Southeast Missouri man convicted of murder released on bond

WEST PLAINS, Mo. -- Over the objections of a state prosecutor, a Howell County judge set a bond for convicted murderer Shawn Hanna as he awaits sentencing for killing his father in November 2003.

Early Dec. 16, after about nine hours of deliberation, a seven-woman, five-man Howell County jury convicted Hanna, 31, of first-degree murder in connection with the Nov. 16, 2003, shooting death of his 56-year-old father, Ralph Hanna.

The elder Hanna, who owned a vehicle repair shop in Poplar Bluff, Mo., was shot once as he was returning to his Ellsinore, Mo., home from an early morning hunting trip.

An autopsy showed the elder Hanna died instantly from a single gunshot wound to the left side of his chest.

After the jury reached its verdict, the state, represented by assistant attorney general Kevin Zoellner, asked Presiding Circuit Judge David Evans to revoke the younger Hanna's bond, according to Nancy Gonder, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office. Shawn Hanna had been out on bond since June 26, 2006, when he posted a $25,000 corporate surety bond.

The state, a court official said, asked that no new bond be set for Shawn Hanna, who is facing life imprisonment without the possibility of probation or parole when he is sentenced at 1 p.m. Feb. 25.

In his request for no bond, the court official said, Zoellner cited that Shawn Hanna is a flight risk as he no longer is living in Missouri.

Addresses of 3539 Payne Lake Road in Chipley, Fla., and 15262 Highway 67S Neelyville, Mo., are listed in records at the Howell County Jail for Shawn Hanna.

"The judge picked the amount [of $250,000] and set" Shawn Hanna's bond, Gonder said.

The judge's decision to set a bond, the court official said, was over the state's objection.

Shawn Hanna was released from the Howell County Jail on Dec. 17 after Stanley Leon Clark Sr., who reportedly operates Stanley Leon Clark Sr. Bail Bonds at Bloomfield, Mo., posted a $250,000 surety bond, jail personnel said.

Pertinent address:

West Plains, MO

Ellsinore, MO

Poplar Bluff, MO