Eric Hainstock's Punishment

The sentencing hearing for murderer Eric Hainstock was an emotional ordeal for the family of his victim John Klang.

It was also difficult on Hainstock's father.

Even Hainstock's attorney broke down in tears.

Eric Hainstock was the only one that seemed unfazed by it all.

BARABOO -- An emotional sentencing hearing, just a day after Eric Hainstock was found guilty of killing his school principal, ended the prosecution Friday of the notorious school shooting case.

[Sauk County Circuit Judge Patrick] Taggart's decision came after a hearing in which Klang's wife, Sue Klang, and their daughters, Kristi and Kerri, spoke tearfully about the man who was killed by Hainstock's gunfire.

Sue Klang, wearing a T-shirt reading "John Klang is my superhero," said Hainstock took away her high school sweetheart, her best friend and the father of their three children. He has missed family events and milestones such as the graduation of their daughters from college, as well as watching their son play baseball, a sport Klang loved and one she and her husband enjoyed together.

Sue Klang said she left her job as a hospital health education director because she could no longer concentrate on it. And she has had to deal with constant reminders of the tragedy at Weston.

"It's difficult to deal with supporters of Eric who write messages to me telling me that I'm a liar and a poor excuse for a Christian for favoring adult court for Eric," she said, "that I have not suffered an impossible loss and that I should stop spewing my venom and feeling sorry for myself."

Hainstock's fate, she said, "will be a small pittance for the pain that I and those around me have suffered and are still suffering. Everyone who was the victim of John's murder has suffered great anguish and has had problems in even trying to fathom the depth of John's loss."

It's horrible that Sue Klang is being harassed by the freakish supporters of Eric Hainstock.

Those people are truly sick. They aren't the compassionate activists they claim to be. They are demented torturers in their own right.

Rhoda Ricciardi, Hainstock's attorney, tried to get parole for Hainstock after only twenty years, the minimum under state law.

"Nobody knows what Eric is going to be like in 20 years," she said.

No kidding. So what?

Nobody knows what anyone will be like in 20 years. That's no argument for him to be eligible for parole.

Hainstock's sentence is about punishing him for the murder he committed within the last year. He killed John Klang and he has to pay for it now and twenty years from now and after that.

Remember, nobody will ever know what Klang would have been like in 20 years.

The punishment that criminals receive is a reflection of the values of a society.

Hainstock is a sociopath. It's not OK to bring guns to school and kill someone.

His sentence should reinforce that.

...Sue Klang said she has seen no remorse from Hainstock, who ate a sandwich two hours after shooting her husband with his blood still on his hands.

"It's difficult to understand how anyone could be that callous," she said.

But Hainstock's father, Shawn Hainstock said tearfully after the hearing that his son feels remorse and has told him so many times.

"He's broke down crying when I'm talking with him," Shawn Hainstock said. "He's not heartless. People don't know him like we do, maybe. He's a loving boy. Everybody tries to paint a picture that he's evil and he's not."

He expressed his deepest sympathies to the Klang family, but said "We love our son and we have to stand by him, too."

...Eric Hainstock did not speak at the hearing when given the chance.

"He's hurting deep inside," his father said. "He's told me, 'Dad, I don't know how to cry.' I've told him, 'Eric you've got to cry and let some of this out.'"

That's what's so troubling to me. Hainstock showed no remorse.

I would expect Shawn Hainstock to stand up for his son. He can cry and apologize.

But no one can change the reality of what Eric Hainstock did; and what he did was evil.

This next stuff is really weird.

Hainstock's attorney says that being behind bars has helped him.

...Ricciardi said Hainstock's life has, ironically, improved while in custody.

"The scary thing is that since Eric's been in jail, this is the best this boy's ever done in his life," she said. He has learned multiplication tables and improved his reading from a fourth-grade level to handle adult material. She said it has shown how Hainstock, away from his home life and frustration and teasing at school, has thrived with positive reinforcement from his teacher at the jail.

But emotionally, Hainstock is still immature, Ricciardi said, and might not show remorse because his brain is not able to process what he did. When he reaches that point, she said, "the flood gates are going to open. He will live a nightmare."

I don't think Ricciardi should find it scary that Hainstock is finally getting his act together. It sounds like he was scared straight.

Maybe he improved academically because his incarceration meant that he's no longer bullying people or planning to hurt others. Whatever, she makes the case that Hainstock being in custody is a good thing. Since that's the case, let's keep him there.

Her explanation for his lack of remorse is lame. We're supposed to believe that Hainstock is too immature emotionally to really comprehend what he did, but when he does mature, he'll "live a nightmare."

During his testimony, Hainstock said he knew he had done a terrible thing. That was his excuse for telling investigators that he PURPOSELY pulled the trigger three times. His brain was able to "process" enough to understand that shooting someone is wrong and would have consequences. It's not that he didn't get that.

At the hearing, as Klang's wife and daughters expressed the pain of their loss, it's very difficult to have sympathy for the nightmare that Hainstock will live once those "floodgates open" in his head.

And finally we come to Judge Taggart's reasoning behind his sentence for Hainstock.

...Hainstock can ask for release from prison on extended supervision after 30 years, Sauk County Circuit Judge Patrick Taggart said Friday.

