Killer Husband Thinks He Got Away – Until Cops Found The CCTV

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]The footage you are watching is of a home invasion in Claremont County, Ohio.

[00:00:04]Two intruders carrying several gas canisters and a duffel bag break in through the main entrance of the home and begin burglarizing the residence.

[00:00:12]After stealing two TVs and dousing the entire house in gasoline, the robbers exit through the back door and within moments, the explosion could be heard from over a mile away, 911 calls poured in. And by the time the fire department had put out the fire, the house and everything in it had been completely destroyed.

[00:00:35]Thankfully, there were no casualties.

[00:00:37]After checking the security cameras, it was clear to the investigators that this was a case of arson and possibly an attempted murder. The house that was set on fire actually belonged to 43-year-old Paul Hicks, the prime suspect in one of Ohio's most notorious murder cases.

[00:00:55]Back in 2001, Paul's wife, 25-year-old Regina Hicks, went missing and was later found dead inside her car at the bottom of a pond beside a quiet country road.

[00:01:06]She had been brutally beaten, indicating it was a homicide. However, police were unable to find her killer, and the case went cold. But 14 years later, this robbery would reignite interest in Regina's case, literally.

[00:01:22]At the time of the fire, Paul was staying at a hotel for a work trip over 2 hours away. He rushed back to Claremont County upon hearing what had happened. While reviewing the footage with the police, he immediately recognized the female intruder as his ex-girlfriend, Kelly.

[00:01:38]>> So, you've had some problems with her in the past?

[00:01:40]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:01:40]>> She has been threatening to you in the past.

[00:01:42]>> Oh, yeah. Yes.

[00:01:43]>> Apparently, Paul and Kelly were in the middle of an ugly custody battle over their six-year-old son, Daniel. Three months earlier in March, Kelly was caught on camera vandalizing Paul's hot tub.

[00:01:54]>> She was You got the video of her chopping up the hot tub >> two months ago.

[00:01:58]>> This is what she did there.

[00:01:59]>> She even came back to finish the job later that same night. At one point, she stood up and looked straight into the camera as if she wanted Paul to see how far she was willing to take things.

[00:02:09]Additionally, the day before the robbery, the two had gotten into an argument about the custody battle, and she began harassing him with phone calls.

[00:02:17]>> Just told her, "Stop calling me." And then she called, I think, 95 times in a row.

[00:02:22]>> Okay. And this was last night.

[00:02:23]>> Yes.

[00:02:24]>> Since there was already an outstanding warrant for the hot tub incident, Kelly was swiftly tracked down and arrested for misdemeanor criminal damage.

[00:02:32]>> So, I didn't do anything wrong.

[00:02:33]>> I understand like a criminal. I HAVE NO RECORD AT ALL.

[00:02:37]>> WHAT YOU have is a criminal damaging warrant. Nothing.

[00:02:40]>> So, it's not, you know, you haven't gone out and killed anybody or anything. It's just a criminal damage warrant. Okay.

[00:02:47]We're going to take these off.

[00:02:48]>> No, I have to leave the cuffs on, unfortunately.

[00:02:50]>> But I did nothing.

[00:02:51]>> Kelly was brought into the interrogation room for an interview.

[00:02:54]>> I guess it's being recorded. Is that cool?

[00:02:56]>> Oh, yeah. Good.

[00:02:57]>> Even after being shown video evidence of her involvement in both the hot tub incident and the robbery, Kelly was adamant that the female suspect was not her.

[00:03:06]>> This is the girl that is they're trying to say is me, but it's not me.

[00:03:10]>> And here's the obvious.

[00:03:11]>> And you guys do resemble each other.

[00:03:13]just like like the eyes, the cheeks, and the eyebrows. Other than that, I don't have that distinctive chin.

[00:03:17]>> Kelly told the detective that at the time of the incident, she was 30 minutes away in her Norwood home. Surprisingly, they were quickly able to confirm this claim, and Kelly was ruled out as a suspect. But if Kelly wasn't the person in the video, then who was it? The detectives began to notice all of the strange details surrounding this case.

[00:03:36]Why would the female intruder, who just so happened to have a striking resemblance to Kelly, completely expose their face in distinct hairstyle? Why would this same person stare into the camera after vandalizing Paul's hot tub, knowing that it could lead to their arrest? Kelly also said that the phone call harassment accusations were completely unwarranted because she had no contact with Paul that evening whatsoever.

