Georgia man convicted of murdering neighbors returning to court for Fulton County police attack charges

A Georgia man who is serving life in prison will be back in court on Tuesday to determine whether he is competent to stand trial in another case.

While Matthew Scott Lanz had been convicted in Cobb County with the murders of his new neighbors, Cherokee County firefighter Timothy Justin Hicks and Amber Hicks, he still faces multiple charges in Fulton County.

Last year, Lanz was found guilty on 21 charges including cruelty to children, because investigators said he left the Hicks' 2-year-old son alone with their bodies for hours in their home.

On Nov. 19, 2021, a day after the murders, officers arrested Lanz in Fulton County. Investigators say Lanz broke into a home in Sandy Springs and repeatedly stabbed an officer who tried to take him into custody. Other officers shot at Lanz and hit him twice, wounding him.

Sandy Springs police have charged Lanz with 35 felony counts, including 10 each of attempted murder of a police officer, aggravated assault on a police officer, and felony obstruction.

Attorneys representing the Acworth man have argued that he suffers from paranoid delusions, including believing "that he has been set up by either the FBI, CIA, or some government agency." Their attempt to stop the previous trial in Cobb County did not succeed after a judge found that Lanz "appeared to have the capacity to make rational decisions."

A troubling family history of violence

Months before the killings of the Hicks, Lanz's brother, Austin William Lanz, was arrested in connection with a break-in at the home that the family later moved into.

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. Brent said that Austin Lanz was caught on surveillance camera slipping sexually explicit and "vaguely threatening" messages into their home's mailbox. 

During the April break-in, Brent said that Austin Lanz smashed through the back door with a sledgehammer, opened their blinds, and rummaged through their bed.

In August 2021, Austin Lanz fatally stabbed a Pentagon police officer and shot himself with the officer's gun. The motive behind that attack remains unclear.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.