How Did a Tragic Fire Turn Into a Murder Trial?

Hi crime junkies. Today I have a solo. episode for you. It's about a case that. rocked the quiet California community. where it unfolded. Twin teenage sisters. were shot while their house was set on. fire and the identity of the biggest. suspect fractured the family at the. heart of the story. But as we dug in, I. couldn't help but think maybe there's. more to the story. On the surface, I can. see how someone could think it's an open. and shut case. But the more I learned, the more I wondered if it was as. straightforward as police initially. portrayed it to be. Or did they miss.

evidence pointing in other directions? This is the story of Jill and Julie. Hansen. It's around 3:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 15th, 1986 in Willow Creek, California when 40-year-old Hans Hansen. suddenly jolts awake from a deep sleep. His feet are on his bedroom floor before. he knows what woke him up, but he. immediately smells smoke and hears. something popping. His wife, Betty, is.

already out of bed scrambling to get her. robe on and when they throw open their. bedroom door, they are met with a. hellscape. The bathroom across the hall. is engulfed in flames and Hans hears. that popping noise again. He's assuming. it's some hairspray cans exploding in. the heat of the fire or something like. that and Hans knows he has to move. quickly. He, Betty and three of their. children are home and they all need to. get out now. They live in a double-wide. trailer. The bedrooms and bathrooms are.

on one side, then a hallway leads to the. kitchen, living room and front room. [music] and a fire is going to move. through the home fast. Hans rushes to. the living room where he knows his. 21-year-old stepson Donnie was sleeping. on the couch, but the sliding glass. doors open and Donnie's gone, so he must. have gotten out. Donnie, check. Hans. just needs to find their 16-year-old. twin daughters Jill and Julie. He tries to get to the bedroom that they. were sleeping in, but his stomach drops. as he realizes that the fire's blocking. the door. He grabs a fire extinguisher.

from a closet and starts frantically. spraying down the hallway, yelling at. Betty to call for help. But the fire is. out of control. So, he runs to his warehouse to get. another fire extinguisher. Betty's on. the phone inside the warehouse, and. their son Donnie is also there grabbing. more fire extinguishers. But they soon. realize it's not going to help. The fire. is just too big. So, Hans gets the. garden hose, breaks the window leading. to the bedroom where the girls are, and. throws the hose inside, which is when, according to the Time Standard, he hears.

one of the girls call out for help. So, at least one of them is still in the. trailer. And within minutes, firefighters are on the scene battling. the blaze. It's not until that moment. that Hans realizes Julie is already. outside. In all of the commotion, he. missed her getting out. First responders. are working on her, but she is in bad. shape. She's clutching her stomach, and. paramedics think that the fire caused an. explosion that severely injured her, and. she needs to go to the hospital. immediately. Hans knows that he and.

Betty have to go with her, but there's. still no sign of her sister Jill. First. responders have taken over the scene, so. as torn as they are, Hans and Betty ask. Donnie to wait for word on Jill as they. rush to the hospital. Hans and Betty. have nothing to do but sit and wait for. news. And when a doctor finally comes. out to give them an update, it's something that they're not. expecting at all. Julie's stomach injury. isn't from the fire. The doctor tells. them that she was shot at close range. As the reality of what happened to his.

daughter strikes Hans, and he thinks back to the fire, it hits. him. That popping sound he heard when he. woke up. That could have been gunshots, but none of it is making sense. As. doctors work to save Julie, Hans and. Betty stand by for any updates on Jill. They're holding on to the hope that. maybe Jill will be okay. But between. 10:00 and 11:00 that same morning, they. get news that while combing through. what's left of the house, first. responders found Jill in the kitchen. She died in the fire. And while they.

were still reeling from the revelation. about Julie's injuries, they get Jill's autopsy results and find. that she had also been shot. So, this is. now a murder investigation. And as. police start cataloging evidence at the. crime scene, they find two empty gas. cans, one in the house and one on the. deck, the same kind Hans says he kept in. his warehouse. And investigators quickly. realize gas was used to start the fire. intentionally. Investigators want to. know who would want to harm Jill and.