[00:03:58]>> Now, do you have your records from uh the June 17th that night?

[00:04:04]Yeah, >> because the records I find is that you made a lot of phone calls to him. You guys have been texting back and forth on the 17th. So, this was the night before the fire.

[00:04:12]>> Here's the whole text message conversation.

[00:04:13]>> Okay. I know he's you're you know, he's talking about, hey, he's going to go for full custody and all that stuff. And then after that, after between about 8:00 and 10:00 that night, there's numerous numerous phone calls from your phone to his phone.

[00:04:26]>> Oh, no. That's what I was showing you right here. I never called him at all after the last time that I I spoke with him. was at 6:25.

[00:04:33]>> Okay.

[00:04:33]>> And after that, his number's nowhere. I never called him.

[00:04:36]>> So, there was no phone calls.

[00:04:38]>> None. Zero. None. I never called him at all.

[00:04:40]>> Somehow, somebody was mimicking Kelly's number and harassing Paul. Upon this realization, Kelly said she knew exactly who was behind this. Paul himself. She said that in the past, she had seen Paul use a website called Spoof Card, which disguises your phone number with a fake virtual number of your choice. Using information provided by the spoof card team, the investigators concluded that Paul had set up this fake number under the name of another one of his ex-girlfriends. He had also purchased multiple items using the same ex's name and bank cards, including a wig that matched Kelly's hair and a creepy custommade mask from that's myface.com using reference photos of Kelly. Many of these photos were displayed on Paul's social media, and some of them originated from Paul's cell phone, meaning he must have uploaded these photos to the website himself. Paul had already been ruled out as one of the intruders since he was confirmed to be 2 hours away at the time of the robbery.

[00:05:36]But even though they couldn't identify the intruders, it appeared that Paul was the mastermind behind this elaborate frame job, likely to gain full custody of their son and collect the insurance money from the fire. This failed plan resulted in a seven-year long civil suit with all state insurance, who refused to pay out his home insurance policy.

[00:05:56]Eventually, he was faced with six criminal charges as well.

[00:05:59]>> The plan was to frame his ex-girlfriend and get custody of their child and collect insurance money, but investigators in Claremont County say they did not buy the elaborate scheme and took the case to a grand jury.

[00:06:11]43-year-old Paul Hicks is now indicted for aggravated arson, insurance fraud, and perjury.

[00:06:17]>> With all of this attention on Paul, old rumors about his involvement in Regina Hicks murder were coming back into the spotlight. So, investigators took another look at the evidence collected back in 2001.

[00:06:32]>> Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system >> is not available, honey.

[00:06:42]Please give me a call.

[00:06:48]>> I don't know where you're at or what you're doing, but I glad you're not hurt.

[00:06:54]>> Ask me a phone call. Did you hear 883 tonight? Uh, give me a call. Bye.

[00:06:59]>> End of message.

[00:07:01]>> She was supposed to come pick my son up.

[00:07:03]She called me at 7:53. That's what my cell phone said. I don't know exactly what she exactly said, but she goes, "I I'll be there." Regina was supposed to come pick up Montana at Steve's house.

[00:07:13]>> Yeah.

[00:07:14]>> And she never showed up.

[00:07:15]>> Never showed up.

[00:07:16]>> Actually, Paul is lying. Regina did show up to pick up their son, but she immediately got into a heated argument with Paul, who then struck her three times in the head, knocking her unconscious.

[00:07:27]>> What' you do with my talent?

[00:07:28]>> Uh, I took it back to my sisters and I figured if she was going to show up, she'd show up there or show up the next morning.

[00:07:34]>> You said earlier you thought maybe she just didn't show up. She was maybe partying or something.

[00:07:37]>> Yeah.

[00:07:40]bars, people's houses, wherever there's a party.

[00:07:42]>> Paul then tries to convince the detectives that Regina was a drug dealer, despite her family saying she was never involved with drugs whatsoever. He tells them that just one month before this interview on September 6th, 2001. She got arrested during a traffic stop for having marijuana and pills inside her vehicle.

[00:08:01]>> She had marijuana and she was going to Kentucky and >> she got busted with dope.

