Jury Acquits Ex-Policeman in Slaying of Wife’s Lover : Courts: Thomas A. Minn claimed self-defense in the murder case. He said he opened fire because Paul R. Hangen was reaching for a gun under the seat of his truck.

A former Anaheim police officer was acquitted Tuesday in the shooting death of his wife’s lover in Riverside County last year.

Thomas A. Minn, 37, of Corona admitted shooting Paul R. Hangen during a confrontation about the affair, but he said he fired in self-defense when Hangen seemed to be reaching under a truck seat for a weapon.

The Riverside County Superior Court jury deliberated the murder case just over a day before voting to acquit Minn, who resigned from the Anaheim Police Department after 14 years as an officer.

Hangen’s family expressed outrage at the verdict, comparing it to the acquittal earlier Tuesday of O.J. Simpson, who was on trial on two counts of murder.

“There is no justice today,” said the victim’s brother, Tim Hangen, 35, of Norco. “If you’re a cop or if you’re a celebrity and you kill someone, you can just go free.”

Attempts to reach Minn after the verdict were unsuccessful, and his lawyer did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

Hangen, 28, was found dead in his pickup truck Dec. 16 half a mile from the home in Corona where Minn lived with his wife, Elian Schonberger, then 36. He was shot twice in the head with Minn’s .45-caliber service revolver.

Authorities said Minn watched for months as his wife openly displayed her affections for Hangen, a Corona welder who lived with the couple for several months. Deputy Dist. Atty. Kevin J. Ruddy told jurors in opening statements that Minn shot Hangen twice at a range of six to 12 inches.

But Minn’s defense attorney argued that the former officer fired when a discussion between the two men turned violent and Minn thought Hangen was reaching under the seat of the truck for a gun.

Hangen, whose left arm was partially under the seat when he was discovered, was known to carry a gun there, argued defense attorney James A. Stotler. Minn, who had a gun out of fear the talk might get out of hand, fired instinctively because of his police training, Stotler told jurors.

Minn testified for a day and a half and Schonberger took the stand in Minn’s defense.

Minn’s father, contacted at his home in Anaheim, declined to comment. He said his son was not there. The prosecutor declined to discuss the verdict, saying he had not spoken to jurors since they returned it.

Minn, Schonberger and Hangen became friends when Hangen and his parents, acquaintances of the Minns, moved in with the Minns in 1994 while waiting for their new home to be readied. Hangen remained after his parents moved out two months later. He and Schonberger became romantically involved as her six-year marriage to Minn deteriorated.

Schonberger’s son, who was 13 at the time of the shooting, testified on videotape that his mother and Minn slept in separate bedrooms and discussed divorce. The boy said Schonberger hit and bit Minn during arguments.

The two men became enemies and Hangen moved out. Stotler told jurors that Hangen referred to Minn as “fat boy” and said he wanted to kill him. Hangen also was in fear of Minn.

On the night of the shooting, Schonberger was waiting for Hangen to take her dancing. But Minn intercepted him about 7 p.m. Minn returned home after the shooting and took a shower. Stotler said Minn did not know his shots had hit Hangen.

Outside the Hangen family’s Corona townhouse on Tuesday, the victim’s mother said the jury ignored facts and felt sorry for Minn because he was a “battered husband.”

Hangen’s father, Robert Hangen, said, “When that cop killed my son, he killed my family. Part of all of us died that night.”