Tag: Eric Hainstock

Psychologist: Klang May Have Made Things Worse:

A principal hailed as a hero for rushing a student gunman and disarming him despite being fatally wounded may have sealed his own fate by touching the boy, a psychologist testified Thursday.

Eric Hainstock can’t control his emotional reactions to even the smallest slight and can’t think rationally when he’s attacked, juvenile psychologist Michael Caldwell said. The volatile 16-year-old has shown a pattern of growing more agitated when people touch him, Caldwell said.

And people want him to back out on the streets by the time he’s 25? That’s laughable. Hainstock is violent and unstable, and I doubt very much that he’s capable of rehabilitation.

Pal: Teen who shot principal was abused:

The sob stories about Eric Hainstock continue…

Officials did nothing to stop students from teasing Eric Hainstock despite complaints, a friend testified Wednesday at a hearing to determine whether adult charges should stand in the shooting death of the teenagers’ school principal.

Other kids called Hainstock names and pushed and punched him for being messy and smelling bad, said Morgan Gudenschwager, a 15-year-old eighth-grader who described himself as Hainstock’s best friend. Hainstock, who could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted on adult charges, told Gudenschwager his parents wouldn’t let him shower at home.

And here’s some gratitude for you…

But under cross-examination, Gudenschwager said Hainstock talked “once in a while” about how he hated Klang, even though Klang bought him clothes and let him shower at school so he wouldn’t smell. He also said Hainstock often instigated confrontations with other students and dished out his share of bullying.

And what did John Klang get for his charity? A bullet that cost him his life.

Hainstock is an obvious danger and should never see the light of day. Hell, prison would probably be like a vacation for him. At least he’ll get meals and showers.

Grandmother: Accused shooter considerate child:

Here is some courtroom theatrics for you.

In a hearing to see if Weston High School shooter, Eric Hainstock, will be tried as an adult, his grandmother testified on his behalf.

Irene Hainstock was pushed up to the stand in a wheelchair and, with a gray bun and a white crocheted blanket on her lap, gave teary testimony about her relationship with her grandson and his troubled upbringing. Hainstock sat unmoved throughout her testimony.

“He’s always been a loving child” he showed affection very easily and he was very talkative,” she said. “He liked to talk, and grandma listened.”

His very early childhood, spent in Reedsburg with parents Shawn and Lisa Hainstock, was relatively normal, Irene Hainstock said. It was when he was three or four and his father remarried to Pricella Hainstock that things became “not the best,” she said.

The Hainstock home on Bird Drive in La Valle was unkempt with multiple dogs that Pricella was raising in the home, she said.

Once Shawn Hainstock said to his wife, “I think you love the dogs more than you love Eric,” Irene Hainstock testified. “She said, ‘Maybe I do.” Hearing that felt “terrible,” she said. “He’s my grandson.”

In his older childhood years he began to be “terribly nervous and jumpy and flustered,” Irene Hainstock said, and was prescribed Ritalin. In the fall of 2001, when Eric was 10, he went to live with his grandmother for several months.

Even after he returned home, he would bike the three miles to his grandmother’s home and seemed to seek refuge in their relationship, she said.

“Like any teenager, I think he resented Pricella’s authority over him,” she said. “He always came to grandma.”

When he would complain about being bullied at school, the advice she would give him, Irene Hainstock said, was “trying to get along, forgive.”

What does Hainstock’s home life have to do with killing John Klang? After all, he didn’t murder his stepmother.

The prosecution seems to be unfazed.

After Hainstock had testified that her grandson was locked in a locker at school, held by his ankles with his head in a toilet by another student and told by a teacher that he wouldn’t “be (at school) long if I have anything to say about it,” District Attorney Patricia Barrett asked what she had done to intervene.

Irene Hainstock said she thought that was Eric’s parents’ job.

“So it didn’t worry you enough to go past his parents to protect your grandson and tell the school?” Barrett asked. “It seemed to have stuck in your memory, but it didn’t seem to bother you enough to report it.”

“Like I said,” Hainstock said, “I thought his parents would take care of it.”

Barrett said a school report showed Eric had instigated the incident with the toilet, and earlier had threatened other students, brought to school both powdered calcium he said was cocaine and a mixture of Kool-Aid and cough syrup he said was blood.

In the spring of eighth grade, Barrett said, Eric threw a chair in choir class and grabbed his teacher by her arm until it was numb while screaming profanities. Irene Hainstock said she wasn’t aware of any of those incidents.

But he’s the victim? I don’t think so.

Hainstock case draws slew of feedback over whether he should be tried as a juvenile:

The bleeding heart soccer moms with pictures of big-eyed kittens on their coffee mugs are at it again. They’re sending more letters to the Wisconsin court that will decide the fate of 15-year-old Eric Hainstock. Hainstock is charged with first-degree murder for the shooting death of Weston High School principal John Klang. The soccer moms want him tried as a juvenile because he needs “help”.

Five of the letters appeal for his transfer to the juvenile court while referring to abuse at home and bullying Hainstock reportedly suffered in school.

“The young man has endured such overwhelming torment and abuse that he deserves another chance in life — through justice which provides rehabilitation,” wrote Jan Hirschy of Richland Center. “He doesn’t deserve a lifelong sentence to further torment and abuse, which will inevitably be his fate as a boy among adult male prisoners.”

In a telephone interview, Hirschy said her belief in the need for rehabilitation rather than simple punishment moved her to write. If Hainstock is placed in the juvenile courts he would not be released immediately.

“He would have the option and access to (rehabilitative) services, which he would not have in prison,” she said.

John Klang endured being shot in the back of the head. Unfortunately, he has no such chance at rehabilitation because you can’t rehabilitate the dead.