[00:08:05]>> No, her well, she got busted here in Willard. I don't know if she was taking it or was she know she'd be at the house if she had then well she got busted with the charger. What kind of charger or nothing?

[00:08:17]>> Paul once again is leaving out key details about this incident making it seem like Regina had some shady drug deals that could have led to somebody murdering her. What Paul isn't mentioning is that his best friend Steve Gates was actually the person who called the police on Regina. When Regina was pulled over and arrested, she said that Paul and Steve had planted these drugs in her vehicle and were trying to set her up. In order for Paul to gain full custody of their son, Montana, you're going to custom give me joint custody. I gave him everything you want, the furniture, everything. And she said, "Okay, I'll do that." She decided to change her mind.

[00:08:54]She happened to give me joint custody.

[00:08:55]Somebody told her she's not going to get child support if I get joint custody.

[00:08:59]>> That's been a pretty nasty affair, huh?

[00:09:00]>> Yep. She's got a divided west to her that she decided that u she don't want to see me here.

[00:09:10]>> Some important context is that according to Regina's family and friends, Paul was a controlling and abusive husband and Regina had been considering leaving him for a while. 6 months before her death, their house was destroyed in, you guessed it, a house fire. And she and Paul split the insurance money.

[00:09:28]Suddenly, Regina had money in the bank and decided it was a good time to break free from her abusive marriage. So, she filed for a divorce. Paul did not want to pay child support. So, he made it clear that he wanted full custody.

[00:09:41]However, in less than 2 months, Paul had blown through most of the insurance money, lost his job, and was soon due to start paying child support. Despite this clear motive to want Regina out of the picture, Paul insisted that he didn't try to set her up back in September. and more importantly he vehemently denied killing her. The detectives interviewing Paul asked him to do a polygraph test.

[00:10:03]Paul agreed. However, when he came in the next day to do the test, they ran into a problem.

[00:10:08]>> Okay. First of all, I guess they're going to ask, are you willing to take the examination?

[00:10:12]>> You know, something absolutely matter if you're doing pills.

[00:10:18]>> Well, it depends what type of pill you're taking. At this point, the polygraph examiner decided not to go through with the test since the alcohol and pills in Paul's system could mess up the results. However, the examiner went forward with the pre-est interview.

[00:10:30]Anyway, during the interview, he made up a fake scientific test called the ozone atomic test.

[00:10:37]>> Determines the time of death.

[00:10:39]>> No accident determines uh was whether it's a time of death. There's particles that are floating inside the car.

[00:10:47]He was trying to make Paul think that the crime lab had overwhelming evidence against him, which would hopefully elicit a confession. However, the examiner was only able to get basic information out of Paul before the interview was concluded, and Paul was free to go. Following this interview, the detective struggled to find any new evidence or leads, and the investigation eventually fizzled out.

[00:11:09]>> We just want justice.

[00:11:10]>> Lella Hullbrook's dining room table speaks volumes about what she's been doing in the year since her daughter, Regina Hicks, murder. clippings, posters, and hand bills, all designed to keep the case in the public eye.

[00:11:21]>> Somewhere, somebody knows something.

[00:11:22]It's just a matter. Is the people afraid to speak up?

[00:11:25]>> But no one has spoken up. Just how did Regina end up beaten in the head inside of her car in this pond where she died of drowning? Worst of all, she left a 5-year-old son, Montana.

[00:11:35]>> Tell me about your mom.

[00:11:39]>> She used to buy me toys a lot.

[00:11:42]>> You miss her, huh?

[00:11:43]>> I know Paul didn't do this. I raised Paul. I know what kind of child Paul is, so I know Paul didn't do this.

[00:11:51]>> 18 years later, in January of 2019, Paul was facing six criminal charges related to the 2015 house fire. Two counts of aggravated arson, three counts of perjury and one count of insurance fraud. He was offered a plea deal which eliminated five of the charges and reduced the remaining insurance fraud charge to a misdemeanor. He accepted the deal in 2022 and received 3 years of probation. As for his civil suit against All State Insurance, he ultimately lost that case and was forced to pay $400,000.

