ORANGE, MASS. (WHDH) - The two suspects charged in a fatal home invasion in Orange are also accused of stealing a car days before the alleged crime.
According to court documents, 23-year-old Joshua Hart and 27-year-old Brittany Smith stole her great-grandmother’s car three days before the home invasion in Orange. Court records said family members told police that Smith has a substance abuse problem and is addicted to heroin.
“I can’t believe it. She was a nice, calm girl. Good to her family,” said Rita Laframboise, Smith’s 93-year-old great-grandmother.
Hart and Smith were allegedly found inside of a U-Haul truck parked outside a Walmart in Lexington, Virginia over the weekend. They are accused of randomly targeting a house on East River Street in Orange, where they killed 95-year-old Thomas Hardy and seriouly injured his 77-year-old wife, Joanna Fisher. Police said Hart and Smith stole the couple’s station wagon, which was recovered in Virginia.
Laframboise told 7News she does not believe her great-granddaugher knew Hardy or Fisher.
“I hope he gets what he deserves,” said Hart’s former landlord, Tiffany Wilder. Hart lived in a basement apartment in Athol before he was allegedly kicked out by his girlfriend two weeks ago. Wilder’s daughter Stephanie told 7News that Hart is a “big time” drug addict.
Hart and Smith are due in court in Virginia on Wednesday as fugitives from justice. They are expected back in Massachusetts by the end of the week to face murder charges.
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