Dateline: Who was Craig Becker and what do we know about his crimes? Disturbing details of the 2015 incident, explored

Dateline: Unforgettable - The Death of Hanna Hove‑Becker aired originally on NBC on August 15, 2024.

The episode dives into the unsettling disappearance and final moments of Hanna Hove‑Becker and her husband, Navy Lieutenant Craig Becker.

Dateline episode airing on Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern revisits the tragic night of October 8, 2015, a story of love, suspicion, and loss. That evening in Mons, Belgium, Craig claimed he heard a scream and found his wife had tumbled from their penthouse window.

He told police Hanna had been drinking heavily and taking prescription pills before slipping away. But evidence at the scene told a different story: scrape marks on the roof implied a struggle, and Hanna’s hands bore deep gashes as if she’d clawed to stay alive.

Her father, John, immediately disputed Craig’s version, pointing to those marks and her upbeat mood. Just hours before, Hanna had signed a lease for a new apartment, been texting her new boyfriend about their future, and seemed ready to turn a page on her life.

Dateline’s episode lays out in detail how Craig was arrested five months later, charged with premeditated murder by Belgian authorities, then tried by a U.S. court‑martial. In April 2022, he was convicted of killing Hanna, sentenced to life with parole possible, and their daughter was placed in Craig’s family's care.

Dateline: Inside the evidence that undermined Craig Becker’s suicide claim

When Johanna “Hanna” Hove-Becker fell from the window of her Belgian penthouse, Belgian police immediately labeled it a suicide. Craig Becker, her husband and a U.S. Navy lieutenant, supported that version from the beginning.

He told authorities that Hanna had taken pills from an unmarked bottle and consumed a significant amount of wine before leaping to her death during a marital breakdown. But as more information emerged in the days and months that followed, that explanation began to fall apart.

Craig’s military role involved commanding a 19-man bomb disposal unit - work that was high-pressure and often kept him away from home. Hanna’s friends later testified that Craig had grown controlling, frequently isolating her from her social circle. Despite her attempts to mend the relationship, Hanna’s mental and emotional state reportedly suffered.

However, she was also described as determined to start over, and she had even begun dating someone new. She began dating Chris, a maintenance worker, after she and Craig started sleeping in separate rooms.

As shown in Dateline, Belgian investigators originally found no foul play. But Hanna’s father, John Hove, and others close to her noted red flags. Long scrape marks were discovered on the rooftop below the bedroom window.

These weren’t marks someone would leave from jumping; these looked like someone had tried to stop themselves from falling. Her hands had severe cuts, and the roof shingles nearby had protruding nails. These wounds, according to her family, were more consistent with someone desperately trying to hold on than someone willingly letting go.

One of Craig’s colleagues came forward, saying they saw him retrieve a bag of pink pills from an old desk just days before Hanna died. Although Craig told police that Hanna had a drinking problem and was mentally unstable, toxicology reports didn’t align.

As shown in Dateline, her blood alcohol level showed only trace amounts of alcohol, not nearly enough to suggest the heavy drinking Craig described. Moreover, Hanna had made clear steps toward starting a new life. She’d signed a lease for a new apartment earlier that same day, and her final texts to Chris expressed affection and optimism.

In March 2016, five months after her death, Craig was arrested in Belgium and charged with premeditated murder. Belgian authorities handed him over to the United States for a court-martial.

Prosecutors argued that Craig had intentionally slipped sleeping pills into Hanna’s lasagna, waited for her to pass out, and then thrown her out of the window. A reconstruction using a model of the window helped the jury visualize their theory. They believed Hanna briefly woke up mid-assault and tried to resist, leaving behind the physical signs of a struggle.

As shown in Dateline, Craig’s defense suggested Hanna had climbed out herself in a disturbed state of mind, perhaps triggered by overhearing him on the phone with another woman. They introduced evidence of past trauma and alleged substance abuse, including Tramadol in her hair sample. But the jury found that version unconvincing.

On April 30, 2022, Craig Becker was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Trending

Follow for more updates.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback