Louis M. “Gus” Serbeck died on April 20 after being assaulted by a father and son, prosecutors say. Serbeck had gone to their home to confront them about a claim that his daughter was assaulted the day before. (GoFundMe)
When Louis H. Serbeck thinks about the punishment for the two people charged with killing his 54-year-old son, he’s grateful New Jersey no longer has the death penalty.
“Because that would be too easy for them,” Serbeck said. “I want them to sit in that six-by-eight cell for the rest of their goddamn lives.”
Eric D. Hannah, 55, of Vineland, and his 17-year-old son face charges in the April 20 beating death of Louis M. “Gus” Serbeck. Prosecutors say the father and son attacked Serbeck with a metal bat and a large flashlight during a dispute at their home.
Serbeck had gone to confront the younger Hannah about allegedly assaulting his daughter the day before, police said.
Those who knew Serbeck remembered him as a beloved, larger-than-life figure who always stood up for family and friends and never hesitated to help strangers in need.
His funeral drew more than 500 people, his father said.
“He was just a caring, giving guy,” Louis Serbeck said.
Gus Serbeck’s obituary called him a legend and said his death “is just one more myth that will define his legendary life.”
In his final act, Serbeck “laid his life down to do what he does best, to protect his family; to protect his baby girl,” the obituary declared.
One accused of killing him, Eric Hannah, was a lifelong friend, according to Gus Serbeck’s brother, Chris.
The Serbeck family is still trying to understand how the situation spiraled into tragedy.
It began on April 19, when prosecutors said Hannah’s son allegedly assaulted Serbeck’s daughter.
She was in “some kind of relationship” with Hannah’s son, Assistant Cumberland County Prosecutor Cathryn Wilson said during a court hearing.
The daughter told her father about the assault, and he went with her to the Hannah home on April 20 to discuss the situation, investigators said.
Police acknowledged in court documents that Serbeck and Eric Hannah were longtime friends.
The Serbecks were met at the door by the teen charged in the case.
“The juvenile defendant came out and immediately threw punches at the victim,” Wilson said, noting that Hannah’s daughter recorded some of the incident on video. “He then grabbed some kind of bat, which is seen on the cell phone video taken by the defendant’s daughter, and started attacking the victim with it.”
The video shows Serbeck holding the boy on the ground while the boy kept hitting him with the bat, Wilson said.
Prosecutors noted the teen also suffered facial injuries during the fight, and his sister told the New York Post her brother “was all bloody.”
Eric Hannah appears in the video holding a large metal flashlight. Serbeck’s daughter told investigators that Hannah struck her father in the head multiple times with it during the fight, according to the prosecution and court documents.
The video does not show Eric Hannah hitting Serbeck with the flashlight, the prosecutor said.
However, a “noticeable mark” on Serbeck’s head matches the flashlight’s imprint, Wilson added.
Hannah’s family claimed neither the father nor son hit Serbeck’s head and said Serbeck threw the first punch, according to the New York Post.
The teen charged is also accused of hitting Serbeck’s daughter in the head during the fight, prosecutors said.
When the Serbecks tried to leave, the teen began hitting Serbeck’s car with a hammer, Wilson said.
At that moment, Gus Serbeck said he couldn’t breathe and collapsed, his daughter told investigators.
Serbeck died while being rushed to the hospital.
Eric Hannah’s attorney, William Popjoy, said his client never struck Serbeck or got involved in the fight.
“It was a fight between his son and the decedent,” Popjoy said in court. “He didn’t come out of the house until after it was over, and then only to help defuse the situation by taking away what the state described as the hammer and the flashlight.”
Eric Hannah faces first-degree murder and conspiracy charges, second-degree aggravated assault and weapons offenses, and a judge recently ruled he will remain jailed until trial.
He is scheduled to return to court on June 12 for a pre-indictment conference.
His son is held in juvenile detention and also faces homicide, weapons, and aggravated assault charges for allegedly striking Serbeck’s daughter. Prosecutors are considering whether to try him as an adult.
Eric Hannah was already on pre-trial release in an unrelated case involving methamphetamine and ghost guns — firearms without serial numbers.
Weapons found at his home in that case included two shotguns and a rifle, court documents say. He also faced charges for possessing a large-capacity ammunition magazine.
Hannah recently pleaded not guilty to five counts in that case.
Gus Serbeck lived a full life, his father said.
“He was an athlete. He played football. He wrestled. We hunted and fished together,” Serbeck said. “We spent so much time together. Gus is just a great person. I miss the hell out of him.”
His son’s two daughters were his world, the elder Serbeck said, and he did everything to support them.
The grieving father still seeks answers about how his son died while trying to protect his child.
“He went there to find out what was going on. And now the tragedy is this is what happened to him for trying to do something for his daughter,” Serbeck said.
Standing up for those he loved was in Gus Serbeck’s nature, those who knew him best said.
In fact, Serbeck would have been there for the two people now charged in his death if they ever needed him, his brother Chris said.
“If those two called him and said there were guys trying to beat them up, he’d say, get inside. How many? I’ll be there. And he would have been there and laid his life down for them, too,” Chris said. “That tells you everything about my brother.”