Julie, and they start looking into the. girls and their lives. And. it's an understatement to say that Jill. and Julie were adored in their. community. Everyone knows the Hansen. twins because when they were just 10. years old, Jill was diagnosed with. leukemia. And the whole town of Willow. Creek rallied behind the family in her. six-year road to recovery. And just. recently, she had been given a clean. bill of health. As far as the family can. tell, there is no one who would want to. hurt them. And while the town where the. Hansens lived was relatively safe, the.

county around it was a different story. [music] It is literally known as Murder. Mountain because of the number of. killings and disappearances thought to. be connected to massive drug deals in. the area. And we know crime does spill. over. And I'm sure investigators have. that in the back of their minds as they. start to investigate. They ask witnesses. in the area about what they saw that. night. And they seem to get some like. half leaves. One neighbor tells them. that sometime after the fire, she saw. two teen boys standing near the trailer.

watching the fire unfold. And one had. what looked like ashes on his shoulder. Some neighbors report having heard two. blasts and then a car peeling off in the. distance. Other neighbors say they saw a. car driving toward Highway 199, according to the time standard. And I. wish I could tell you what kind of car. it was, but we couldn't get. investigative records for this case. So, most of the information we have is from. archives of local papers. The Time Standard reported that. investigators also find spent shotgun.

shells in the trailer. And hidden behind. some boxes in the back of Hans'. warehouse, they find a 12-gauge shotgun. with an obvious palm print. And they. send the shells and the gun off for. testing to see if they match. This. discovery, of course, sets off alarm. bells for police. And they ask Hans. about the gun, and he tells them it's. not his. He only has an old rifle that. he kept from his childhood, not a. 12-gauge shotgun like the one they. found. But that's when investigators. find something else. Something that.

turns the idea of a random attack into. something totally different. A few. unspent shotgun shells somewhere else. Inside Hans' stepson, Donnie's car. In the parks and forests you love, there. are stories waiting to be told. I'm. Delia D'Ambra, the host of Park. Predators, [music] a true crime podcast. that reminds you sometimes the most. beautiful places [music] hide the. darkest secrets. Listen now wherever you.

get your podcasts. They send those unspent shotgun shells. off for testing, too. And they. immediately want to talk to Donnie to. get his story of what happened that. night. And like I mentioned, our request for. investigative files was denied. So, we. had to piece together what Donnie told. police from reporting by the Time. Standard, Unsolved Mysteries, and other. records. And from those sources, here's. what we know. Donnie says he was asleep. on the couch in the living room the. night of the fire. And he was woken up. by a shotgun blast. He sat up on the.

couch, and in the flash from the gun. going off, he saw Julie collapse at the. end of the hallway that opens up into. the living room. He says the house was. already on fire, and he ran over to pick. Julie up and carried her outside. And. Donnie told police that he didn't get a. good look at who else was in the house. He just said he saw a quote dark figure. They asked Donnie about the unspent. shotgun shells in his car. And Donnie. says he'd bought them because they were. in the store. He'd borrowed a 12-gauge. shotgun from his friend and they took it.

target shooting earlier that week. He. had meant to return the gun but forgot. it in the back seat of his car. Which Donnie's friend later backs up. And with no ballistics back yet, investigators are still waiting to see. if they're all a match. The gun in the. warehouse, the unspent shells in. Donnie's car, and the spent shells in. the house. As police continue their investigation, they're surveilling the Hansens property. to see if anybody comes back to the. scene of the crime. And during their. stakeout, their waiting pays off. Patrol. officers watch as a man lurks around the.

warehouse. Officers call a detective to. the scene. >> [music]. >> And when the detective confronts this. person, it's Donnie. According to an episode about the case. on Unsolved Mysteries, Donnie tells them. he is looking for the family dog, who. sleeps in the warehouse at night. But. the police don't buy it. Hans and Betty. have been camping out in a motor home. outside the hospital as they wait for. Julie to wake up. And when police later. ask Hans, he tells them that Donnie knew. the dog was being watched by a friend. and wasn't at the house. So police think.

he might be looking for the shotgun that. they now think he hid. Now, Donnie. doesn't know that the police already. found it because they didn't mention. that to him when they first interviewed. him. And it doesn't help Donnie when. ballistics come back and police are able. to confirm that the shotgun found in the. back of Hans's warehouse was the same. gun used to shoot the girls. And the. same gun Donnie had borrowed and taken. target shooting. The unspent shells in. his car? Also a match. They also find that on. Wednesday, which would be a couple of.