Taggart left open the possibility that Hainstock could spend the early years of his sentence at a juvenile correctional facility, where he could receive more intensive treatment and education than he would get in an adult prison.

"I do believe you can be rehabilitated in the correctional system," Taggart told Hainstock. "I do believe it's appropriate to start you at (Ethan Allen School in) Wales or Lincoln Hills."

So Taggart thinks that there's hope for murderer Hainstock.

He thinks that the correctional system can transform the killer, rehabilitate him. Some time in a juvenile facility will give Hainstock the treatment and education he needs; the stuff that John Klang and the faculty at Weston didn't give him.

That's a slap that Klang and the staff at the high school didn't deserve.


Taggart believes his role is to teach Hainstock to learn how to function in society without killing people. The judge prefers to take this opportunity to focus on how to benefit Hainstock rather than mete out justice and punish him for his crimes.

Taggart is approaching this from the standpoint of what's best for Eric.

What about what's best for the Klangs and society?

It appears that the judge wasn't too happy with the jury's decision. It seems he felt that the lesser charges of first- or second-degree reckless homicide would have been more appropriate.

I disagree. The jury didn't get it wrong.

Taggart did.

Hainstock: Possibility of Parole in 30 Years

BARABOO, Wis. -- Eric Hainstock is sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 30 years for the shooting death of his principal.

The sentence was issued Friday, one day after a jury found the 16-year-old boy guilty of first-degree intentional homicide in the death of Weston Schools Principal John Klang last September.

Life in prison is mandatory in first-degree murder convictions, the most serious offense under Wisconsin law. But judges are allowed to grant parole eligibility dates. Sauk County Circuit Judge Patrick Taggart said Hainstock would be eligible for parole in 30 years, when he is 46. He also urged the state's Department of Corrections place him a juvenile center, but he said he could not for them to do that because of state statutes.

"I do believe you can be rehabilitated," the judge told Hainstock.

Really?

More later.

Eric Hainstock: GUILTY

It didn't take long for the jury to decide Eric Hainstock's fate.

From the Associated Press:

A jury on Thursday found Eric Hainstock guilty in the shooting death of his principal as homecoming was about to begin last fall.

Jurors deliberated nearly 6½ hours Thursday in the case, before deciding on the first-degree intentional homicide charge. Sauk County Circuit Judge Patrick Taggart gave jurors the option of considering lesser charges of first- or second-degree reckless homicide.

Hainstock, 16, could face up to life in prison at his sentencing, which was scheduled for Friday morning.

From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Eric Hainstock, the 16-year-old who shot his principal at Weston School in Cazenovia last fall, has been found guilty of first-degree intentional homicide for killing his school's principal.

The jury of eight women, four men took about six hours to convict Hainstock, who can now only hope that he is allowed the possibility of parole when his automatic life prison sentence is handed down.

He had been just 15 and a high-school freshman last Sept. 29 when, after weeks of confrontations with teachers and his principal over his conduct, he took a 20-gauge shotgun and a .22-caliber revolver to school.

...Hainstock had testified Wednesday the revolver fired accidentally in their struggle, but prosecutors said the five shots - three of which hit Klang, in his abdomen, leg and head - were a deliberate act.

Defense attorneys had conceded he killed Klang, but hoped to get him a lesser sentence with a first- or second-degree reckless homicide conviction with arguments he hadn't planned to kill the principal.

Earlier today, Brendan Dassey was sentenced to life in prison for his part in the murder of Teresa Halbach. In 2048, Dassey can apply for parole.

Less than twelve hours after Dassey learned his fate, Eric Hainstock was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide in the murder of John Klang.

He doesn't know the specifics of his sentence yet, but he knows that his conviction means that he has received an automatic life sentence.

Here's more, from The Rhinelander Daily News:

Hainstock's attorneys rubbed his back before he was led away.

Tears streamed down the face of Hainstock's father, Shawn, after the verdicts were read. He and Hainstock's attorneys left without speaking to reporters.

Klang's widow, Sue, and new Weston Principal Melissa Nigh cried as the verdict was read. They embraced as the courtroom cleared out.

Sue Klang said she was satisfied with the verdict, but it didn't matter what charge he was convicted on, so long as he was convicted. Hainstock has problems and could pose a threat to the public, she said, adding it's scary anyone would pick up guns to solve their problems.

...[Sauk County District Attorney Patricia] Barrett said a key piece of evidence was the discovery of five fired cartridges in the revolver, which shows Hainstock lied about the shooting. The boy told police hours after the shooting he fired at Klang only three times, after the principal jumped him from behind and put him in a bear hug.

Barrett also told jurors during her closing arguments the angles of the shots suggest Klang was shot at a distance, negating Hainstock's story that he shot Klang in the fight.

She pointed out, too, that Hainstock told detectives he fired all three times on purpose, but testified in his own defense Wednesday that he fired one shot by accident, one shot on purpose and wasn't sure about the third shot.

She asked the jurors to set aside Hainstock's problems, saying he uses them as an excuse.

Hainstock attorney Jon Helland countered jurors could not ignore Hainstock's past because it played into the shooting.

