DON HANSCOM

Statement by Don Hanscom's son in-law, Rob.

My name is Rob and I am reading this on behalf of the children and grandchildren who are all victims of Murray McClenhagan actions in taking the life of our beloved, father, grandfather, best friend and pillar of our family, Don Hanscom. I am appearing at this Parole Board hearing today in the hopes that he will not be granted Escorted Temporary Absences. Our family is putting our faith in the Parole Board to put the safety of the victim’s family and the public at large over the wants of Murray McClenhagan who took a life and continues to look for ways to escape the reality of what he has done. 

We were advised to talk about the effects of the crime on our lives. It is impossible to give any of you the gravity of what this has done to the family. However, let me start with one of Don's grandchildren who after years of counseling and therapy still stays awake, every night to make sure they are the last one up to protect the family from another murder. They are constantly afraid that another person is going to come to their home and take another one of their loved ones lives; so they stay awake so they can jump between in their words "any evil person" and their family to protect the people they love. This grandchild hopes they can save members of their family because no one was there to save their grandpa. Eventually this child, bewildered and tired from constant anxiety falls asleep into the early morning hours with deep fear, only to repeat this sad pattern night after night. There is some light at the end of the tunnel and healing will eventually take place, but imagine what this grandchild will do if they find out Murray McClenhagan is out on any type of parole. We had to tell this grandchild the truth about Murray murdering Don. The consequences of the cold hard truth has had rippling effects on this grandchild that cannot be described in this brief but very telling statement. Denying any form of parole will give the victims, like this grandchild, part of the required time they need to heal without the added anxiety of dealing with the fact that the person that took their grandpa's life is out on any form of parole. They are taught that the legal system will protect them from those who have harmed others and that gives them some strength to cope. Your job now is to uphold the sentence placed on Murray McClenhagan and protect the victims, so we do not have to sit the other grandchildren down and tell them the horrific story of how Murray murdered their grandfather and start the manifestation of terror that will grip their lives and control them in ways none of you can fully appreciate. Our hope, as parents, was that Murray would stay behind bars long enough that the grandchildren could grow older thus having the ability to process the truth and have the maturity and wisdom to cope and lead normal productive lives. Allowing any form of parole will take a terrible toll on the innocence of Don's grandchildren. We are relying on you to help protect them at all costs. 

One of Don's daughters has struggled without the influence of her father and continues to struggle, but finds some small measure of comfort knowing Murray is behind bars. Any form of parole will reopen these wounds and send her life into a tailspin. Part of her soul was killed when Don was murdered and to this day she struggles to let anyone get close to her as she lives in fear that they will be taken from her as well. She needs some peace and time to find the good in people and once again have faith in others. She is putting her faith in this Parole Board to protect the family and allow them, and more specifically herself to heal and learn to live again. 

All of Don's children struggle to cope with the massive weight of the anxiety that comes with a family member being 5 minutes late, not getting the phone call expected at a certain time, the unexpected ring of a doorbell that could be the next tragedy. The innocence that protects us from our worst fears has been ripped from our souls and we live in constant fear that the worst is going to strike our family again. Imagine having to give each of your children and spouse something personal before you leave them for any extended period of time because they are worried you will never come back when you leave. The hope is, that by giving them your personal effects, it will force the family member leaving to come back to their loved ones. The ones leaving do it because we constantly worry that tragedy will strike us and when it does at least we have given our loved ones something special to remember us. That is both sad and unnatural to live with that constant fear, but it was thrust into our lives when Murray murdered Don. Parole of any kind will take away the time we need to deal with our tattered souls and return to some form of normalized living. 

We constantly deal with a depth of sadness and loneliness in our Mom that nobody should ever be burdened with. We look for ways to comfort her and keep her from feeling terribly lost. She is on an emotional roller coaster with the constant legal maneuvering of Murray to shirk his moral and legal responsibility to pay for his actions. Parole of any kind this early in his sentence, or at any time for that matter, will leave our Mom emotionally bankrupt. She was thrust into becoming the head of our family and we need her to be strong and capable of impacting our lives in the way that only she can. She is struggling enough to make up for Don's absence please do not accept Murray's request for parole, in any form, as we need our Mom and can’t lose her as well. 

We have missed so many things and moments as a family that are lost forever. We will never be a complete family again. Murray's actions made certain that Don would never see another sunrise or sunset, kiss and hold his wife, be a father to his kids, bask in the glory of grandchildren or quite simply have the right to grow old and live life. Murray's decisions took all of this away from Don and now he is asking for your consideration to give him the ability to start enjoying life and some of its riches like Don should be able to do. It is your job to decisively say “No” to his application for parole and stand up for the victims like Don, who have lost their voice and more importantly their lives to selfish acts of others. Why should Murray get the right to enjoy life after taking the life of Don Hanscom. Don does not get a pass or Escorted Temporary Absences to spend time with his family, he does not even get to breath. Murray needs to be held accountable for his actions and this Parole Board needs to protect our family and the community and put the victim’s interests ahead of those who have made the decision to take a life and destroy a family. We need time to heal. Running into Murray or the mere risk of crossing paths or knowing he walks among us is not in the best interest of this family, the helpless victims of Murray's actions. 

We put our path of healing and struggle to cope with our great loss in your hands. 

Shauna & Rob daughter and son-in-law

Nicole & Dave daughter and son-in-law

Kelly Hanscom daughter