Murder suspect sent to mental health facility

Bill Gang

Friday, March 12, 1999 | 11:15 a.m.

Scott Bedard, who is charged with murder in the execution style slaying of 33-year-old Bill Hanlon Jr. -- the son of state Board of Education member Bill Hanlon Sr. -- has been sent to the state's mental health facility.

District Judge Jeff Sobel decided Thursday that Bedard's mental condition needed further evaluation after a recent outburst in court. His trial had been scheduled for May 3 on a variety of charges and he could face the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder.

Metro Police believe the victim had interrupted a burglary inside an office building in southwest Las Vegas.

The arrest of Bedard, 33, came after Templeton Real Estate Corp., which owns the executive suites building at Rainbow Boulevard at Desert Inn Road, offered a $10,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the killer.

Bedard was arrested just hours after the early-morning murder in August 1997.

Hanlon was shot in the head, and police said there didn't appear to have been a struggle.

Detectives said the murder weapon was recovered at Bedard's residence, along with electronic equipment and other property allegedly taken in the burglary.

Hanlon had started his janitorial business, Squeegee Enterprises, with his wife about a year before the incident, and he was in the habit of following up on different jobs to make sure his employees were thorough.

That is what his father believes the victim was doing when he apparently surprised a burglar.