days before the shooting, Donnie had. asked Hans for the credit card that the. family used for gas to fill up his car. Investigators look at the credit card. statements and see that there was a. charge for 5 gallons of gas at a gas. station nearby. Police look into the gas. station Donnie purchased the gas from. They're able to confirm that he. purchased gas that day, but Donnie. didn't fill his car with the gas. He filled a gas can. When police asked. Donnie about this, he tells them that. the fuel spout was bent on his car, so. he had to use a gas can to fill up. But. all of this coupled together isn't.

looking great. And my question is, why. would Donnie do [music] this? By all. accounts, Donnie was a good kid. He. wasn't into drugs or partying. He was a. star student in high school. But his parents did say that after. graduation, he began to drift a little. After one semester in college, he. dropped out and didn't seem to have the. drive that he used to. He'd moved in. with his grandmother in Fortuna, about. an hour and a half away. He would come. down to Willow Creek every once in a. while to help with the family business,

and that's actually what he was doing. there, why he was sleeping on the couch. the night of the fire. The Thursday. before the fire, Donnie and Betty got. into a squabble. Betty asked Donnie to. take something out of the freezer for. her, and he had an attitude. Apparently, Donnie stormed out and said he was going. back to Fortuna. But Donnie ended up. calling Betty later, apologizing for his. back, and coming back to Willow Creek. the next day, Friday the 14th. That's. the day before the fire. But that fight. that Betty and Donnie had wasn't. anything new. Donnie and Betty got into. low-stakes arguments often, mostly.

because Betty would get on Donnie about. not working or being in school. And to. me, it seems like kind of a huge leap to go. from just bickering with his mom to. murder. It seems like just. run-of-the-mill family stuff. Like my. son is only 17, but I kind of get it. Like it seems so normal. And other than. that moment between Donnie and his mom, Hans said Donnie was in a great mood. that week. Hans is Donnie's stepdad, but. the two were so close that he called. Hans dad.

And his family said that Donnie also had. a good relationship with Jill and Julie. So, it doesn't make a lot of sense why. he'd just shoot them. And while. investigators are trying to parse out a. motive, a few days after the fire, Julie. wakes up. And this could be the moment. that police find out what really. happened. At first, she's only able to. communicate through writing, but about a. week from the fire, she starts talking. Investigators waste no time asking her. what can she remember. Julie tells. police a noise woke her up just before.

3:00 a.m. the night of the fire. It. sounded like someone loading batteries. into a flashlight. She left Jill asleep. in the room that they shared that night. and walked toward the living room. Julie later told Hans that she didn't. remember any smoke or fire at that. point, which is a little weird to me. because by the time Hans said he heard. popping, he already smelled smoke and. the fire was spreading fast. But, Julie's memory is actually pretty shaky. Like, she does remember being ambushed. at the end of the hallway, but in the.

darkness, she didn't see who shot her. As she gets better, she tells police. that as the shotgun fired, she could. make out Donnie's face for a split. second. But, Julie doesn't actually say. that he was the shooter. And Donnie did. say he was woken up in the living room. by a shotgun blast, too. So, it really just proves that Donnie was in. the room, which we know. And Julie's. story changes. Detectives speak to a doctor who treated. Julie at the hospital, who says, "Julie. never mentioned that she saw anyone when.

she was shot.". A first responder who was in the. ambulance with Julie says that she told. them Donnie carried her outside after. she was shot, which does confirm what he. said. And even though she's awake, she's. still needing round-the-clock medical. care. Hans and Betty are still camped. outside the hospital, and they haven't. seen Donnie much since the fire. And. that's been bothering Hans. Police told. Hans about the shotgun that was found in. the warehouse, and they They him. specifically not to bring it up with. Donnie while they looked into him more. But Hans has a bad feeling about the.

whole thing. And despite the directive. from police, he just wants to talk to. Donnie. So, one night, Donnie stops by. the motorhome. And Hans just straight out asks Donnie. about the 12-gauge shotgun. Donnie flips. out as if the question was an. accusation. He yells at his stepdad that. he didn't do it and runs out of the. motorhome. Hans told us Donnie's. reaction that night changed everything. for him. From then on, he believed that. Donnie had something to do with what. happened. And look, I can see how high.

