A Tabor man has pleaded guilty, but mentally ill, after setting off a house explosion last August in Tabor.
29-year-old Joseph Thomas Hansen appeared this week at the Bon Homme County courthouse. As part of a plea deal, he pleaded guilty but mentally ill to one count of possessing explosives after a violent crime conviction. In turn, the state dismissed ten of the same counts against him.
Circuit Judge Cheryle Gering says she isn’t required to accept the plea deal. In addition, she is required under state law to hold an evidentiary hearing to determine his mental state. If she doesn’t find sufficient evidence to support his plea, she can reject it.
According to court documents, back in August authorities received a 911 call from a resident in the 100 block of East Chicago Street in Tabor. The caller reported hearing an explosion coming from the neighbor’s house and seeing a male lying in the driveway.
Hansen was found unresponsive in the driveway with apparent thermal burns. He was transported to a hospital for his injuries. Hansen detonated a pipe bomb in his driveway, with the explosion rocking his Tabor neighborhood. He suffered extensive burns and required hospitalization.
