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Homicide victim 'had biggest, most beautiful heart"

John Hult
jhult@argusleader.com
John Richard Senn appears in court Thursday.

Mourners arranged candles, balloons and flowers Thursday evening outside the home of a 53-year-old Sioux Falls woman who was stabbed to death Wednesday in what police called a drug-related homicide.

Authorities think the suspect, John Richard Senn, 41, stabbed Brenda Lynn Hansen, 53, several times in her home about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday before fleeing with the woman's Oxycontin pills.

The killing was the city's second homicide of the year.

At the vigil, friends and family decorated the top of a wheelchair ramp Hansen once needed to get in and out of her home at 5605 W. Misty Glen Place, on the far southwestern edge of Sioux Falls.

People who knew her said Hansen was not a drug user or dealer, but a health care worker and foreign exchange student host who'd struggled with a series of health setbacks in recent years.

"She had the biggest, most beautiful heart," said Melissa Prince, who worked with Hansen at Avera Hospital. "She was there for you for anything."

Police say Senn was captured at his own home in the 2800 block of West Theodore Place, about 2 1/2 miles from Hansen's home, with Hansen's pills in his possession.

Senn, an acquaintance of Hansen, has been charged with alternate counts of first- and second-degree murder, robbery and burglary in the case and is being held on a $1 million cash bond.

The victim had taken on roommates in recent years to help her at home and help her pay the bills, having lost her job after breaking her hip, friend Mike Kottman said.

Kottman's daughter was one of the roommates. She'd lost her home, he said, and Hansen had taken her in.

His daughter pulled in behind Senn as he drove away from the house, Kottman said.

"He knew what he was doing," Kottman said. "He knew she had medical problems. Apparently he knew her somehow, but the guy was a mutt. He was a fiend."

Police say they found the knife and gloves they think Senn used to attack Hansen. More information will be available today.

There were children in the home, along with the roommates, when the stabbing took place, Barthel said, but none of them saw the altercation.

"They heard the commotion, the yelling, and came from the back room," Barthel said.

Police used the license plate offered by the caller to track the car to the owner's home on the 2800 block of South Theodore Place, where Senn had been staying.

Senn appeared in court for a brief initial appearance Thursday in Canton. He's charged with alternate counts of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, robbery and burglary.

If convicted on any of the murder counts, the minimum sentence is life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Senn's lawyers did not oppose Lincoln County State's Attorney Tom Wollman's request for a $1 million cash bond.

Judge Stuart Tiede set the bond at $1 million, saying Senn represents a danger to the community if released.

Hansen's friends hope she can be remembered more for the way she lived than the way she died.

Kaylene Dozark said her friend lived for her grandson and daughter.

She also was an animal lover, Dozark said, who was crushed when the manager of her mobile home park ordered her to give up a rescued pit bull.

"She'd rescued one dog from the side of the road and basically nursed it back to health," she said.

Dozark moved away from Sioux Falls about a year ago, last spoke with Hansen about a month ago, but barely missed her chance to see her even more recently than that.

"I'm in shock today," she said. "I just drove by her house last week, but I didn't have the time to stop."

A memorial fund has been set up for Hansen's family. Donations can be made at any Home Federal Bank.

House at 5605 West Misty Glen Place in southwest Sioux Falls where police say a 53-year-old woman was murdered Wednesday afternoon.

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Police say woman, 53, was killed in drug-related homicide