"You want a good explanation why he did this? You're not going to get one. He's a kid," Helland said.

...If he intended to shoot anyone, Helland said, he would have walked into school with guns blazing.

I'm surprised to hear that there were five shots fired. All along, it was said that there were three. That information had to have an impact on the jurors.

The fact that he shot from a distance also shoots holes in Hainstock's story, that the bear hug from Klang caused the gun to go off accidentally.

I found Shawn Hainstock's reaction interesting.

Eric Hainstock's father cried when he heard the verdict?

I thought this man was heartless and tortured his son.

Did he care about Eric or not?

Did the defense purposely push the abusive father angle? Was that somewhat of a distortion?

This comment from Helland is so lame: "You want a good explanation why he did this? You're not going to get one. He's a kid."

I think there's a good explanation. Eric Hainstock brought guns to school because he wanted to kill someone and he did.
_________________________

Read some of the comments from Free Eric Hainstock!

"ERIC, u didn't do the right thing but we are still proud of you for expressign your ownself against these animals.."

Sick.

Hainstock: "I didn't plan to hurt nobody"

Eric Hainstock took the stand on Wednesday in his own defense.

BARABOO, Wis. -- A 16-year-old boy charged with murdering his school principal testified Wednesday that he brought a shotgun and revolver to school not to kill the man, but to make him stop kids from teasing him.

Eric Hainstock is charged with first-degree murder and could face life in prison if convicted. Hainstock shot Weston Schools Principal John Klang on Sept. 29 as Klang struggled to wrestle the gun from the boy.

Prosecutors must prove that Hainstock intended to kill Klang the moment he pulled the trigger. Hainstock's attorneys asked the boy repeatedly if he meant to kill the principal.

"No, I didn't," Hainstock said. "I didn't plan to hurt nobody."

Sauk County District Attorney Pat Barrett claims Hainstock was a bully himself and angry at Klang because the principal twice suspended him in the days leading up to the shooting on the morning of homecoming.

But Hainstock's attorneys contend he suffers from attention deficit disorder, was abused at home and endured endless teasing at school while Klang and teachers looked the other way.

Attention deficit disorder, being abused at home, and endless teasing aren't excuses to bring LOADED guns to school and kill the principal.

Will prosecutors be able to prove that when Hainstock pulled the trigger he intended to kill Klang?

I think when someone brings a loaded gun to a school and threatens people with it and pulls the trigger three times, his intention to do harm is pretty clear.

If Hainstock didn't want to shoot Klang, then he would not have pulled the trigger.

...In a flat tone, Hainstock testified he transferred to Weston Schools as a sixth grader.

...Kids there stuck his head in the toilet, stuffed him in lockers, threw him in the bushes and called him names, he said.

Klang started as principal when Hainstock was a seventh-grader and became a confidant, Hainstock said. But Klang didn't stop the teasing, the boy said.

That's awful.

Bullying is such a cruel thing.

I do feel sorry for what Hainstock endured. However, I have no sympathy for him when it comes to what he did last September 29.

Zero.

Hainstock, then a 15-year-old freshman, was about to drive the family's truck to school because he missed the bus. He grabbed a shotgun from his father's gun cabinet and a .22-caliber revolver from his father's bedroom and loaded them, thinking that if people were scared, they'd listen to him.

Helland asked why he loaded the weapons.

"I don't know," he replied. "Just a reaction."

"Just a reaction"?

That's not a good answer.

I'd like to know why Hainstock had access to these guns and ammunition.

When guns are in the home, locking them up isn't just necessary to keep them out of the hands of very young children. No one but the owner should have access to them.

He told everyone in the school entrance, "Everybody get in the (expletive) office. I'm not (expletive) kidding. This is serious."

A janitor tore the shotgun away from him. Hainstock said he spun away, pulled out the revolver and cocked it. He wanted to make people think he was ready to shoot so they would "clear out."

He told Klang to go in the office to talk. He turned around and Klang jumped him, wrapping him in a bear hug and tugging at his gun arm.

Hainstock initially told police he fired all three shots on purpose, but testified he only said that because he was scared during the interview with detectives and knew he had done a terrible thing. He said the first shot was an accident.

Hainstock acted like he was ready to kill. The janitor and Klang put themselves in danger to disarm him. Klang paid with his life to save others. He did a selfless, heroic thing.

I believe that Hainstock was scared while being questioned by detectives.

It would make more sense that his fear would prompt him to insist that it was all an accident. Being scared wouldn't cause him to say he fired all the shots on purpose if he didn't.

Weird.

After that he "freaked out" and fired again, this time on purpose, hoping to hit Klang in the arm and make him let go.

The gun went off a third time during the struggle, he said.

"The blood was falling on me and stuff like that," Hainstock said. "I'm in shock ... I didn't think Mr. Klang was going to die. I hoped not."

Hainstock says he intended to shoot Klang in the arm. Sure.

In the midst of a struggle, he fires the gun and expects the bullet to hit Klang's arm. That's ridiculous.

He admits to "freaking out" and then he wants the jury to believe that he regained his composure to be rational enough to plan to shoot Klang in the arm.

Hainstock says he "freaked out," yet he's doing all this thinking and hoping.

That doesn't make a lot of sense.

