A Waverly man charged with first-degree murder of his wife and the intentional homicide of his unborn child will spend the next 56 years of his life in the custody of the Illinois Department of Human Services.
Resident Morgan County Judge Chris Reif read stipulations of Henson’s case from a DHS psychiatrist that found that 36 year old Nathan Henson poses a danger to himself and others and should be remanded to continued confinement for ongoing psychiatric treatment.
Morgan County State’s Attorney Gray Noll says that Henson is going to be treated for the maximum amount of time in DHS in accordance to the maximum prison sentence had he been found guilty of the crime: “The defendant was sentenced to the Department of Human Services to receive treatment in a secure, in-patient setting. He will be treated up to the maximum amount of time that he would be facing if he was found guilty of the charges. So what is called his thiem date or ‘out’ date would be September 5th, 2077.”
Noll says he doesn’t believe that Henson will be released from confinement anytime soon: “I certainly don’t expect Mr. Henson to be released anytime in my lifetime. He is an individual that, because of what the court has ruled, has a mental defect that would place himself or somebody else in danger. He’ll be remanded to the Department of Human Services for the foreseeable future.”
Henson was initially found unfit to stand trial back in October 2019 in the now almost 4-year old case. Henson was then found not guilty by reason of insanity in April after a series of procedural motions and mental fitness examinations. Henson was remanded to the custody of DHS after the hearing. Judge Reif says periodic updates will be provided to the court on Henson’s status and ongoing treatment.