A Franklin Superior Court Grand Jury has indicted Joshua Hart, 24, and Brittany Smith, 27, both of Athol, on murder and other charges in connection with the Oct. 5, 2016, home invasion and slaying of Thomas Harty and attempted murder of his wife Joanna Fisher, both of 581 East River St. in Orange.
Mrs. Fisher has since died. The cause of her death remains under investigation by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
The pair allegedly stole Harty’s car and fled to Virginia, where they were apprehended in October while in a U-Haul truck in a Wal-Mart parking lot. The stolen car was later recovered elsewhere in Virginia.
Hart and Smith are expected to be arraigned in Franklin Superior Court in Greenfield on Jan. 5, 2017, at 2 p.m.
Both face the following charges: murder, attempted murder, two counts of home invasion, two counts of armed robbery, conspiracy, larceny over $250, larceny of a motor vehicle, receiving stolen property and unauthorized use of a credit card.
The two were also indicted Friday on charges stemming from earlier incidents, including breaking and entering and larceny over $250.
If convicted of murder in the first degree, the defendants face a mandatory sentence of life in state prison without the possibility of parole.