Taylorsville woman sentenced for murder

SALT LAKE CITY — A 71-year-old Taylorsville woman who pleaded guilty to gunning down her former daughter-in-law in a preschool parking lot was sentenced to prison Friday.

Mary Nance Hanson, in a letter to the judge, also said she sees dead people and believes the woman she shot and killed has forgiven her.

Third District Judge Deno Himonas questioned Hanson, 71, extensively Friday in an effort to determine her mental state. After assurances from both attorneys in the case that she has been competent throughout court proceedings and that a previous evaluation found her competent, Himonas sentenced the woman to 15 years to life for the murder of her former daughter-in-law, Tetyana "Tanya" Nikitina, 34.

Hanson was charged with murder, a first-degree felony, for the Jan. 29 shooting in which she fired multiple rounds at Nikitina while the younger woman was trying to drive away from the Millcreek preschool where she worked.

"This is senseless killing," the judge told Hanson Friday. "This is inexcusable."

In a letter Hanson sent to the judge in advance of her sentencing hearing Friday, Hanson said she saw her deceased ex-daughter-in-law and a mysterious unborn child.

"I was still reluctant to say I saw dead people," she wrote, referring to a previous letter. "Because I saw Tanya and Misha that day, and because I've forgiven a lot of people, my life has changed immensely."

Prosecutor Alicia Cook said what Hanson described seeing was not a hallucination, but rather an experience that Cook interpreted as a coping mechanism.

"Basically, she believes she's been forgiven by the victim," Cook said. "It wasn't a sign of a mental illness or a cognitive problem."

At one point, Himonas asked Hanson if she knew what Cook's role was in the proceedings. When Hanson replied: "She's going to try and get me in jail for as long as she can," the court erupted in laughter.

This was just the latest insult for Nikitina's fiance, Rod Hernandez.

"This isn't funny," he said. "None of this is lighthearted. That woman is a monster."

Hernandez, told the judge about the "wonderful" woman he lost the day Hanson took Nikitina's life — just weeks before the couple's scheduled wedding.