Mark Reutter and Fern Shen report at Baltimore Brew that Mark H. Hansen, a former priest of the Diocese of Connecticut, posted bail January 15 for the Rt. Rev. Heather Cook:
Hansen posted $35,000 of collateral and signed a $215,000 promissory note to meet the 10% requirement of the $2.5 million bail for Bishop Cook, who was jailed last Friday on manslaughter and drunk driving charges stemming from a car crash that killed bicyclist Thomas Palermo.
Reached this afternoon, Hansen said, “I’m not talking to the press, OK? We have an attorney.”
Only one condition is required of Bishop Cook under the terms of today’s bail: “Do not drive while pending trial.”
George Conger of Anglican Ink provides details on what led to Hansen’s being deposed:
Dr. Mark Hansen, one of the original Connecticut 6 rectors, paid for the bond. A friend of the bishop’s since their days as fellow students at General Theological Seminary, Hansen (pictured above on the far right of the group photo wearing a yellow tie) was deposed in 2005 by the Rt. Rev. Andrew Smith of Connecticut after he attempted to withdraw his congregation, St John’s Episcopal Church in Bristol, from the diocese.
… In the autobiography she submitted to the diocese as part of the search process, Bishop Cook (who was then serving as Canon to the Ordinary of the Diocese of Easton on Maryland’s Eastern Shore) wrote:
“Supporting me in my vocation is my steady companion, Mark, a passionate Anglican. After having dated in our twenties, life took us different ways, but we found each other again two years ago, and it has been a great blessing.”
Hansen was among people presenting gifts during Cook’s ordination and consecration as Bishop Suffragan of Maryland.
Image: Mark Hansen stands on the right in a General Theological Seminary photo on the day of Bishop Cook’s ordination and consecration.
