{"id":6696,"date":"2025-10-28T21:27:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T21:27:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freshstoryes.lol\/?p=6696"},"modified":"2025-10-28T21:27:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T21:27:19","slug":"lanz-brothers-had-history-of-crime-at-acworth-home-before-couples-murder-records-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freshstoryes.lol\/?p=6696","title":{"rendered":"Lanz brothers had history of crime at Acworth home before couple’s murder, records show"},"content":{"rendered":"
Matthew Lanz’s brother had been causing trouble at the home along Verbena Drive.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n

ACWORTH, Ga. \u2014 It seemed like two unrelated crimes — a\u00a0homicide in Acworth<\/a>\u00a0then a\u00a0stabbing in<\/a>\u00a0Sandy Springs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Crime investigators would later pin the two events\u00a0on one man<\/a>: 22-year-old Matthew Lanz. Court records show he and his brother have a history of crime in the area. Cobb County police said Lanz shot and killed Amber and Justin Hicks last week. The couple was found dead inside their home in Acworth with a\u00a0toddler left unharmed<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

About 24 hours later, a Sandy Springs police officer was stabbed while confronting a home intruder, according to investigators. Authorities named the Hicks\u2019 neighbor, Matt Lanz as a suspect in both violent events.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
The Lanz family had a long history of problems at the Hicks’ home, even before the couple moved in, records show.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

In April 2021, Austin Lanz was caught on video breaking into the neighbor’s home after repeatedly leaving pornographic material in the mailbox, according to police records. Officers then arrested Austin Lanz who was also accused of assaulting two Cobb County Police Officers while in jail, records show. A month later, he was granted bond and ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

In August 2021, Austin Lanz would take a bus to Washington D.C. and kill a Pentagon officer before killing himself, investigators said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
A month later in Acworth, \u00a0Amber and Justin Hicks closed on the home on Verbena Drive that Austin Lanz was accused of breaking into.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

11Alive sifted through police records and there doesn\u2019t appear to be any interaction between the Hicks and Lanz family until last week when police said Austin\u2019s 22-year-old brother Matthew broke into the home and killed the couple.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n