HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Late Tuesday afternoon, as prosecutors and defense attorneys were working to pick a new jury, defendant James Hanson decided he no longer wanted to have a trial and was willing to plead guilty.
Officials said after pleading guilty, Hanson's sentence was mandatory life.
Opening statements in the murder trial were cut short Tuesday morning when a juror said her child's father knew the accused killer.
In August 2019, Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies arrested Hanson as the main suspect in an armed bank robbery turned carjacking, kidnapping and murder of 68-year-old Mathew Korattiyil, a grandfather.
- Suspect strangled carjacking victim with belt, stole his clothes before leaving him in bushes, affidavit says
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Korattiyil banked at CenterState Bank in Valrico and was there at the time of the robbery. As ABC Action News reported in 2019, an affidavit from HCSO said as Hanson was trying to leave the bank, the suspect pointed a gun at Korattiyil, shoved him to the passenger's side of his white 2019 Lexus SUV and carjacked him. Hanson then strangled Korattiyil behind his own church and got rid of his clothes.
The I-Team revealed that at the time, the crime spree happened less than five weeks after Hanson was released from prison on what was originally a life sentence for a 2002 bank robbery and was later reduced to 20 years.
- Valrico carjacking suspect, James Hanson, has lengthy criminal past including a life-sentence
- Valrico murder suspect committed new crimes within a month of getting out of jail
Hanson left prison nearly three years earlier due to credits for good behavior, known as "gain time." But in his 16 years, the I-Team obtained prison records showing dozens of disciplinary issues, placing Hanson in confinement 28 times, including one just six weeks before his release.
- Career criminal facing murder charge got out of prison early on good behavior
- Confessed killer received 2+ years worth of good behavior days over 10-day period
On Tuesday, during the trial, the judge told the jury they would be excused because they were unable to proceed, calling it an "unusual situation" outside of their control.
A juror said as she was hearing more about the case, she realized a personal connection. Her child's father had befriended Hanson at a bar days before he was arrested for Korattiyil's murder, she said. He had told her about Hanson and they discussed what he was accused of when the news came out. The juror then told the judge she thought Hanson was guilty.
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The court had already brought in its only alternate for another juror, who could no longer be in the trial due to a family emergency, Tuesday morning.
State prosecutors and defense attorneys spent the afternoon working to pick an entirely new jury before Hanson said he was willing to plead guilty. The judge questioned him about his decision and then proceeded to prepare the paperwork.
ABC Action News will update this story as soon as more information becomes available.
