WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — The husband who was arrested for murder about three months after police said he reported his wife’s apparent suicide is now free on bond.

Bruce Hanson, 64, was released Monday, July 25, on a $300,000 bond. His attorney, Jeff Eaves, is listed as a bondsman.

Hanson had been jailed on a $1 million bond since his arrest in January.

On Friday, July 8, 2022, 30th District Judge Jeff McKnight signed an order to lower Bruce Hanson‘s $1 million bond to $300,000.

Hanson, who turned 64 the day his wife died, had his first request for a lower bond denied in February, and his attorney appealed to the state Court of Appeals.

Eaves’ motion for a lower bond stated his client was being confined illegally because of an excessive and oppressive bond in violation of his constitutional rights.

Conditions of being released on bond include 24-hour use of a GPS ankle monitor, house arrest unless meeting with his attorney, appearing in court or going to work, a curfew from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m., surrendering his passport, and not consuming any alcohol.

Police were called to Hanson’s home on Geronimo last October about a possible suicide by gunshot. They found his wife, Vickie, in a bedroom, dead from a gunshot to the head. Due to numerous inconsistencies in Hanson’s statements, police continued the investigation and in January arrested him for murder.

Detectives said with no evidence of powder burns on the wound it would not have been possible for Vickie to shoot herself in the head from the distance the gun was fired from.

They also said her two children said Hanson was abusive to her and she was in the process of moving out.