In her cross-examination, Barrett did not ask Hainstock about the day of the shooting. Instead, she rattled off a number of things Hainstock was accused of over the years, including calling teachers names, knocking a student's tooth out, and snapping another student in the head with a rubber band. He agreed the incidents happened.

I think it was a good idea for Barrett to take the opportunity to get Hainstock to admit that he acted out. He owned up to his history of bullying and violent behavior.

In effect, Hainstock himself negated his image as a victim. He was abused, but he responded by being abusive.

He wasn't a poor kid, tormented so mercilessly that he finally snapped.

Plain and simple, if he really "didn't plan to hurt nobody," he wouldn't have loaded the guns.

Bully Eric Hainstock

Yesterday, witnesses testified that Eric Hainstock was more than a victim of bullying. He was also a bully.

Baraboo -- Eric Hainstock picked on other kids as much as they picked on him, his fellow students testified Monday in the teen's murder trial.

The testimony could be important for prosecutors trying to prove Hainstock gunned down Weston Principal John Klang on purpose the morning of homecoming last fall. Hainstock's attorneys contend the shooting was an accident and Hainstock brought guns to school to persuade Klang and other teachers to stop other kids from teasing him relentlessly.

Samuel Brandt, a 17-year-old football player at Weston, testified he'd see Hainstock get in pushing and shoving matches with other kids in the halls, but "he would push people more than he would get pushed."

Hainstock often tormented younger students and then tried to pick on older kids, who picked on him right back, Brandt said.

Kimberly Durst, 18, a junior at Weston last fall, testified she was "acquaintances" with Hainstock. She said she saw people picking on Hainstock and Hainstock teasing them right back.

"They dished out and he dished out right back," Durst said. "Kind of the same."

This is the first that I've heard Hainstock was an abuser.

It's hard to view him as a helpless victim when he's said to have engaged in the very behavior that supposedly led him to crack and kill John Klang.

...Hainstock, 16, could face life in prison if he's convicted. His trial hinges on whether prosecutors can convince jurors he intended to kill Klang the moment he pulled the trigger. First-degree murder requires intent.

They contend Hainstock had been angry with Klang for two weeks before the shooting. The principal kicked him out of school for three days for throwing a stapler at his special education teacher, and a day before the shooting ordered Hainstock serve in-school suspension for bringing chewing tobacco to school.

Hainstock's defense attorneys counter that Hainstock suffered abuse at home and was teased mercilessly by his classmates, who called him a "fag" and accused him of body odor. They contend the boy's frustrations boiled over Sept. 29 and he went to school with guns to make people listen, not kill anyone.

Josh Manock, a junior at Weston last year, testified he came face to face with Hainstock as Hainstock moved down the hallway, waving his revolver sideways. He said the boy pointed the gun at him and Manock ran down the hallway, passing Klang, who told him to slow down.

"I kind of pointed backward and said 'gun!' " Manock said.

He heard Klang ask Hainstock if the gun was real, to which Hainstock replied, "What the (expletive) do you think?"

He then heard Klang say "Eric, you don't want to do this," and moments later, shots.

Manock told prosecutors he never heard anyone call Hainstock a "fag."

But defense attorney Jon Helland got Manock to contradict himself, pointing out in Manock's statements to police he heard other students call Hainstock names and pick on him for his body odor and Hainstock would take it.

Whatever.

Being bullied isn't an excuse to commit murder.

Eric Hainstock on Trial

It's really murderer Eric Hainstock's only defense.

His lawyer presented Hainstock as an angry young man that had been abused and neglected, but he didn't mean to kill anyone.

He was really a victim.

That's a tough sell.

BARABOO, Wis. -- A 16-year-old charged with shooting his high school principal to death didn't mean to kill him, and had brought two guns to school only to scare people, his attorney said Friday at his murder trial.

The prosecution, however, said during opening statements that Eric Hainstock's anger at Weston Schools Principal John Klang had been building. Two teenagers testified that Hainstock told them that Weston Schools Principal John Klang Klang wouldn't survive homecoming.

Hainstock is charged with killing Klang on Sept. 29, the morning homecoming festivities were set to begin. Investigators say Hainstock took his father's shotgun and a revolver to school because he was upset Klang and teachers hadn't stopped other kids from teasing him.

According to a criminal complaint, after a custodian took the shotgun from Hainstock, the student took out the revolver and Klang, 49, rushed him. Hainstock shot Klang three times before the dying principal wrestled him to the ground and pushed the gun away, the complaint said.

Hainstock's lead attorney, Rhoda Ricciardi, told jurors in opening statements there's no dispute Hainstock killed Klang. But he didn't mean to, she said.

She portrayed Hainstock as a lonely country boy who was teased relentlessly, labeled a "fag" by his fellow students and beaten and abused at home.

"This case is about a troubled boy from a troubled home who found nothing but trouble at school," Ricciardi said.

District Attorney Pat Barrett maintained that Hainstock's anger toward Klang had been building for two weeks before homecoming.

Barrett noted Klang kicked Hainstock out of school for three days after Hainstock threw a stapler at his special education teacher. Klang also gave Hainstock an in-school suspension after Klang found chewing tobacco in the boy's backpack.