emotions must have been for Hans. But to. be fair, if I'm Donnie and I'm innocent, I just. lost my sister and I'm now feeling. accused of having something to do with. it, I'm probably going to react pretty. strongly, too. And around 2 weeks after. the fire, Donnie voluntarily goes into. the station and sits through about 2. hours of questioning. And according to Unsolved Mysteries, police also give Donnie two polygraph. tests. And he fails not one, but both. polygraphs. And he tells something new.

to the cops. Something he didn't mention in his first. interview. He said he did hide the. shotgun that they found in the. warehouse, but not for the reason they. might think. He says in the midst of the. fire, he was scared he [snorts] would be. framed for shooting the girls if they. found the shotgun in the backseat of his. car. So, he moved it. And. I don't know, it's kind of tough to. follow this thought process, right? I. mean, your family is dying in a house. fire and you're thinking, pause, let me go hide this shotgun so I.

don't get blamed. But it's obvious that. police aren't buying any of this. And. it's not just this interview and the two. failed polygraphs. Remember that handprint on the gun? Well, it comes back that it's Donnie's. The print is encased in fire. extinguisher residue. So, it shows that. Donnie had handled both the gun and a. fire extinguisher that night. And police. are thinking all roads lead to Donnie at. this point, and they arrest him. And. he's charged with arson and Jill's. murder. But then, 2 weeks after his. arrest, Julie suddenly dies.

And it's a shock to everyone because she. was getting better. But after about a. month in the hospital, an air bubble. entered her bloodstream through an IV. feeding tube, and ultimately stopped her. heart. It was a super rare medical accident. But it's then that Donnie's charges are. upgraded to another count of murder. So. now, the family has to cope with the. loss of two children. And in another. way, the loss of a third child. Because. Hans said after that night when he.

confronted Donnie about the shotgun, and. he reacted the way he did, Donnie has been dead to him. And that could have been it. Like, case. closed, right? Donnie's prints encased. in fire extinguisher residue are on the. gun. The gun that he admitted he had. borrowed from a friend just days before. And the matching shells. The evidence. seems pretty damning. But when it goes. to trial, it becomes clear that the case. against Donnie has some significant. holes. And this case that seemed so cut and. dry, suddenly seems to fall apart.

Donnie spends the next 18 months in the. Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County. awaiting his trial. He maintains his. innocence the whole time and is. convinced there's not enough to convict. him. There's a lot on the line for. Donnie because [music] the District. Attorney Terry Farmer decides to seek. the death penalty. And the case is. making waves. Local newspapers cover the. trial extensively. And according to. Richard Muha, the private investigator. on Donnie's defense, there was a general. belief in town that Donnie was guilty.

So Donnie's defense team has their work. cut out for them. While Donnie is in. jail, they do an investigation of their. own, and they uncover some pretty. outstanding gaps left by the official. police investigation. Donnie's defense. team finds that the police allegedly. refused to pursue evidence that could. rule him out as a suspect. For example, on the gun, investigators only tested. the obvious palm print. They didn't. check for any other possible. fingerprints. They also didn't test the. gun or the box of shells in Donny's car.

for other fingerprints. And remember. those teens and the car peeling off? Well, neither of those two things seems. to have been thoroughly investigated. And here's the thing. According to reporting by the. Times-Standard, police actually did. question those two teens. And Hans told. us he actually knows who they are. because they live in the area. But the. deputy who questioned them is one of the. boys' uncle. And apparently, the entire conversation. between the deputy and his nephew was. excluded from his report. And no note of.

their relationship was made, according. to newspaper archives. Which is like a huge conflict of. interest. And maybe it's nothing. But. maybe it's everything. [music]. And the fact that it's just never. mentioned is pretty wild to me. And we. actually found one of the boys who was. there that night ourselves. And he told. our reporter that he doesn't remember. much because he was high on acid. All he. remembers seeing is a fire and walking. over to it. But police were focused on. Donny, so it doesn't seem like those.