[00:12:23]Regina's family, who still believed Paul was responsible for Regina's death, saw these punishments as a slap on the wrist and urged authorities to reopen Regina's case. For years, her mom, Lella Hullbrook, spent thousands on billboards, rewards, newspaper ads to keep people talking about the case and conducting her own interviews on her daughter's death.

[00:12:45]>> My mom ended up getting cancer and passing away.

[00:12:48]>> For over two decades, the family has lived with one question. Who killed Regina?

[00:12:54]>> That was until Ashley Ford, who hosts her own true crime podcast, began looking into Regina's case. I wanted to see if we could get some attention to a cold case that definitely deserves justice.

[00:13:06]>> As she dove into the evidence, she quickly realized that there was one person that could hold the answers the family was looking for. Paul's friend, Steve Gates. As we mentioned earlier, Steve had called 911 to report Regina for the illegal possession of drugs in her vehicle. Also, Regina was on her way to Steve's house right before she disappeared. It seemed possible that after their ploy to get Regina arrested for possession didn't work, Paul and Steve decided to take things to the next level and get rid of her themselves.

[00:13:36]Ashley and the family raised enough awareness about the case that it was reopened by the Hiron County authorities. An interview was set up with Steve and the first thing he said to the investigators was that he was ready to tell them everything as long as he had immunity. The prosecutors agreed and Steve began telling them what happened on the night of October 18th, 2001. Steve said that Regina pulled into his driveway. She was there to pick up Montana. Her and Paul's 4-year-old son.

[00:14:04]Paul walked up to her car, and the couple got into an intense argument.

[00:14:08]Steve didn't want to get involved, so he went to his garage, turned on the radio, and tinkered around for a bit. When he came back outside, Regina's car was now parked near the road, and Paul was standing at her passenger side door. He went over and noticed that Regina was unresponsive. He asked Paul what was wrong with her and Paul said that she was dead. At this point in the interview, Steve broke down in tears, but he eventually composed himself and finished his story. Steve told Paul to call 911, but Paul refused. They argued for a bit before Paul said to Steve that he was now an accomplice and he had to help get rid of the body. Paul got into Regina's car and started driving toward a pond several miles away. Steve followed behind in Paul's truck with their son Montana in the back seat. They eventually made it to the pond and Paul drove straight in. Regina still in the passenger seat. Paul then escaped the vehicle out of the window and hopped into the car with Steve. During their drive home, Paul called Regina's cell phone to make it seem like she had never showed up.

[00:15:08]>> Ask me Paul. Did you hear 883 tonight?

[00:15:11]Uh, give me a call. Bye. Steve drove Paul to his sister Crystal's house since he was living with her at the time. Paul thought she wouldn't be home for a while. But that day, she just so happened to get off of work early.

[00:15:22]>> I came home to a mess in my house and I was headed to the bathroom and he tried to cut me off. And >> who's who's he?

[00:15:29]>> My brother. And he said it was a mess. I would be mad. And when I proceeded to go to the bathroom anyhow, his muddy clothes were floating in the bathtub. He been trying to clean them. Steve was sitting on the couch. And like I said, I I think I surprised him both because I got off earlier than normal. He had scratches on his I believe it was his neck or part of his face somewhere in this area. He said a tree had fallen and scratched him.

[00:15:51]>> Steve said that in the years following this incident, Paul threatened him and his family, telling him to keep his mouth shut. Following his interview, Steve and the investigators drove to his property where he gave them a more thorough walkthrough of what happened that night.

[00:16:05]>> And then I come around the corner. They were like standing maybe here somewhere and I just remember this little swale.

[00:16:12]They were in this little and they were like they were like yelling at each other >> and you were over there. So when you came out of the garage, where were they at?

[00:16:21]>> Down there down by the that fence or behind the dump trailer. I just remember being like amped up and just not thinking clear at that point because I'm like right, you know, you're involved and everything else, you know, and just >> How long do you think you were standing by the car with Hicks?

[00:16:40]>> Minutes >> and then you get in his car and follow.

[00:16:44]>> With Steve's cooperation on their side, the prosecutors finally felt confident enough in their case to arrest Paul.

[00:16:50]They followed his movements for a while before pulling him over on a country road. All right, we're lighting them up.

[00:16:58]>> All right, here we go.

[00:17:06]>> We're going to go right over here to the cruiser.

[00:17:11]>> Paul, I don't know if they told you yet.

