Newton Man Pleads Not Guilty To Wife's July Murder, Is Denied Bail

Woburn, MA — A Newton man accused of beating his wife to death with multiple objects, including a baseball bat, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder during an arraignment hearing Thursday in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn, according to multiple sources.

Richard Hanson, 64, has been charged in connection with the July 15 fatal assault of his wife Nancy Hanson, 54, which took place inside the couple's Newton home while the couple's three children were in the house.

Nancy Hanson reportedly had obtained a restraining order against her husband just days before the alleged assault, though Newton police had been unsuccessful in serving the order, according to authorities.

On Thursday, a magistrate judge ordered Richard Hanson held without bail while the case is pending and ruled that Hanson can't reach out and contact his own children.

The judge said a motion for review could be filed if the children, who remain in state custody, choose to contact their father.

Hanson was arraigned on murder charges in Newton District Court in July and indicted by a grand jury on Aug. 17, which shifted the case to the Superior Court, according to Boston.com.

In court, Prosecutor Megan McGovern has cited police reports that allege Richard Hanson struck his wife with one or more objects during a physical altercation.

McGovern said that one of the couple's sons called 911 and told police that his father was hitting his mother with a baseball bat, according to Boston.com

One of Nancy Hanson's friends, who was on the phone with the victim at the time of the alleged assault, also called 911 and told police she heard children screaming and saying "Dad, stop, you're killing her," according to McGovern.

When officers arrived at the couple's Brookline Street home, the prosecutor said, Richard Hanson was standing in the driveway with blood on his clothes.

Officers found Nancy Hanson lying unconscious on the floor of a bedroom and bleeding from the head, the prosecutor said. The officers allegedly found a bloody baseball bat and barbell nearby.

Nancy Hanson was rushed to Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital, where she later died. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide and the cause of death as blunt force trauma.

McGovern told the court Thursday that, according to the police report, Richard Hanson had continuously accused his wife of cheating on him prior to carrying out the alleged bat attack.

The Boston Globe reported that Nancy Hanson had denied cheating on her husband in a written affidavit. The newspaper reported that Nancy Hanson alleged that her husband refused to give her access to family finances, spent money earmarked for their children and squandered $10,000 on shoes.