A conviction in the murder of a southern Wisconsin high school principal will stand, under a ruling today by the Court of Appeals. The three judge panel ruled against an appeal by Eric Hainstock in the murder of John Klang, the principal of Weston High School in Cazenovia. Hainstock was 15 years-old when he brought two loaded guns to the school on September 29th of 2006, and shot and killed Klang during a struggle. That was a little more than a week after Hainstock told classmates that Klang wouldn’t live through homecoming.
In his appeal, Hainstock claimed that his confession was involuntary. Appeals court judges said that wouldn’t have mattered, there was enough evidence to convict him anyway. Hainstock is serving a life prison term with no parole possible until 2037.
John Colbert, WIBA