Stacy MacGowan of New York City is among writers from places such as Florida and Illinois who have expressed their support for Hainstock. She appeals for leniency because of his abuse at the hands of his father and school bullies.

“Your honor, I understand that this child has done the unthinkable and needs to be held accountable, but it should be done in the juvenile courts where he belongs,” MacGowan wrote. “He, too, is a victim.”

Let’s weigh the one so-called victim against the other. Eric Hainstock bullied but still breathing. John Klang, dead at the hands of Eric Hainstock. There’s really only one victim here.

At least the whole world hasn’t gone crazy…

Weston schools English instructor Lori Olson-Putz expresses the sense of outrage many of the opponents feel. She refers to the deep and lasting emotional blow Klang’s death on Sept. 29 has dealt to members of their rural community.

“Eric planned and carried out a senseless murder of a man who was actively trying to help him in every possible way,” she wrote the judge. “Why should Eric walk free after only a few years when the rest of us won’t be able to?”

Olson-Putz said by phone Friday evening that the school administration has asked staff to avoid making further comments on the case.

Other opponents say it would set a bad example for other troubled youths. They point to “anarchist” Internet Web sites where some postings praise the shooting of Klang as a blow against repressive school systems.

“There are a number of people around the country that are happy that a principal was shot and killed and admire Eric for his courage,” writes Lyle Lindholm, a teacher at Weston High School. “If he gets tried as a juvenile, this will only encourage people like that to do the same kind of crimes because they know they could literally get away with murder.”

You don’t even have to go to any other website. I’ve had enough people post comments here that said they were glad Hainstock did it.

I know this is common sense, but it needs to be repeated. Hainstock is not a victim. He is nothing short of a stone-cold killer and needs to be dealt with as such. Anything else would dishonor the memory of John Klang.

Eric Hainstock Case Goes Back To Juvenile Court:

A judge has granted a request to have a hearing on whether or not Eric Hainstock should be tried as an adult. Hainstock shot and killed his principal, John Klang of Weston Schools in Wisconsin. Prosecutors are appealing this decision.

If Hainstock were to be tried as a juvenile, he could only be held until his 25th birthday. Less than 10 years for first-degree intentional homicide is a joke, and again would set a dangerous precedent for those that would follow in Hainstock’s footsteps.

He needs to be tried as an adult and put away forever. The victim, John Klang was given a death sentence and he didn’t commit any crime.

D-A says she won’t appeal judge’s ruling regarding school records:

Like I theorized last week, Sauk County District Attorney Pat Barrett said that her case against Eric Mainshock will not be affected by the recent ruling that Hainstock’s school records will be sealed…

Barrett says she sought the boy’s school records as a matter of routine in an investigation of a crime at a school that involved school personnel. But she says she doesn’t anticipate needing the records to prosecute the case, given the number of witnesses and some admissions by the defendant.

For those of you just joining us, Eric Hainstock shot and killed Weston High School principal John Klang in front of witnesses.

Hopefully, prosecuting Hainstock will be a slam dunk.

Judge Rules Accused Teen Shooter’s Records Sealed:

A Wisconsin judge has ruled that the school records obtained by the prosecution against Eric Hainstock will remain sealed and will not be used by the prosecution…

The ruling comes after Eric Hainstock’s attorney argued that the records are confidential and the subpoena to get them does not show how they could tie into the September shooting of Principal John Klang at Weston Schools in Cazenovia.

Sauk County Circuit Judge Patrick Taggart issued the ruling denying the prosecutors’ request on Monday.

Hainstock’s lawyer, Debra O’Rourke, argued at a Nov. 3 hearing that the subpoena was far too broad and that prosecutors were searching for more charges to file. Hainstock faces a charge in adult court of first-degree intentional homicide and a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

Another Hainstock attorney, Catherine Ankenbrandt, said Tuesday they were pleased with the judge’s ruling and that he had decided correctly.

Honestly, I don’t think the prosecution really needs them, since Hainstock kind of shot John Klang dead in front of witnesses. But I guess it never hurts to have more ammunition to put someone away, so to speak.

Hainstock’s Lawyer Fights School Records Seizure:

Eric Hainstock’s attorney, Debra O’Rourke, is trying to get school records subpoenaed by the prosecution excluded. She claims that the records are confidential, and the subpoena does not show how they are relevant to the murder of Weston Schools principal John Klang.

District Attorney Pat Barrett is arguing that the records are relevant, stating that Hainstock had issues with numerous students over the past three years and that he was going to “see” them the day he killed Klang.

O’Rourke also said that the school did not fulfill her request for the records, even though she had permission from the family.

Judge Patrick Taggart will rule on the matter in two weeks.

School ‘security’ is wrong response:

This is a letter to the editor of a Wisconsin newspaper about new security measures being put in place after the killing of Weston Schools principal John Klang…

Dear Editor: I have great sympathy for those affected by the Weston school shooting last week, particularly the family of John Klang.

That said, the new “security measures” in place as students return to school seem to be a prime example of the wrong sort of response, the kind Americans are so good at these days, of putting good people on lockdown in the wake of a singular act by a single person. One very troubled youth commits a horrific act, and now the rest of the school is subject to armed surveillance and the registration of outsiders?

What sort of message is that intended to send we are trying to prevent further armed attacks by bringing in more arms and suspecting everyone?

I urge the School Board to consider intelligently and rationally addressing root causes here, even in the wake of a very irrational and heartbreaking incident, before initializing knee-jerk measures that can only result in more fear and anguish.

Not to mention the fact that the steps they seem to be taking are like closing the barn door after the horses are already out.