A Schuylkill County jury of seven men and five women found Ladell Hannon, a former Hazleton police officer, guilty of the most serious charge he faced, attempted murder, on Friday afternoon.
Following nearly three hours of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict of guilty of attempted murder and other related charges in connection with a Dec. 21, 2021, bombing in Kelayres, Kline Twp., Schuylkill County.
Hannon attempted to kill Harrison Jordan, the boyfriend of his estranged wife, by detonating a bucket bomb outside Jordan’s apartment on the morning of Dec. 21.
The bomb woke up the tiny Kline Twp. village that morning. Jordan was seriously injured in the blast, losing most of his hearing and having shrapnel and debris embedded in his body.
It also destroyed his vehicle and damaged the vehicle of his neighbor while blowing out the windows of the apartment building and an abandoned church across the street.
The defendant also stalked Jordan and his wife, Danielle Hannon, soon after the couple split up in August 2021. Jordan and Danielle Hannon were co-workers at the time.
Ladell Hannon obtained a number of LandAirSea GPS trackers to keep his eyes on the pair by placing them on their vehicles.
The verdicts handed down on Friday concluded a five-day trial in Courtroom 1 at Schuylkill County Courthouse. Two cases against Hannon were included in the trial, one for the bombing and another for an alleged burglary at Jordan’s apartment in late-October.
Jurors found Hannon guilty on all counts related to the bombing, including:
- Attempted murder
- Aggravated assault
- Possessing weapons of mass destruction
- Possessing weapons of mass destruction and causing an evacuation
- Arson
- Causing a catastrophe
- Three counts of criminal mischief
- Two counts of stalking
- Reckless endangerment
Jurors found Hannon not guilty of burglary but did convict him on a charge of theft by unlawful taking in connection with the second case related to the break-in at Jordan’s apartment.
President Judge Jacqueline Russell thanked jurors for their work on the week-long trial, which included extremely meticulous testimony from numerous State Police expert investigators.
“This was an involved trial,” Russell said.
She ordered Schuylkill County Adult Probation to conduct a pre-sentence investigation on Hannon and said the sentencing phase of the trial would happen in about 60 days.
Reaching Friday’s verdict proved to be a challenge for First Assistant District Attorney Michael Stine. On his own admission, Stine told jurors there would be no figurative smoking gun in the case that had mostly circumstantial evidence.
Stine was obviously pleased at the verdict and happy to deliver justice for Jordan.
“It was a long road. This happened almost three years ago. I’m glad that Harry, finally, can rest easy tonight,” Stine told The Canary after the trial. “He can rest his head easy tonight knowing that justice was done here tonight.”
Stine also thanked the jurors for the attentiveness throughout the meticulous trial.
“We prayed for a jury that would be able to understand all this evidence because it was a very, very complex case and they did that,” Stine said.
Stine said he believes the most damning evidence presented during the trial was the purchase records and data from the GPS trackers as well as numerous Google searches Hannon performed on his iPhone in the weeks leading up to the bombing.
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
- Day 3: Video, GPS Evidence Introduced During Day 3 Testimony at Hannon Retrial
- Day 4: Hannon’s Alleged Purchase, Search Records Introduced on Day 4 of Attempted Murder Retrial
- Day 4: Hannon Defense Expected to Start Friday; Weird Finish to Day 4 of His Retrial
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