boys were ever investigated any further. And the defense's investigation also. found that the lock on the trailer's. sliding glass door had been tampered. with. Evidence that someone could have. broken into the house that night. So, Donny's trial begins in April of 1988. It takes place in Alameda County, hundreds of miles south of Humboldt. A. superior court judge moved the. proceedings because he didn't think. Donny would get a fair trial back home. And at trial, Donny's defense paints a. picture of how the night of the fire. played out. A scenario where Donny was.

one of the victims, not the perpetrator. They say, Donny's asleep on the couch in. the living room while two mysterious men. are casing the property outside. Maybe they're the two teens on acid. maybe they're someone else. They notice. a shotgun inside Donnie's car, grab it. just in case. They pick the lock to the. sliding glass door near where Donnie is. sleeping, and the two assailants quietly come. inside. They don't notice Donnie. sleeping on the couch in the darkness, and they set about starting a fire when. Julie comes down the hall. They panic,

shoot her with the shotgun they found in. the car outside, and that's when Donnie. wakes up. And when Julie sees his face. in the blast, the perpetrators are. surprised by Donnie's presence and. hesitate long enough for Donnie to grab. Julie and run outside. He leaves her on. the ground and takes off until he's seen. next by Hans and Betty in the warehouse. Hans and Betty wake up as the inferno is. picking up. And remember, Hans doesn't. remember exactly what woke him up, but. he heard those pops and smelled smoke. Everyone rushes to get out of the house, and Jill is the last one up.

Jill comes out of the room that she was. in and into the kitchen. The gunman, who. is still inside the house, shoots Jill, who falls to the ground. The defense. claims that everyone was outside of the. trailer when Jill was shot, and. therefore Donnie couldn't have shot. Jill. After shooting Jill, the. perpetrators flee, but before they leave. the property, they drop the gun back in. Donnie's car. Later, when Donnie sees it sitting in a. different position in his car, he takes. it and hides it in the warehouse, which. I still think that's strange behavior in.

the middle of a fire, but it's also. important to note that all the evidence. against Donnie is circumstantial. Like, his handprint could be on the gun. because Donnie shot the girls, or. because he simply panicked and moved the. gun, or because he had used the gun for. target practice like he admitted to. There's one more small detail that the. defense picks up on, and I mentioned it. earlier, but Hans said that when he was. outside wrestling with the garden hose, he heard someone call for help from. inside the burning trailer. According to.

the defense's narrative, Julie and. Donnie were already outside, so this. could have been Jill calling for help, meaning she was still alive when Donnie. was outside. Therefore, he couldn't have. been the one to shoot her, which. could be huge. But, I'm just not sure. how seriously to take that detail. because. just about everyone involved had a. slightly different recollection of how. the night went down and who was where or. when. But, say Donnie didn't do it.

Why would someone go through all of this. trouble and take the gun out of his car? Like, you're just walking by and you. decide to try and kill a family. Oh, and. return the murder weapon where you by. chance found it. And that's what I can't. make sense of. And it doesn't seem like. it was a robbery or anything like that. because Hans said nothing in the house. seemed to be missing. Their brand new. VCR was still sitting on the TV right. beside the sliding glass door where. someone would have entered. And in 1986, a VCR was a luxury. During the trial,

William Bragg, Donnie's attorney, brought in a criminal psychologist to. testify that he examined Donnie and. found no reason to conclude that he was. capable of this crime. But, the. prosecution painted a completely. different picture. They described Donnie. as an irresponsible kid who loves. expensive, fast cars and was looking for. quick money. And Hans's logging supply. business is booming. Hans and some. relatives also own a really nice ranch. in Fortuna, like million-dollars nice. And Hans openly talked about their. $250,000 life insurance policies with.

the kids, including Donnie, so that they. knew that there was money if anything. ever happened to Hans and Betty. And that policy would double to $500,000. in the case of an accident. But, Donnie. would still have to split this with his. older sister who wasn't at the trailer. that night. Hans buys this narrative. He says that he and Betty bought Donnie. a reliable car, but Donnie sold it for. this old Corvette that always broke down. on him. According to the Time-Standard, during the trial, an auto mechanic.

