Robert Bintz

On September 25, 2024, Robert (Bobby) Bintz, alongside his brother and co-defendant David Bintz (represented by the Wisconsin Innocence Project) was exonerated for a murder he did not commit. Investigative genetic genealogy allowed the Great North Innocence Project to find the actual perpetrator of the 1986 sexual assault and murder for which the Bintz brothers served 25 years of wrongful incarceration.  

Legal Director and Bobby’s attorney, Jim Mayer, walks Bobby out of prison after 25 years

An unsolved murder

In August 1986 Sandra Lison, the Sunday bartender at the Good Times Tavern in Green Bay, went missing after closing time. The following day her body was discovered in a state forest north of the city. She had been beaten and strangled. Law enforcement also indicated that this was a sexual assault, given the partial removal of Ms. Lison’s dress and underwear as well as the presence of semen on her body and clothing.  The Bintz brothers were questioned early in the investigation because they had purchased beer from Ms. Lison the night of her disappearance and complained to her about being overcharged. But nothing else connected them to the murder, so the investigation moved on and eventually the case went cold. 

A jailhouse informant comes forward

Ten years later, a cellmate of David’s reported to corrections officers that David was having nightmares confessing to a murder in his sleep. They instructed the cellmate to engage David in conversations about these nightmares, which led to a supposed “confession” by David to having murdered Sandra Lison with help from Robert. When confronted with the cellmate’s account, David had a bizarre and contradictory colloquy with police in which he admitted that the cellmate’s statement was true, but also denied being involved in, or knowing anything about, Ms. Lison’s murder.

Police then took DNA samples from the Bintz brothers to compare against the semen from the crime scene. Both were excluded as contributors.  Rather than continuing the investigation, the State decided to change the theory of the crime. The State prosecuted the Bintz brothers for robbery and murder, taking the position that the semen recovered from the body must have been the result of a recent consensual sexual encounter (even though all of Ms. Lison’s friends and family had told police that she was not seeing anyone romantically). Both brothers were convicted and received life sentences.  

Several years later, the Wisconsin Innocence Project performed additional testing and found that there was male blood on the victim’s dress that came from the same source as the semen, all but confirming the State’s initial theory that this was a sexual assault and murder. But the State opposed and the Court denied relief, calling it mere speculation to suggest that the man whose blood and semen was recovered from the victim may have been the actual perpetrator.  

Genetic genealogy breaks the case

In 2019, Great North Innocence Project, building on the factual record created by Wisconsin Innocence Project, sought additional testing on behalf of Robert Bintz. This led to successful development of a SNP profile for investigative genetic genealogy.  The breakthrough came in August 2023, when the Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center at Ramapo College in New Jersey used this as the test case for its “boot camp” for genealogists in training. Within 2 days, the team had the search narrowed to three brothers.

One of the three brothers, William Hendricks, stood out.  He had a history of burglaries (including breaking into taverns) as well as sexual assaults with a strangulation element. Hendricks had been imprisoned on a rape conviction and had been released on parole about seven months before Sandra Lison’s abduction and murder. Hendricks died in 2000.  

In light of this new evidence, the Brown County D.A. ultimately agreed to the disinterment of Hendricks’ body. Samples were extracted and sent to the crime lab for development of an STR profile. The crime lab was unable to develop one, but GNIP shipped a femur to Bode Cellmark Laboratories, and they got it done. Comparison by the crime lab confirmed the match between Hendricks and the blood and semen.  

After some additional investigation (revealing still more ties between Hendricks and the crime), the State stipulated to the Bintz brothers’ immediate release. The judge signed the order Wednesday, September 25, 2024, and the Bintz brothers are now free. They are both currently seeking compensation from the state of Wisconsin for the time they spent wrongfully incarcerated.

David (left) with GNIP Legal Director Jim Mayer and Bobby

Bobby and David’s stories are listed on the National Registry of Exonerations.

Give to Bobby’s GoFundMe campaign

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