[00:17:12]We got a war arrest.

[00:17:14]>> So, there was an indictment. Paul was transported back to the station where the detectives tried to interview him, but as far as Paul was concerned, an interview wasn't on the agenda.

[00:17:26]>> Disrespectful. Can they cut >> and do what you need to do and show me the charges so I can make my call?

[00:17:31]>> Do you want to know what the indictment is?

[00:17:32]>> No, I want to make my phone call.

[00:17:34]>> Okay. Yes.

[00:17:35]>> So, we would like to talk to you about what that >> remain silent. I don't want you talk to me about nothing.

[00:17:40]>> So, you don't I have anything to say?

[00:17:41]>> I have nothing to say to you. I want my phone call. They were supposed to bring my phone, which I know is a lie. I'm not going to do. Well, you'll get your phone call when you get into the jail.

[00:17:50]>> Oh, I'm not in the jail.

[00:17:51]>> No, this is a this is an interview room.

[00:17:53]>> Take me to jail.

[00:17:55]>> So, so you're not running the show here.

[00:18:00]Well, I'll remain silent.

[00:18:01]>> Well, then that's fine. And they'll get to you when they get time to get to you.

[00:18:05]>> Well, I know I said we don't get you.

[00:18:10]>> Well, it's all about you, Paul. Since Paul was being stubborn, the interview was concluded and Paul was taken to the county jail. He was charged with murder and kidnapping. Paul pled not guilty and was denied bond.

[00:18:22]>> We continue to follow huge developments in a 24year-old cold case. A mother found dead in her car. Now her aranged husband has been indicted for murder.

[00:18:33]>> The recent developments uh have opened a door and led to uh at long last uh an indictment. Now, it's up to us to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

[00:18:45]>> Paul's trial began on December 10th, 2025. The state had no physical evidence to directly link Paul to the murder. So, they mainly had to rely on witness testimony in order to convince the jury of Paul's guilt. More specifically, they had to make sure that the jury believed Steve Gates story. The same Steve Gates that helped dispose of the victim's body, lied to the authorities, and kept Paul's horrific secret for 24 years.

[00:19:10]Steve Gates discussed what happened on October 18th, but he lied.

[00:19:17]And he's going to get up on the witness stand and he's going to admit to you that he lied. He lied to the sheriff's department. He lied for 24 years. He could have continued lying.

[00:19:27]Nothing would have happened to him. He had nothing to gain by coming clean.

[00:19:31]Steve Gates will tell you that.

[00:19:32]>> To everybody's surprise, the defense decided not to give an opening statement. So, the state started calling their witnesses. They called several members of Regina's family to tell the court what they knew about her relationship with Paul.

[00:19:44]>> Uh, was he controlling as far as her relationship went?

[00:19:47]>> Yes. Like she would only talk to her mom when he wasn't home. Towards the end, she was kind of want to end things cuz she knew he was with JS and he pretty much told her that nobody want her. If he couldn't have her, nobody could.

[00:19:58]>> Please read what you heard the defendant say.

[00:20:00]>> I hate you. Die. You're a ball and chain. Holy dumb. You're worth more to me dead than you are alive.

[00:20:09]>> Steve Gates requested that his identity be kept hidden during the trial, so no cameras or audio recording devices were allowed during his testimony. The state's next few witnesses corroborated Steve's story, like Jimmy Patrick, Regina's uncle, who had apparently seen her car at Steve's house on the night of the murder.

[00:20:27]>> I was driving by Gates's house. I just glanced over looked and I said, "That looks like her car." When you had seen that car, you said it was getting dark.

[00:20:38]>> Yeah, dusky dark.

[00:20:40]>> Paul's sister, Crystal, also corroborated Steve's testimony with her story about coming home to a muddy bathroom and Paul's scratched up face.

[00:20:48]Jansen Fipps, Paul's ex-girlfriend at the time of Regina's death, told the jury about the days following her disappearance. She said that after Paul left his sister's house, he came over to stay the night, but he snuck out while she was sleeping.

[00:21:01]>> What happened after you went to bed?

[00:21:03]>> I went to sleep. I woke up and Paul was gone, but I didn't didn't think anything of it and I went back to sleep.

[00:21:10]>> When he got back, he told Jansen that he had accidentally left a pair of boots at his sister's house. So, he went there to grab them.

