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Vermont law professor death ruled a suicide

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Cheryl Hanna — a popular law professor at Vermont Law School — died on July 27 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, after battling severe depression for the prior two months.

Hanna, who was an expert in constitutional law and women and the law, had been hospitalized twice in the nine days prior to her death for serious depression, according to the Valley News. 

Her husband, Paul Henninge, said she began battling severe depression in May. In late July, she agreed to be admitted into a hospital. But the psychiatric unit was full, forcing her to spend three days in the emergency ward. She then went home for two days to celebrate her 48th birthday on July 22. She returned to the hospital when a bed was finally available and stayed another three days.

But her husband said she was concerned with the stigma of being in a psychiatric ward and wanted to go home. She was released on Friday, July 25 for the weekend.

Unbeknownst to her husband, she purchased a gun the next day.

“She bought the gun the day before,” Henninge told the Valley News. “It is shocking that somebody who had voluntarily admitted herself to the hospital [for psychiatric treatment was able to easily buy a gun.]”

On Sunday, Henninge left for an event, he told Seven Days, an alternative paper in Vermont. Hanna’s sister, who was in town to help, also left for a brief time. When Henninge returned he could not find his wife and searched the home. He finally found her in the basement wounded.

Police, fire and rescue arrived at 11:59 a.m., and Hanna died at the hospital at 2:33 p.m.

Henninge turned to facebook to share some information about his wife’s unexpected death.

“It has been a trying two months with my wife’s relatively recent battle with severe depression,” Henninge wrote.

Hanna, a mother of two, was a respected legal analyst, lawyer, teacher and legal commentator in Vermont. Overwhelming support for her family has surfaced since her passing.

Vermont Law School made a statement regarding Hanna’s death and her remaining legacy.

“It is with the most profound sorrow that we announce the untimely death of our dear colleague Professor Cheryl Hanna,” the statement read. “A graduate of Harvard Law School, Professor Hanna was an expert in constitutional law, the United States Supreme Court, and women and the law. Her scholarship has been published in leading journals, including the Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, and Michigan Journal of Gender and the Law. Professor Hanna was also a frequent media commentator, including on Vermont Public Radio and WCAX-TV.”

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