Repeat offender | News | Illinois Times

Michael Gansbauer, 49, has spent fewer than four years out of prison since the age of 18. Convicted for first-degree murder 32 years ago in Springfield, he has spent only an eighth of his adult life out of jail or prison.

Victims’ family members, prison reform advocates and childhood friends have agreed that his current home – in custody – is where Gansbauer belongs.

Crystal Page has been advocating for justice for her younger brother, 14-year-old Harold “H.P.” Page III, since Gansbauer shot and killed him in 1993. This case gave Gansbauer his first conviction for a violent crime, but not his last.

In an upcoming trial in Springfield, Gansbauer will face charges for possession of a weapon by a felon and being an armed habitual criminal. 

Illinois’ armed habitual criminal statute is designed to penalize repeat felony offenders for unlawful possession of weapons. Conviction under this charge requires the state to prove the accused unlawfully possessed a firearm and has been convicted of two or more qualifying past felony offenses. 

Gansbauer has at least two qualifying convictions, including unlawful possession of a weapon in 2016 and aggravated robbery in 2021. To avoid the new weapons charge, Gansbauer’s lawyer will have to prove that Gansbauer did not receive, sell, possess or transfer a firearm. 

Those harmed by Gansbauer in past cases are hoping the state will finally take his record seriously, five criminal charges and three convictions later. 

“He is dangerous, he can’t even get off parole,” Page said. “Enough is enough. Where is the state to protect us victims?”

In November 1993, then 17-year-old Gansbauer and 20-year-old John Rockwood had been drinking before they went to the Page house in Springfield. Rockwood’s bike had gone missing, and they blamed the youngest Page for its disappearance.

With promises of beer, Gansbauer and Rockwood lured Page to a stairwell at Ridgely Elementary School on North Eighth Street, where they beat him. In his confession, Gansbauer described standing over Page, pushing the barrel of the gun against Page’s head as the boy looked up at him from the floor. Gansbauer shot him twice in the head. 

Gansbauer was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 40 years in prison. After serving 20 years at Jacksonville Correctional Center – half his sentence – he was released.

Such early release was possible because Gansbauer’s 1994 conviction came prior to the 1998 passage of “truth-in-sentencing” legislation in Illinois. Before 1998, incarcerated people in Illinois could earn time off court-appointed sentences through good behavior and completion of prison courses. Now, people are required to strictly serve a predetermined percentage of their sentence, depending on their conviction.

Prison reform advocates say that truth-in-sentencing has resulted in longer overall prison stays without deterring crime or reducing recidivism rates. 

Yet, even opponents of tough-on-crime policies like truth-in-sentencing think that Gansbauer’s pattern of recidivism calls for a stricter response.

Jodi Rabich Frailey of Pawnee runs RbrokenSystems, a prison reform advocacy nonprofit that lobbies against the truth-in-sentencing legislation. She is also Page’s sister-in-law.

Rabich Frailey’s connection to reform efforts is rooted close to home. Her husband is currently serving a 55-year sentence for first-degree murder. Convicted in 2000 at the age of 22, under current laws her husband will not be released until he is 77 years old. 

Gansbauer’s behavior makes it harder for prison reform proponents to advocate for incarcerated people who want to grow and repay their debts to society, Rabich Frailey said. She said she has seen many incarcerated people work hard to complete educational and rehabilitation programs to prove they are worthy of a second chance.

“And there are some like Michael Gansbauer who should never, ever be let out,” Rabich Frailey said. “If you can manipulate that system to that point and you get out and you still are threatening the life of someone, you are a threat to society and you need to be locked up forever and a day.” 

In a civil suit brought by the Page family, a judge ordered Gansbauer and Rockwood to each pay $1 million in damages for the wrongful death of H.P. Now, Crystal Page says she has given up on hoping to see the full sum, but still hopes to see Gansbauer pay $10,000 to cover the cost of burying her brother in 1993.

Acquaintances and court records identify Gansbauer as a member of a local street and prison gang, the Simon City Royals, although a recent court filing notes that Gansbauer “claims to be retired.” In the past, the Springfield Police Department has said that there are no gangs in Springfield, only unorganized groups who like to call themselves gangbangers and copy the behavior and symbols of gangs from other cities.

Illinois Times spoke with a close childhood friend of Gansbauer’s under the condition of anonymity, requested for fear of retribution by the Royals. Despite his fear, Gansbauer’s friend spoke fondly of good times they spent together.

“This guy’s a real-life killer, but he’ll buy you a beer,” the friend said.

He described Gansbauer as well-meaning and fun to be around but acknowledged that he could flip a switch to a darker side. 

“If he wants something, he will take it,” Gansbauer’s friend said. “Some people are just not to be let out. He’s a better version of himself when he’s in prison.”

Gansbauer has not gone more than two years out of prison since 2014 without racking up new charges. 

In 2016, less than two years after being released after serving time for the death of H.P., Gansbauer was facing another charge, this time for possession, manufacture and delivery of cannabis. Within four months of being released on bond for the cannabis charges, Gansbauer was again arrested by Springfield police on charges of home invasion, residential burglary, aggravated unlawful restraint, intimidation and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon. 

