Trial begins for man accused of killing firefighter and wife in their Cobb County home
The trial of a Georgia man accused of killing his new neighbors in 2021 began Monday morning in Cobb County.
Matthew Scott Lanz is accused of shooting Cherokee County firefighter Timothy Justin Hicks and Amber Hicks in their home and leaving the couple's toddler unharmed but alone in the house for half a day.
In court, prosecutors shared surveillance footage they say showed Lanz leaving the Hicks' home before driving to his apartment in Athens. The next morning, officers arrived at the home after receiving a 911 call from a family member and found the 2-year-old hiding and covered in blood, the prosecutors said.
Lanz was arrested in Fulton County on Nov. 19, 2021, a day after the killings, after officials say he stabbed a Sandy Springs officer who was investigating reports of a burglary. Investigators say Lanz attacked one of the officers, stabbing him repeatedly in the back and neck. Officers shot at Lanz and hit him twice, wounding him.
The Acworth man is charged with malice murder and 12 other counts, including child cruelty.
The trial has been delayed for years as attorneys had argued over whether Lanz was competent to stand trial. In October, a judge ruled it could go forward, arguing that interviews showed Lanz "appeared to have the capacity to make rational decisions" and was working with his attorneys with "a few minor outbursts that did not significantly disrupt the proceedings."
On Monday, Lanz's defense attorneys argued that their client believes "that he has been set up by either the FBI, CIA, or some government agency."
A previous break-in and deadly stabbing
Months before the killings, Lanz's brother, Austin William Lanz, fatally stabbed a Pentagon police officer and shot himself with the officer's gun.
Austin Lanz had been arrested in April 2021 in connection with a break-in at a home that shares a back fence with his. The house was sold a few months later to the Hicks family.
The homeowner at the time of the break-in, Phillip Brent, told The Associated Press it was a culmination of a long harassment campaign against Brent and his then-fiancée.