The Wisconsin Innocence Project (WIP) is proud to announce that their client, David Bintz, and his brother, Robert Bintz, represented by the Great North Innocence Project, have been released from prison after 25 years of wrongful incarceration.
Their release comes after genetic genealogy DNA results showed the perpetrator in the 1987 slaying of Sandra Lison near Green Bay was someone else – William Joseph Hendricks , a man with prior convictions for similar crimes.
After a hearing Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, Brown County Circuit Court Judge Donald R. Zuidmulder signed an order calling for the brothers’ immediate release.
“We could not be happier to welcome David Bintz home,” said Rachel Burg, WIP co-director. “The Wisconsin Innocence Project has been fighting for Mr. Bintz’s freedom for more than 20 years. We are honored to have worked on his behalf and by his side throughout this arduous process. Finally, our hearts go out to the Lison family, and we hope they can now find closure.”
The body of Lison, a single mother of two, was found in a state forest after she went missing from work. She had been beaten and strangled. Based on police investigation and crime scene conditions, strong evidence showed she was sexually assaulted.
David and Robert Bintz were convicted and sentenced to life in prison nearly 10 years later, despite DNA evidence excluding the brothers as potential sources of the semen recovered from the crime scene; the Brown County District Attorney’s Office had prosecuted them under a different theory of robbery and murder.
In the 2000s, DNA testing by the Wisconsin Innocence Project established that blood found on the victim’s dress came from the same man who had deposited the semen, consistent with law enforcement’s initial conclusion of sexual assault. This new discovery was deemed insufficient to warrant a new trial, a decision that was upheld despite WIP’s appeals to the Court of Appeals and the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
In 2023, work by the Great North Innocence Project, Bode Cellmark Laboratories and the Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center at New Jersey’s Ramapo College narrowed the identity of the man who deposited physical evidence. Further testing identified William Joseph Hendricks, and additional Green Bay Police Department investigative work connected Hendricks to the crime scene. Hendricks is now deceased.
In light of the new evidence, the Brown County Attorney’s Office joined the defense team’s motion to vacate the Bintz brothers’ convictions.
David walked out of prison Wednesday after more than 25 years, finally a free man. He is eager to rebuild his life and reconnect with his family.
The Wisconsin Innocence Project would like to thank the Great North Innocence Project, the Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center at Ramapo College, Bode Cellmark Laboratories, the Wisconsin State Crime Lab, the Brown County District Attorney’s Office and the Green Bay Police Department for their collaboration and dedication.
About the Wisconsin Innocence Project
The Wisconsin Innocence Project, a legal clinic at University of Wisconsin Law School, seeks to exonerate the wrongfully convicted and to train the next generation of legal leaders. Student teams have successfully secured the release of more than 30 wrongfully convicted persons. law.wisc.edu/fjr/clinicals/ip/
How You Can Help: GoFundMe
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Related media coverage
Submitted by Law School News on October 1, 2024
This article appears in the categories: Features, Frank J. Remington Center
Related employee profiles: Rachel Burg
