Current Events

Timothy Hennis is a master sergeant on death row in the Army facility in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He has gone through three trials and is currently appealing the court's most recent ruling that sentenced him to death. He has been charged with three counts of premeditated murder. 

In May, 1985, Tim had responded to an add in the newspaper that was looking for a new home for a dog. The ad was placed by Katie Eastburn. Her husband, Gary Eastburn, was a captain in the Air Force and just found out that he was being relocated to England. The family couldn't take the dog, Dixie, with them so they tried to find Dixie a new home. 

At the time of the exchange and the murder, Gary was in a training assignment in Alabama. Tim arrived to the house to pick up Dixie. The people in the house are Katie and their three kids; 5-year-old Kara, 3-year-old Erin, and 22-month old Janna. Two days after Tim picked up the dog, he was seen making an unexpected visit to the Eastburn household. Four days later, a concerned neighbor called the cops because there was no movement in the house and the newspapers were piling up. When the cops arrived, they looked through the window and say Janna crying. When no one answered, the police broke in and were met with a terrifying stench of death.Kara was found curled up in a star wars blanket, and had been stabbed ten times. Erin was found bludgeoned, almost decapitated in her bed. Katie was also found in her bed, with evidence of rape. She had been stabbed 15 times. Janna appeared unharmed, but distressed and hungry. 

This murder rocked the military community with fear, but they found relief knowing that an arrest happened quickly. Before her murder, Katie wrote to her husband about the "nice man" who adopted Dixie, and after finding this the cops knew they needed to talk to whoever this was. The cops made a public plea to find whoever adopted Dixie, and Tim's wife hears it and makes both of them go to the police and tell them they were the ones who adopted Dixie. When Tim was interviewed, he could not provide an alibi for the night in question. He denied any involvement in the murders. 

When Tim's neighbors were interviewed, they had mentioned that they saw him burning something in a barrel in the early hours of the morning after the murders. Tim was arrested, and endoured a lengthy trial in which gruesome photos of the murder were shown. Tim was convicted of rape and three counts of murder. Tim appealed the case on the grounds that the crime scene photos had inflamed the jury. He was acquitted in 1989 of all charges and released. He returned to the Army, served in the first Gulf War, and had a son. In 2004 he retired in Washington and lived a quiet life. 

In 2006, when DNA testing had significantly improved, and investigators decided to have the State Bureau of Investigations to test the evidence from the crime. A blood sample belonging to Tim matched semen found at the crime scene. Since Tim was already tried and acquitted for the crime, he couldn't be tried again in the state court again. However, he could be tried in military court. So in October of 2006, authorities reenlisted him the Army so that another trial could take place. The Army was able to try him twice for the same trial because of the dual sovereignty doctrine. They dropped the charges of rape due to statute of limitations, but were still attempting the three murders. In 2010, after weeks of testimony and less than three hours deliberation, the jury found Tim Hennis guilty on three counts of premeditated murder. He was sentenced to death. 

Hennis’ lawyers currently argue that constitutional double jeopardy prohibitions should have precluded him from being tried again after his acquittal. A Supreme Court decision in June ruled that state and federal courts, which include military courts, can try the same crimes. However, the defense claims that the Army is acting as a front for the state court.