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Gann In Interview: I Was Prepared For Guilty Verdict
April 18, 2009SAN DIEGO -- Convicted killer Nathaniel Gann spoke his mind Friday about the case that ultimately sent him to prison.
On Wednesday, Gann was found guilty of killing his stepfather, attorney Timothy MacNeil.
Gann repeatedly denied committing the crime but did admit to carrying some guilt for it.
Gann seemed almost upbeat as he sat down for the interview. He denied that he killed his stepfather, and he said he planned to appeal.
There were a couple of moments in the joint trial with his sister, Brae Hansen, during which Gann was taken aback.
One was the reading of the guilty verdict.
"I hadn't expected it, but I was prepared for it," said Gann. "I suppose the jurors negotiated more than deliberated, and they negotiated on first-degree murder."
He said he knows it could have gone much more badly.
"It actually relieved a bunch of tension because there was significantly more on the table … Trying to give me life without parole or 50 to life ... the jury saw through the evidence. I did not fire the firearm -- period. So I didn't face special circumstance allegations, so it was a relief," said Gann.
Hansen was convicted of first-degree murder by a separate jury, with special circumstances of lying in wait. She faces life in prison without parole, while Gann is facing 25 years to life in prison.
In the interview, Gann pointed the finger of guilt at his sister, saying he felt partly at fault for her.
"I suppose you could argue a sense of responsibility. My sister came to live with me; I helped her grow up to be a good person when this happened. I had failed her," he said.
Toward the end of the trial, Gann's face betrayed him when a former girlfriend was called in as a rebuttal witness. Her identity was protected because she testified to a sexual assault.
After the conviction, Gann's stepfather's brother was blunt.
"Nathaniel … I'd say, 'Rot in prison and burn in hell.' I guess that's what I'd say to him," said Rick MacNeil.
Timothy MacNeil's girlfriend, Kim Bieda, said, "They're evil; they have no soul. They had it all and threw it away."
Gann summed things up, saying, "Stories like mine don't have happy endings, huh?"
Gann said he still loves his sister despite the stress of the trial.
Gann and Hansen are scheduled to be sentenced separately in June.
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