNeil’s family and opposed Hansen’s release.” MacNeil, who was admitted to the state bar in 1970 spent six years working for the District Attorney’s Office, then went into private practice.
According to trial testimony, Hansen called 911 on July 19, 2007, and said a masked gunman had surprised her and her stepfather, then shot MacNeil after he refused to reveal the combination to his safe.
Police arrived and found Hansen with her wrists zip-tied behind her back. Prosecutors said Asora had Hansen zip-tie MacNeil’s hands before Hansen was restrained. Prosecutors said Asora shot MacNeil after MacNeil freed himself.
The District Attorney’s Office said it is reviewing the grant of parole and has not made any decisions regarding continuing to fight Hansen’s release.
The state’s parole board has 120 days to review the case. After that, the governor’s office gets 30 days to review and, if desired, revoke the parole grant.
The District Attorney’s Office said that if Hansen is released, she has found a transitional housing placement outside San Diego County.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, there were 571 parole hearings scheduled last year for people sentenced in San Diego to life in prison. Of that number, 49 people were granted parole. The others were either denied parole or their hearings were postponed.
Read more Trump threatens lawsuit against nonprofit that questioned whether National Guard plan lessened crime
