BELVIDERE, Ill. (WTVO) — The man charged for killing a Belvidere dad and his two young sons appeared in court on Wednesday.
Andrew Hintt, 31, and his two sons, seven-year-old Benjamin and five-year-old Sebastian, were found dead in their home back on December 19. Alize Smith’s bond hearing was on Wednesday, and it was the first time that Hintt’s fiancé, and mother of the two boys, has seen him since before her family was killed.
“It’s hard to just sit back and not put your hands on someone when it’s all you want to do, but that’s not going to bring them back,” said Maddie Way.
It was a hard for Way, who sat in the courtroom as the man accused of killing he fiancé and two sons walked through the door. Maddie and Theresa Hintt, Andrew’s aunt, said that holding back their emotions was not easy.
“When we first walked in I was just shaking because I knew he was going to be there,” Hintt said. “But the fact that I couldn’t speak to him, I couldn’t yell at him, I couldn’t hit him, I couldn’t beat him, was really hard.”
“I let you around my kids and you played with my daughter and you were in our home, and in our home and in our lives like a normal person, and then you literally took half of my family from me,” Way added. “Look me in the face and look what you did.”
Hintt and the boys did not leave their house after 11:40 on the morning that they were murdered, according to new details from the state. However, Smith was seen exiting their home that same day just after noon, taking the Ring doorbell off the door.
Lise Lombardo, representing the state, said that a person was seen wearing surgical gloves, driving Hintt’s stolen truck on a Chicago tollway. His Jeep Grad Trackhawk was last seen in Glendale Heights, and is still missing.
Lombardo said that Smith went to meet a friend in Michigan the next day, who later turned him in and called the police. He was arrested on December 21.
Way and Hintt said that the new details are bittersweet.
“It’s hard to hear because it’s details about what happened and the day, and what he did afterwards,” Way said.
“But it’s definitely comforting because it’s going in the right direction, and it seems like it on our side more than his, so that was really good to know,” Hintt added.
Smith was working for Andrew, selling marijuana, and owed him upwards of $10,000. according to the state. The judge ordered that he be held without bond. If convicted, he faces 20 to 60 years in prison on each count.
A celebration of life for the Hintt family is planned for February 6 from 2-7 p.m. at Dodge Lanes, 1940 N. State St., and will have food, drinks, raffles and bowling.