A four year old murder case is likely to see its end in Morgan County Court at the end of this month.
36 year old Nathan A. Henson of Waverly is expected to be officially found not guilty by reason of insanity in the first degree murder of his pregnant wife 29 year old Jessie Henson. Jessie Henson was found on the evening of September 5, 2017 at a home she shared with her husband in Waverly in critical condition with multiple stab wounds and blunt-force trauma. She later died at Memorial Hospital in Springfield, succumbing to the fatal injuries.
Nathan Henson was later found in a neighbor’s yard after he had gotten into a fist fight, after one of Jessie Henson’s family members beat him.
Questions surrounding Nathan Henson’s fitness have gone back and forth in Morgan County Court since 2017. Circuit Judge Chris Reif ruled in October 2019 that Henson should remain in treatment up to at least 5 years in October 2019, with a status hearing set for this October. Henson has contended that the murder took place due to him trying to defend himself. Reif said in 2019 that current evidence in the case is sufficient enough to prove Henson guilty at trial.
Henson has been held at a Department of Human Services facility and the court had been receiving regular fitness-evaluation updates since he first was found in October 2017 to be unable to aid in his own defense. State’s Attorney Gray Noll says Henson will appear in Morgan County Court on June 22nd for an official sentencing to the Department of Human Services.
Henson was facing possibly two 20-60 year sentences in the Illinois Department of Corrections in the case.