Alyssa Fultz, 15, testified that Hainstock told her in a church youth group meeting about a week and a half before the shooting that Klang wouldn't survive homecoming.

"He just said the principal was not listening to him and people were just being mean to him," she said. She thought little of the statement at the time, she said.

Nicole Spurgeon, 16, testified Hainstock was at her house doing homework with her brother days before the shooting when she overheard Hainstock say Klang wouldn't make it through homecoming.

So who is the victim here?

Hainstock's lawyers want the jury to see Hainstock as a victim, too. Their case rests on the notion that Hainstock was a victim.

Yes, he killed Klang, but he didn't want to do it.

Hainstock's family abused him and supposedly teachers ignored his cries for help.

So it's the failures of social services and the school system that brought about Klang's death?

I don't buy that.

If Hainstock really only wanted to scare people at school, then he wouldn't have fired the shotgun THREE times.

...Ricciardi told jurors that Hainstock never developed coping skills and suffers from attention deficit disorder, which his father refused to medicate. She said Hainstock's father often made the boy wait on him, made him do all the household chores and sometimes beating him.

His stepbrother had sexually abused him until he was 6 years old, Ricciardi said.

Hainstock's frustrations just boiled over on Sept. 29, she said.

"He runs on emotion," she said. "He stupidly and recklessly brings guns to school."

The strategy is to paint Hainstock as a sympathetic figure.

It seems that Hainstock did suffer. His family situation was bad. Being bullied at school compounded his frustration.

As sad as his situation was, that didn't give him license to kill.

Hainstock's circumstances may have been the reason he chose to do what he did, but a reason is not the same as an excuse for doing something.

And if he really just wanted to scare people and get attention, then he could have brought UNLOADED guns to school. He could have made his threats and get his point across without putting others at risk.

That's not what he chose to do. He chose to fire his gun THREE times and kill John Klang.

Eric Hainstock Gets His Day in Court

The "Free Eric Hainstock" and "Justice for Juveniles" contingents are gearing up for the trial of Eric Hainstock.

It's been almost a year since he committed murder. Since then, his supporters have rallied to his defense.

The Hainstock apologists are particularly upset that he's being tried as an adult. Some view his experience in the justice system as just another abuse. They think that a grave injustice is being done to the troubled Hainstock.

Well finally, Hainstock's trial for the murder of Weston High School Principal John Klang will begin.

He's getting his day in court.

Jury selection takes place today and possibly opening arguments in what's expected to be a seven day trial.

BARABOO, Wis -- Nearly a year after a 16-year-old shot and killed his principal, jurors will be asked to decide if he was a bullied, immature child or a murderer bent on revenge.

Eric Hainstock is charged with first-degree murder and is being tried as an adult in the shooting death of Weston Schools Principal John Klang. If convicted, he could face life in prison. Hainstock's trial was to begin Thursday.

According to a criminal complaint, Hainstock told detectives he took guns to Weston the morning of Sept. 29 because he was upset that Klang and other school officials had done nothing to stop fellow students from teasing him. He told investigators he wanted to make people listen to him.

...Sauk County District Attorney Pat Barrett has portrayed Hainstock as a selfish liar who reacts violently whenever adults tell him what to do. He is expected to introduce evidence at the trial that in the two weeks leading up to the shooting, Hainstock threw a stapler at a teacher and a book at a student, saying "I am going to laugh when everyone in this school gets hurt."

Hainstock's attorneys, public defenders Rhoda Ricciardi and Jon Helland, have said Hainstock was bullied and that teachers looked the other way.

It's easy to imagine how this trial will go.

The prosecution will paint Hainstock as an individual capable of making choices, a killer who carried out a premeditated plan.

The defense will counter that by showing Hainstock to be such a troubled, abused child that he became incapable of making proper choices.

The trial will boil down to this: Was Hainstock a victim?

He was a 15-year-old when he shot John Klang THREE times.

Was this the act of a mixed up kid?

Was this cold-blooded murder?

While I have sympathy for Hainstock's difficult home life and condemn the cruelty of bullies at school, I have difficulty accepting the notion that he should get a pass when it comes to killing Klang.

He was old enough to understand the consequences of his actions. He was old enough to understand what it means to murder.

Only a sociopath responds to personal pain by taking away the lives of others.

Let the facts be presented to the jury. Let Hainstock have a fair trial.

Many, many kids suffer in bad homes. Many, many kids endure merciless bullying day in and day out. Very, very few decide that the appropriate response is to go to school and kill someone.

Was Eric Hainstock a victim?

Yes, he was.

Did that, in turn, give him license to victimize?

No.

This trial really isn't about whether Hainstock committed the crime. It's about determining the extent to which he was responsible for what he did and finding an appropriate punishment to fit the crime.

That's what the jury will have to decide.

Let justice be done.

WHAT TO DO WITH ERIC HAINSTOCK

Murderer Eric Hainstock

Here's the question:

Should Eric Hainstock be tried as an adult for the murder of Weston High School Principal John Klang, or should Hainstock be waived into juvenile court?

Yesterday was Day 4 of the hearings to determine the answer.

