Luverne woman accused of attacking husband with knife

• Hansen

Lillian B. Hansen

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LUVERNE — A woman accused of attacking her husband with a knife July 3 made her first appearance Monday in Rock County District Court.

Lillian B. Hansen, 46, of Luverne, was charged last week with second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, a felony, and domestic assault, a misdemeanor. After a bail study was completed, she was released on her own recognizance and denied an application for a public defender.

According to the criminal complaint, authorities were called shortly before 10 p.m. July 3 in regard to a domestic dispute in progress. Upon arrival at the scene, two law enforcement officials were approached by a female, later indentified as Hansen. She claimed her husband had burned her with a cigarette, but allegedly stated he would say she had caused the red mark on her back herself.

The officers entered the home and found Hansen’s husband sitting on a couch. He stated the two had returned from a trip to Sioux Falls, S.D., and she had gotten angry with him and come at him with a knife. He allegedly indicated she had put a mark on his back by striking him with something, possibly the knife handle. He denied burning her with a cigarette and said he had wrestled the knife away from her; he believed her hand was cut in the struggle.

Hansen tried to show the officers the burn, but they couldn’t see any marks. She explained she could feel it but couldn’t show it. When an officer noted a cut on her right hand, he asked if she was left or right-handed to try to verify her story. She allegedly claimed to be left-handed, but then used her right hand to answer her phone and check a message. She allegedly stated the assault had something to do with money, claiming her husband gambled. Hansen then said they were both upstairs and her husband went downstairs, got a knife and cut her while she was in their bedroom.

The officers opted to have each person tell their story separately, as the evidence did not seem to be consistent.

The husband said Hansen came at him with a knife and was standing over him on the bed. Blood spatter high on the wall and on window blinds were consistent with his story, the officers noted.

When Hansen was brought upstairs to explain her side of the story, she allegedly brought the officers to a different room and said the fight started there when her husband started ripping up cigarettes and throwing them at her. She said he went downstairs and got the knife, came back, then burned her with the cigarette. Again, she said she couldn’t show them the burn, but could only feel it.

When asked where this had occurred, she allegedly stated the fight had moved to the other bedroom, where he held her down on the bed and choked her with both hands to the point she almost passed out. She said she escaped and went downstairs to call 911.

When questioned about details, she allegedly could not explain how her husband could choke her with both hands and hold a knife at the same time. She then pointed at a knife in the room. The husband, however, had showed the officers a different knife in the lower level of the house and stated he had taken it away from her and hid it.

Hansen said her husband had turned off all the lights and followed her downstairs. She could not explain why all the lights were on when the officers arrived or why they were not able to see any choking or strangulation marks on her neck.

When confronted about the inconsistencies in her story, Hansen allegedly admitted she had the knife during the fight, but claimed it was for self-defense. She only had it, she said, because he was choking her so badly.

Given the physical evidence and the inconsistencies in her story, Hansen was placed under arrest and taken to Nobles County Jail.

Tags: news, crime, woman, attack, knife, luverne