testified that Donnie told him he was. planning on running into some money soon. in the six-figure range and had made a. deposit on a Corvette, which I assume. was a new one. But, investigators were. never able to track down any proof of. deposit. And my thought is if he wanted the. money, why wouldn't he shoot his parents first? Like. I feel like if you're trying to get life. insurance, they're are the main targets, right? But, maybe he shot his sisters. because he didn't want to share his.

inheritance and he assumed his parents. would die in the fire. Now, I don't. think you'd carry someone to safety that. you just shot, but we actually don't. know if Donnie did carry Julie to safety. or he just told people he did. Then. again, Julie told the paramedic that he did. The only other alternative we can think. of is that she crawled out of a burning. house and across the street, which seems. unlikely if you're bleeding from a. gunshot wound. Still, from what we know, the idea that Donnie, who by all.

accounts is a normal guy, would have. schemed up a plan to murder his family. for a few hundred thousand dollars, I'm not sure how convincing that is. And. other people feel that way, too, or felt. that way at the time. One of the most. dramatic moments of the trial is when. Betty goes on the stand. Bragg asks. Betty in front of the entire courtroom. if she thinks her son is capable of. doing something like this, and she says, "No.". The trial wraps up in mid-June. When it. comes time to deliberate, the jury takes. just six hours before coming back with.

their verdict, not guilty. According to. the Time Standard, jurors were concerned. that the prosecution couldn't really. show what exactly happened in the Hansen. house that night. And. you're not going to believe this, but. Bragg and Donnie actually go out to. dinner and drinks with some of the. jurors after he's found not guilty. I mean, I guess there's no rule against it. The. trial is over, but it doesn't look. great. Apparently, the defense was able. to discredit the prosecution's narrative. so much that the jury members wanted to.

hang out with the guy accused of the. crime. Donnie's other attorney, Alan. Chelfy, later told a reporter that. Donnie was acquitted because the jurors. were stuck on the fact that the. sheriff's department and the district. attorney's office poorly investigated. the crime. He went as far as to say that. there was, quote, "Flat-out incompetence. bordering on deliberate malfeasance.". End quote. And I can agree to a certain. extent, right? There were a lot of holes. in the investigation from not testing. for other fingerprints to not pursuing.

other potential suspects and not. painting a clear picture as to what. happened that night in the trailer. And. really, one of the teen's uncles. questioning them and it not being. reported. truly takes the cake for me. So, listen, I'm not saying Donnie is definitely. innocent, but I can see why he would be. acquitted because I don't think anyone, considering how the investigation was. conducted, could confidently say he did. this without a reasonable doubt. In the. years after he was acquitted, Donnie.

completely disconnected from Hans and. Betty. They never spoke again. Donnie changed his last name to his. biological father's last name and later. on married and had a family. He was quoted in a newspaper as thanking. his biological father and a couple other. friends and family members for being. there throughout this rough time in his. life. As we were reporting on this case. for this episode, we tracked Donnie. down, but he declined to speak with us. And in May of 2025, he was killed in a. car accident in Indiana. His obituary. describes him as a man of character,

full of love and generosity, who left. behind a loving wife and children. Hans. told us Donnie's death didn't really. feel like a huge blow because Donnie's. been dead to him since that November. night all those years ago. The last time. he spoke to Donnie was that tense. conversation outside the hospital. And in the years since, he's heard so. many theories and stories from people. who claim to know what happened. But to. this day, he's still convinced that. Donnie is responsible for the deaths of. Jill and Julie. He says Betty has had a. harder time grappling with the thought.

that her only son could do something. like this. And after all this time, the. family is still desperate for answers. from someone who may truly know what. happened. And it's Hans's hope that. those answers, that closure, could still. come. In 1992, Hans and Betty took Jill. and Julie's $50,000 college fund and. offered it as a reward for answers. And that same $50,000 is still being. offered today. If you know anything about the deaths of. Jill and Julie Hansen, please reach out. to the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office.

at 707-268-2539. or fill out their online tip form on. their website. You can find all the. source material for this episode on our. website crimejunkie.com. And if you want to listen to more. episodes like this [music] and all of. our episodes ad-free, be sure to join. our fan club. You'll also get early. access to new [music] episodes every. week and bonus content every month. And you can follow us on Instagram. @crimejunkiepodcast. We'll be back next week with a brand new. episode. [music].