From the Baraboo News Republic, Christina Beam writes:

With the blood of Weston Principal John Klang still on his hands, 15-year-old Eric Hainstock confessed to investigators the morning of Sept. 29 that he meant to pull the trigger when he shot Klang three times at close range, but he did not mean to kill him.

In an hour-long interview taped at 10:30 the morning of the shooting, Hainstock, dressed in the same dark hooded sweatshirt and athletic pants he wore to school that day, sits slumped against the wall. He answers questions about the shooting bluntly and in a matter-of-fact tone.

"It looks like you have some blood on your hands there," Department of Justice Special Agent Elizabeth Feagles notes to him at one point.

"And on my shirt," Hainstock said.

"Can you explain how that happened?" Feagles asked.

"It's blood from the principal," Hainstock said. Then later, he asks, "Can I wash my hands?"

The tape was shown in its entirety in Sauk County court Friday during the fourth day of a hearing on whether Hainstock, now 16, should be waived into juvenile court for the crime or tried as an adult. Judge Patrick Taggart's ruling could mean the difference between Hainstock serving a life sentence or being released back into society at age 25.

Hainstock defense attorney Rhoda Ricciardi objected to the screening of the video in court, saying the detailed transcript should suffice.

But Taggart said it's been reported that Hainstock's expression is "flat" during the confession.

"I believe there are things on the video that I can't see in the transcript," he said.

...In the video time-stamped just a few hours after the shooting, Feagles asked Hainstock if he wanted to kill the principal, and he said no.

"What was this about pulling the trigger?" she asked.

"I just freaked out," he said.

...Earlier in the hearing Friday, Hainstock's special ed teacher James Nowak testified he came out of his classroom and saw Hainstock threatening Klang with the revolver.

...Thompson, heralded as a hero for seizing the shotgun from Hainstock, said he heard Hainstock say, "I'm here to (expletive) kill somebody" when he first came through the doors.

...In the video confession, Hainstock said he only remembered telling school staff to get in the office that morning.

He had planned to "take off" after the incident, he said.

"Do you wish this hadn't happened?" Feagles asked him.

"I don't know," he said. "I'm tired."

Also in the video, Hainstock said that he had complained to Weston officials for years about being bullied and called names.

He thought bringing guns to school would "make them listen."

I don't think there's any question that schools do a horrible job of addressing the bullying problem.

I don't know how Weston handled Hainstock's concerns, but generally speaking, bullying is not taken seriously enough for schools to come down hard on the bullies.

That's inexcusable. The results, in rare cases, can be deadly.

No student should be subjected to torture at school, day in and day out.

That said, no student should bring a gun to school to threaten anyone.

No human being should murder another in cold blood.

Hainstock chose to pull the trigger three times.

A 15-year-old knows that shooting the principal is wrong.

A 15-year-old understands what it means to die.

Hainstock is a sociopath. You can debate on how he got to be an individual capable of murder. You can assign blame and engage in finger-pointing and depict him as abused.

That really doesn't matter.

What matters is there's no question that Hainstock poses a threat to society.

Remember, three shots. That's no accident.

To waive him into juvenile court would be a travesty of justice.

He must be tried as an adult.

Being 15-years-old and being a victim of bullying do not give one license to victimize.

Actions have consequences.

Was Eric Hainstock a Victim?

Mike Nichols of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel provides some information on Eric Hainstock's life outside of Weston High School, where he murdered Principal John Klang.

He relays the sad saga of the abuse that Eric Hainstock suffered at the hands of his unfit parents.

Nichols writes:

The "board of education" in the Hainstock house was a paddle, one with those very words written upon it in what was surely supposed to be an amusing pun, that prosecutors once said his dad used to whomp on him.

Shawn Hainstock, a 2001 abuse complaint alleged, also spanked his son with a belt, kicked him, threatened him with juvenile court and foster care - something that, actually, would have been a blessing. Instead he lived in a home that was a curse.

Everyone wonders what schools can do to stop these kids. The answer: nothing.

That's not true.

Schools can employ measures to keep weapons out.

It's just not true that schools can do nothing to stop the violence.

I think most school officials harbor that "It can't happen here" attitude. That's a problem that needs to be addressed, inadequate assessment of the threat.

The fact is it can happen -- anywhere.

Certainly, they try. The abuse complaint filed against Shawn Hainstock, which eventually resulted in a deferred prosecution agreement and then was dismissed, suggests it was the school that notified authorities of the abuse after the boy wrote about it in class.

As a result, Eric Hainstock was placed with a grandmother until April of 2002, when he was allowed to return to his home. Not that it was ever much of one.

Eric Hainstock's parents divorced in 1993 after a short marriage, and Judge Patrick Taggart found in a 1995 opinion that both had "serious limitations." Both were instructed, among other things, not to take the boy, who was 4 years old, to any taverns.

Although unemployed and on disability, the father seems to have had some redeeming qualities.

The boy's mother apparently wanted so little to do with him, or with child support payments, that her parental rights were terminated entirely in 2000. That was shortly before police were told that the boy had a problem that affected his behavior and that his family could no longer afford medication or counseling.

One of the reasons, court records suggest, that his mother was not better at supporting him? She apparently remarried and got pregnant not long after the divorce was finalized and, according to a 1996 letter sent to the Sauk County Child Support Agency, couldn't work for a while because of pregnancy-related discomfort.

