ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) – A northern Illinois coroner pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges alleging that he stole more than $14,000 in cash from dead people. Winnebago County Coroner Bill Hintz pleaded not guilty to 12 counts, including official misconduct and theft of government funds. WREX-TV reports that a judge set his bond hearing for Oct. 8. A Winnebago County grand jury indicted Hintz in early September on the charges, which accuse him of stealing about $14,500 in cash belonging to dead people from the coroner’s office’s evidence vault. Hintz also allegedly required family members to pay cash to recover the cremated remains of their homeless loved ones but kept the money for himself.
