Hansen and Gerot were to marry, documents reveal

Documents obtained at the Washington County Courthouse reveal that Thomas Lee Hansen and the late Sharon Kay Gerot applied for a marriage license on April 29. Gerot was discovered dead two days later, May 1, at 1355 Deer Run Drive south of Riverside. Hansen has been charged with first-degree murder in relation to her death and is being held on a $2 million cash bond. According to Washington County Sheriff Jerry Dunbar, the two had been cohabiting.

The marriage license application shows that Hansen, 70, reported his place of birth to be Peoria, Ill. and that Gerot reported hers simply as Iowa. Gerot?s maiden name was Maydew and was the daughter of Blaine Maydew and Louise Stanley. Hansen is the son of Holmer and Bernice Hansen. Gerot wrote on the application that she planned to change her name to Sharon Gerot Hansen after the marriage.

Other documents indicate that Hansen signed a deed on April 22 in which he gave joint ownership to Gerot of a 1.4-acre parcel of land, and joint ownership of a lot in Timberline Estates Part II subdivision. The deed gave both parties ?full rights of survivorship.?

According to the affidavit of Washington County Investigator Chad Ellis, the Washington County Safety Center received a call at 3:43 p.m. Sunday from a man who identified himself as Todd Hahn. Hahn told dispatch that he witnessed a subject who had been shot and that a male subject told him that he shot the subject. Hahn told dispatch the address, and law enforcement and an ambulance responded. Upon arrival, they found a female body lying outside of the residence at 1355 Deer Run Drive. Law enforcement also made contact with Hansen at that time.

Hansen made statements to law enforcement indicating he had shot Gerot, according to Ellis?s affidavit. Hansen indicated he and Gerot had been arguing ?on and off? that day. Shortly before the incident, Gerot left the residence to work in the yard. Hansen went into the three-car garage attached to the house, where he retrieved a semiautomatic handgun. Hansen unholstered and chambered the weapon. He returned to the residence through the kitchen and approached a glass door leading to the back yard.

Ellis wrote in his affidavit: ?Upon seeing Ms. Gerot riding a lawn mower in an open field behind the residence, Defendant raised the weapon, fired a shot towards Ms. Gerot, which struck and killed her.?