The State Journal-Register reported at the time that Gansbauer was accused of forcing his way into a home on St. Mary’s Court in Springfield looking for someone who was not there. Upon encountering someone else inside, Gansbauer allegedly pointed his gun at the man when he failed to disclose the location of the person sought.

Gansbauer pleaded guilty in 2018 to one charge for the incident: unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon. The rest of the charges were dismissed by the plea deal. He was sentenced to three years of imprisonment for the weapons charge, the minimum possible sentence for the Class 2 felony. 

At the same time, Gansbauer pleaded guilty to the manufacture and delivery of cannabis charge, earning him seven years, to be served consecutively with the weapons charge. Consecutive sentences are designed to be served one after the other, meaning that Gansbauer’s 2018 sentences totaled 10 years, minus almost two served while awaiting trial.

It is unclear how much of that sentence he served, but by mid-2021, he was back in custody. 

Charges this time included armed robbery, aggravated robbery, vehicular invasion, aggravated intimidation and aggravated unlawful restraint.

The charges were associated with a June 2021 attack on Heather Jones at her then-boyfriend’s home on Cincinnati Avenue in Springfield. Like Gansbauer, the boyfriend is alleged to be a member of the Simon City Royals.

According to Jones, she walked into an ambush at the house. She said she felt like a sitting duck. She heard rustling in the kitchen, but her boyfriend blamed it on the dog. 

“It’s Roscoe,” he said.

It was not Roscoe, but rather a friend of Gansbauer’s, and he had a gun. Jones said she ran to her car to try to get away, but her passenger-side window was broken and she could not roll it up. She threw her purse as a distraction, but before she could get away, Gansbauer allegedly opened her driver-side door and took her keys. 

Jones said Gansbauer pulled her out of the car and began to hit her in the face. As she pleaded and reached from the ground toward her boyfriend, who had followed them outside, Jones said Gansbauer stomped on her arm and leg. Her boyfriend was able to position himself between Jones and Gansbauer. He saved her life, Jones said.

The three men then took Jones back inside the house. She said she could hear her boyfriend trying to convince Gansbauer not to kill her. She said she was able to push an air conditioner unit out of the wall and escape.

Jones further alleged to IT that Gansbauer chased her down the driveway, firing a handgun and threatening to shoot her in the back as she ran. 

Gansbauer’s lawyer once again secured a plea deal, with Gansbauer pleading guilty to Class 1 felony aggravated robbery. The other charges were dropped. Sentencing options for aggravated robbery range from four to 15 years. In August 2022, Gansbauer was sentenced to serve six years, minus a little over a year spent in custody while awaiting trial, leaving him to serve just under five years. 

He served less than two before being arrested in June 2024 for the weapons charges he is now facing.

A statement submitted by the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office as justification for Gansbauer’s recent arrest states that, while conducting a parolee compliance check, officers found a silver Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver in the apartment Gansbauer shares with his girlfriend. 

Armed habitual criminal is a Class X felony, the most serious felony level under Illinois law. If convicted, Gansbauer faces a sentence of six to 30 years for that charge alone. 

Survivors and victims’ families want to see strict sentencing, both to prevent harm to future victims and out of fear for their own safety. 

Crystal Page, the older sister of H.P., is the last living family member to fight for justice in her brother’s 1993 murder. Both of their parents were diagnosed with cancer and died within three years of H.P., dying 11 days apart from each other in February of 1996. Page said they died of broken hearts.

Sometime before his 2021 charge, Page said Gansbauer walked into a Qik-n-EZ where she was working to use an ATM. To avoid him, she asked her manager to take over operating the register, but she thought he recognized her. Seeing him there caused her an anxiety attack, she said. 

“I hope that glass is bulletproof,” she recalled thinking. “I feel my brother and my mom above me.”

She was not alone in fearing retribution. For Heather Jones, survivor of Gansbauer’s 2021 aggravated robbery, it was a tangible concern.

Someone broke into her home after WICS ABC NewsChannel 20 ran a story about Gansbauer’s 2021 charges, Jones said. She provided a photo to Illinois Times showing red paint dripped on her comforter and in a heart shape on a piece of paper. Jones interpreted it as imitating blood and assumed it was left by Gansbauer’s friends.

Jones alleged that members of the Simon City Royals put a gun to her stepson’s head after the attack. It was the final straw for her. She later moved out of Springfield

“They idolize him,” Jones said of the Royals. 

Both Page and Jones said they hope the judge in Gansbauer’s upcoming case will take his past behavior into consideration. 

“I would just like the judge to not take my life in vain and let something come of it,” Jones said. “I’d beg the judge to not let him out.” 

Page echoed Jones, asking the state to prevent future victims and allow past survivors closure.

“You [the state] have the authority to protect us from the monster of Michael Gansbauer,” Page said. “We need to heal, and Michael needs to be off the streets.”

Maggie Dougherty is a summer intern with Illinois Times as she finishes her master’s degree with Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.