Henson facing six counts for alleged murder of pregnant wife

By Gary Scott on September 7, 2017 at 3:14pm

The primary suspect in Tuesday night’s alleged homicide of a Waverly woman made his first appearance in court this afternoon.

Thirty-three year old Nathan Henson was arrested late Tuesday night and booked at the Morgan County jail early Wednesday morning for the alleged murder of his wife, 29-year old Jessie Henson.

Judge Chris Reif informed Henson that the state has filed six counts of information against the defendant. Counts one through three allege that Nathan Henson stabbed Jessie Henson with a knife and struck her with a bat, knowing that such actions could cause great bodily harm and/or death. Counts four through six allege that Nathan Henson knew that Jessie Henson was pregnant at the time of the incident, and that he knowingly committed actions that could cause significant bodily harm to both victim and her unborn child.

All six counts are classified as Class M felonies, and carry possible sentences of 20 to 60 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Judge Reif also informed the court that, if convicted, Henson would serve 100 percent of any sentence. Additionally, given the fact that the victim was pregnant at the time of her death, if Nathan Henson is convicted of killing two individuals, he would serve life in prison. And if the court determines that Henson’s alleged acts were brutal or heinous in nature, it would carry a sentence of 20 to 100 years.

Henson has a prior felony conviction dating back to 2014, as well as another felony accusation still pending. Public Defender Tom Piper, who is already representing Henson in the pending felony case, was assigned by Judge Reif to also defend Henson in this case.

Judge Reif granted a request by Morgan County State’s Attorney Gray Noll to set Henson’s bond at one million dollars, citing the defendant’s criminal history and the serious nature of the most recent allegations.

Henson will next appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, September 26th at 10 a.m.