Hansen?s bond reduced to $1.4 million

The bond of Thomas Lee Hansen has been reduced from $2 million to $1.4 million. Hansen, age 70, is charged with the first-degree murder of Sharon Kay Gerot on May 1 outside the couple?s home at 1355 Deer Run Drive near Riverside. Judge Joel Yates announced the bond reduction Friday during a hearing for Hansen?s motion for bond review. Washington County Attorney Larry Brock filed a motion of resistance to the bond review in July and asked that the matter be settled during a hearing.

In his ruling, Yates wrote that the court took into account ?the nature and circumstances of the offense charged, the defendant?s family ties, employment, financial resources, the length of the defendant?s residence in the community and the defendant?s criminal record.?

Yates wrote that if Hansen posts bond, he will be supervised by the Eighth Judicial District Department of Correctional Services.

?The defendant may not leave Washington or Johnson counties without permission from the Court, must not possess any firearms and will be subject to GPS monitoring,? Yates wrote.

Hansen?s attorney, John Robertson of Iowa City, submitted to Yates letters from Hansen?s family members and acquaintances in support of his request for a lower bond.

Hansen?s trial is set for Jan. 24 at the Washington County Courthouse. If convicted, Hansen faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole. A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the person charged is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.