ORANGE — A Franklin Superior Court grand jury has indicted Joshua Hart, 24, and Brittany Smith, 27, on murder and other charges in connection with the Oct. 5 home invasion and killing of Thomas Harty and attempted murder of his wife, Joanna Fisher.

Fisher has since died, and the cause of her death remains under investigation by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Hart and Smith, both of Athol, face charges of murder, attempted murder, two counts of home invasion, two counts of armed robbery, conspiracy, larceny over $250, motor vehicle theft, receiving stolen property and unauthorized used of a credit cart. They have also been indicted on charges stemming from earlier incidents, including breaking and entering, and larceny over $250.

According to Mary Carey of the Northwestern district attorney’s office, Hart and Smith are expected to be arraigned in Franklin Superior Court in Greenfield on Jan. 5 at 2 p.m.

If convicted of murder in the first degree, the defendants face a mandatory sentence of life in state prison without the possibility of parole.

Both pleaded innocent Oct. 14 in Orange District Court to the murder of 95-year-old Thomas A. Harty following an Oct. 5 home invasion.

Prosecutors say Hart and Smith broke into Harty’s home to steal a car and money to help flee the state and in the process stabbed and suffocated Harty and left Fisher, 77, with a slashed throat. She died of her injuries on Nov. 10.

The defendants were indicted on all charges Friday.

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