Eric Hainstock had a horrible home life.

He had parents who didn't care for him properly, a father who beat him and a mother who didn't even want to bother to do that.

It seems that Nichols is trying to make a connection between Hainstock's crimes and his lack of medication and counseling.

Is he suggesting that the police should be blamed for letting Hainstock slip through the cracks, or that the government is at fault because Hainstock didn't have his medical needs met?

I'm not sure what Nichols is suggesting. I think he may be saying that one shouldn't blame Hainstock for being a monster. Instead, one should blame the creators of the monster.

Eric Hainstock is 15 years old and if he is found guilty he should spend his life in a cell. But 15 is not 25, and you have to acknowledge that it takes some kind of odd crucible to warp a kid that young.

That doesn't happen because some board of education somewhere - a real one - didn't mandate enough counselors or anti-bully programs. Schools aren't parents, much as some parents would like them to be.

That's not just unrealistic. When a kid has a warped view of a parent to start with, that can, we now know, also be dangerous.

So, who's to blame for Hainstock bringing a gun to school and killing the principal?

His dad?

His mom?

The police?

The Sauk County Child Support Agency?

Nichols declares that the school can't be blamed. He believes that Hainstock didn't murder Klang because a board of education failed to put an anti-bully program in place or provide counselors.

It's strange that Nichols would say that, considering earlier in his column he implied that Hainstock's lack of counseling played a part in his violent, deadly outburst.

Whatever, Nichols insists that the school is not at fault.

He also believes that fifteen-year-old Eric is not to be blamed. He was as much a victim of circumstances as Klang. Nichols wants some sympathy for Eric Hainstock. He was abused. He had a very rough life. So he committed murder.

I think that Hainstock deserves some sympathy for being born into such a difficult and loveless environment; but if every kid that had a rough home life shot and killed the principal, then there would be a shortage of principals.

Many, many kids suffer in bad homes. Very, very few decide that the appropriate response is to go to school and kill someone.

Was Eric Hainstock a victim?

Yes.

Did that, in turn, give him license to victimize?

No.

Erik Fichtel, Eric Hainstock, and John Klang

This photo provided by the Sauk County Sheriff's Department shows 15-year-old Eric Hainstock. (AP Photo/ Sauk County Sheriff's Department)

Just two weeks ago, William Cornell, Shawn Sturtz, and Bradley Netwal's plot to stage a violent assault at Green Bay's East High School was uncovered.

Charges were filed against Cornell on Friday.

Cornell was charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree intentional homicide, conspiracy to commit damage to property by use of explosives, possessing explosives and possessing an illegal short-barreled shotgun. He remains in jail on $500,000 cash bail.

Cornell was ordered to return to court Oct. 23 to enter pleas to the charges, court records said.

Preliminary hearings for the other two teens accused in the plot -- Shawn Sturtz, 17, and Bradley Netwal, 18 -- are scheduled for Wednesday.

The weapons cache that the teens had was frightening. Thankfully, tragedy was averted in that case.

But you don't need an arsenal to do damage or commit murder.

Eric Hainstock proved that on Friday morning at Weston High School, in Cazenovia, Wisconsin.

It's a small school (125 students) in a small town (pop. 327) in Sauk County.

A statement on the school's website describes what happened -- the unthinkable.

On Friday morning at approximately 8 A.M., a student was apprehended after entering the high school main entrance with a shotgun. A struggle ensued, and the gun was taken away. The student then took out a second gun and several shots were fired. In attempting to subdue the student, Mr. Klang was shot. He was treated at Reedsburg Area Medical Center and then flown by med flight to the University Hospital in Madison where he died . In dealing with this crisis, Weston staff and administrators want to assure you that this was an isolated incident. The student was arrested and charged with first degree intentional homicide by the Sauk County District Attorney’s office.

Classes will not be held on Monday. The school will be open and staff, counselors, and clergy will be present for those students and families who would like to have support during this time. Sometimes it is healthy for teens to be with friends and talk about their feelings and concerns, and we want to be able to offer a safe, central location for them.


In a completely separate incident, one of our students was killed in a car accident Friday morning. While our plan is to resume classes on Tuesday, there is a chance that school and will be canceled Tuesday pending funeral arrangements. Please listen to your local radio and TV stations for updated information.

Erik Fichtel was only 16. He played on the school's football team and he was killed on Friday.

A deputy had spotted a speeding vehicle headed north on Highway G in the town of Washington, said Sauk County Sheriff Randy Stammen. The deputy turned around to try and catch the vehicle, but had not activated lights and sirens.

The deputy lost sight of the vehicle after it turned west onto West Harris Road. A short time later the deputy found that the vehicle had passed a stop sign at a "T" intersection and crashed into the shoulder of Highway K.

Fichtel was taken by Med Flight to UW Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

This tragedy occurred just minutes before Hainstock shot Principal Klang.

The school's statement goes on:

It seems that our school has been bombarded with tragedy. It is important that we pull together as a community so that a sense of normalcy and safety can be attained. Your children may have questions, and experts suggest that everyone should be encouraged to discuss feelings and concerns openly and honestly.

