The prosecution introduced numerous surveillance videos and GPS data during Day 3 of the Ladell Hannon attempted murder retrial on Wednesday.
Andrew Letcavage, a criminal investigator with Pennsylvania State Police, testified about 10 videos collected from surveillance cameras around Kelayres from several dates critical to the prosecution’s case that’s attempting to prove Hannon, a former Hazleton police officer, attempted to kill Harrison Jordan, who was in an intimate relationship with his estranged wife at the time.
The videos mostly show a white car near the scene of the Dec. 21, 2021, bombing outside 3 Center St. in the Kline Township village. That’s where Jordan, who lived in an apartment there, was seriously injured when an improvised explosive device was allegedly detonated, before 6 a.m. that day.
Videos shown to jurors on Wednesday were collected from Dec. 18, Dec. 19, and Dec. 21.
On the first two dates, the focus was on a white sedan, which the prosecution says is Hannon’s, driving near the scene of the bombing, seemingly scouting the location. In those videos, a person could be seen carrying an object in one of their hands.
The prosecution says that object is a bucket that Hannon used to create a homemade bomb. In one video from the 19th, a person – who couldn’t be identified either by name or gender – is shown carrying a bucket and walking toward the direction of Jordan’s apartment.
When that person returns to their vehicle, they’re no longer carrying the bucket.
Jurors were also shown two videos purportedly showing the actual explosion from the morning of Dec. 21, 2024.
During cross-examination, however, Letcavage told Hannon’s attorney, Mark Hinrichs, that the vehicle in the video couldn’t be positively identified as the defendant’s and that the person seen exiting that vehicle and returning to it is unknown.
The video evidence also doesn’t show the registration license plate
However, the prosecution did try to point out a rather significant identifying mark between Hannon’s car, which is currently impounded at the State Police-Frackville barracks, and the Honda shown in the videos shared on Wednesday. That’s an empty front license plate holder that appears to have some writing on the top and bottom sides.
PSP Criminal Investigator Nicholas Reese also testified about geo-location being used to track Hannon in Kelayres on several dates key to the investigation. Reese showed geo-location markers, downloaded from Hannon’s iPhone 8 and iPhone 11 devices, on a Google Earth map.
The dates that geo-location data appears to have Hannon in Kelayres, according to Reese’s testimony are Oct. 5, Oct. 14, Oct. 19, and Oct. 28.
Oct. 28, specifically, is the date which police allege Hannon broke into Jordan’s apartment and prompted the burglary charge.
Reese also said that geo-location data from those iPhones from the dates of Nov. 10-18 were so voluminous that they had their own file.
However, there was no geo-location data after Dec. 19 on the iPhone 8. The iPhone 11 seized from Hannon had been damaged prior.
That was a point Hinrichs seized on at the end of Wednesday’s testimony. Reese explained that Hannon could have turned off the location data setting on his phone but still could have been in Kelayres on those dates in December which were shown in the videos Letcavage shared.
Testimony from earlier on Wednesday came from forensics experts with Pennsylvania State Police who identified the materials used in the IED that detonated outside Jordan’s apartment on Dec. 21, 2021, trying to connect them to Hannon.
Though the prosecution couldn’t connect the materials directly to Hannon, they couldn’t be ruled out entirely.
COMMONWEALTH v. LADELL HANNON
- Day 1: Key Witnesses Testify in Day 1 of Ladell Hannon Attempted Murder Retrial
- Day 2: Kelayres Neighbors Testify During Day 2 of Ladell Hannon Retrial
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