Please feel free to contact the school if you have any questions, as counselors and staff are willing and able to help. We’d appreciate your prayers during this difficult time.

Note that this public school's website contains a plea for prayers.

I wonder how long that will remain on the Internet before some atheist gets offended, complains, and demands that it be removed.

What else can one do in a situation like this but pray?

Understandably, the community is in total shock and grieving.

The tragedy of a good kid being killed on the way to school is so difficult to accept.

Then, the horror of a student killing the principal is beyond comprehension.

This tribute to Principal John Klang appears on Weston's site:

John Klang was the principal/administrator at Weston. Always kind and compassionate, his soft-spoken words touched many students, staff, and community members. He was very dedicated to the school, having served on the school board for over 20 years prior to becoming the school’s principal. He wasn’t the kind of principal who sat behind a desk to run the school. He was visible throughout the school and participated in many activities. He was killed because he was trying to maintain control and protect the students and staff at Weston, all of whom are grateful-and –safe-for his efforts. As his staff, we are praying for his family and the community and hope many people will join with us.

Here is a report on the shooting from the Associated Press:

A teenager who decided to confront teachers and the principal after complaining that other students teased him brought two guns to school and shot the principal to death, authorities said.

The shooting Friday also came a day after the principal gave 15-year-old Eric Hainstock a disciplinary warning for having tobacco, according to a criminal complaint.

On Friday morning, Hainstock pried open his family's gun cabinet, took out a shotgun, retrieved the key to his parents' locked bedroom and took a .22-caliber revolver, according to a criminal complaint.

He entered Weston Schools with the shotgun before classes began and pointed the gun at a social studies teacher, but custodian Dave Thompson wrested it from the teen, the complaint said. When Hainstock reached for the handgun, Thompson and the teacher ran for cover.

Then Principal John Klang went into the hallway and confronted Hainstock. A teacher said that after the shots were fired, Klang, already wounded, managed to wrestle the shooter to the ground and sweep away the gun, the complaint said. Students and staff detained Hainstock until police arrived, District Attorney Patricia Barrett said.

Klang was shot and he kept fighting to protect the lives of others.

The man is a hero.

No one else was injured. Klang, 49, was shot in the head, chest and leg, authorities said. He died hours later at a hospital in Madison. An autopsy was scheduled for Saturday.

Sheriff Randy Stammen praised Klang's swift action. "The heroics of the people involved in this can't be understated," he said.

School officials said Klang had given Hainstock a disciplinary notice Thursday for bringing tobacco to school, and the student faced a likely in-school suspension, the complaint said.

Hainstock told investigators a group of kids had called him names and rubbed up against him, and he felt teachers and the principal would not do anything about it, according to the complaint.

It also said Hainstock had told a friend a few days earlier that Klang would not "make it through homecoming," referring to festivities planned for the school's homecoming weekend.

After the shooting, Weston's football game, dance and parade were canceled or postponed, and crisis counselors were brought in for students.

Children from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade attend the small school near Cazenovia, a community of about 300 people about 70 miles northwest of Madison.

Sophomore Shelly Rupp, 16, said she woke up ready to celebrate homecoming. Instead, she ended up catching a glimpse of her principal lying in the hallway in "a pile of blood."

...Klang and his three children graduated from Weston Schools. Klang taught, then farmed for about 18 years before returning to teaching and taking over as principal in 2004, said his father, Don Klang. He was being groomed to become superintendent next year.

...The shooting took place two days after a gunman took six students hostage in a Colorado high school and killed one before shooting himself.

What is going on?

Going to school should not be like going to a war zone.

Hainstock will be tried as an adult, as he should be. If found guilty, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

He deserves it. You do not bring a gun to school to use on anyone, EVER.

He was teased. So what? That's no excuse.

Yes, students can be horribly cruel to other kids, teasing and taunting. Treating another human being in that manner is completely unacceptable.

Ted Kennedy, Dick Durbin, John Kerry, Russ Feingold, Harry Reid, and John McCain have been demanding that the U.S. government treat suspected terrorists, some picked up on the battlefield, with more dignity than that.

I sympathize with kids mercilessly harassed by their classmates. They are victims.

BUT-- That is no excuse to lash out violently. Hainstock is not a mixed up kid. He's a murderer.

It was an unspeakably sad day for the people of that small community.

The losses were so great and so sudden.

On Friday, a vigil was held. People gathered together to grieve.

About 500 students, parents, teachers and community members gathered Friday night under the lights of the football field to mourn the loss of Klang.

Instead of watching football, they cried, sang "Amazing Grace," listened to mournful violin passages and spoke fondly of Klang and also of a student who died earlier today in an unrelated car wreck.

Many wore Weston High sweatshirts and baseball caps in the cold late September wind. Bible passages were read and words of comfort spoken.

The flag at the opposite end zone flew at half staff.

Becky Jennings is the mother of children who attend the school ... and she says the vigil was meant to offer hope and prayer to a grieving community.

I suspect it will take a long, long time for them to recover from this. I hope their faith provides them with the comfort and strength that they so desperately need.

This was truly a tragic day for the Weston High School family.

Sometimes life can be unbearably painful.