[00:21:17]>> What did he tell you about boots?

[00:21:20]>> That he had a pair of money boots from the day that Regina went missing cuz they were digging the pond and he put them on his sister's back porch and somebody stole them. She soon learned of Regina's death and she noticed that Paul had a sudden interest in true crime and polygraph tests.

[00:21:39]>> Did you also watch crime shows?

[00:21:41]>> We watched a lot of like forensic files and just shows about how people would get rid of evidence and things like that. He told me that that there were ways to beat a lie detector test. Did he talked to you about things like breathing techniques, things like that?

[00:22:04]>> Yeah, he had a book. I feel in my memory like it had a yellow covering. It was a soft back. It wasn't a hardback book. Um but yeah, it was how to beat a lie detector. Told me he was just trying to protect himself.

[00:22:19]>> She also testified that Paul had admitted to planting drugs in Regina's car as an attempt to get her arrested.

[00:22:25]He told me that he and Steve uh worked together to plant drugs in Regina's car to keep her from getting custody of Montana.

[00:22:38]>> Throughout this trial, the defense leaned into the lack of physical evidence to plant reasonable doubt into the jury's minds.

[00:22:44]>> There's nothing that you found when you reviewed the DNA to implicate Paul Hicks. Isn't that true?

[00:22:50]>> There's nothing at all that that I can compare to anybody. It's just simply not sufficient for comparison purposes.

[00:22:56]>> They also questioned Steve Gates credibility. They suggested that he was using Paul as a scapegoat by lying about his involvement in order to gain immunity.

[00:23:04]>> The state conceded that Steve Gates has lied for 24 years. Is that your position?

[00:23:10]>> That's what I've been told.

[00:23:12]>> And you can't rule out as you sit there that he is going to lie tomorrow.

[00:23:17]>> I can't. No, sir. I can't. They then called out the former sheriff for having tunnel vision on Paul from the very beginning.

[00:23:24]>> You testified you're trying to rule people out. You got her best friend telling you she's having relations with four guys and you don't send any to BCI in regards to those four men.

[00:23:34]>> We did not send anything in regards to those four men. That's right.

[00:23:37]>> So then as you sit here today, you didn't rule out those four potential men as suspects in this case.

[00:23:42]>> Nothing led us to believe those four people were suspects. After a two-eek trial, it was time for the closing arguments.

[00:23:48]>> Paul Hicks assaulted his wife, Regina Hicks, hit her over the head, stabbed her into a passenger seat of her 1994 Camaro. We are fully confident you will find beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant Paul Hicks is guilty of murdering Reene Hicks. To find Paul guilty, you have to find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The absolute highest standard in our legal system.

[00:24:17]Their whole case was based upon speculation and conjecture. Remember back in the 70s or 80s, where's the beef commercials? Where's the beef? Where's the beef? Well, let's get to the beef in the case.

[00:24:30]Zero forensic evidence linking Paul to the alleged crime scene.

[00:24:37]Zero. No, no. Zero forensic evidence to corroborate the scientifically unverified fiction of Charlatan Gates.

[00:24:49]They checked for blood, hair, skin, body fluids. None. There's also four other men that were attention suspects, but they didn't send any testing.

[00:25:04]Motive, motive, motive. That's what it's about here.

[00:25:10]Regina's independence. Regina wanted child support. Regina wanted custody.

[00:25:15]Regina fought back. You won't fight back against uh at this time. Then we will take a a time for the jury to begin their deliberations.

[00:25:26]>> After just three hours of jury deliberations, a verdict was reached.

[00:25:30]>> An indictment for count one, being murdered. Uh the jury finds the defendant guilty of murder on classified felony. It's a jaded December 19th, 2025. Paul continued to shake his head as he was found guilty on all of his charges. His sentencing took place the next month on January 9th, 2026. Before Paul learned his fate, Regina's family gave their impact statements, expressing the depth of the pain and grief Paul had caused them.

[00:25:58]>> Regina was intelligent, far more intelligent than you. She had a rare kindness and a heart that would have only grown stronger with time. She brought light into the lives of others simply by being herself. She would have made a real impact on this world. This was a calculated act of control by a man who believed he had the right to decide whether his wife lived or died. And you made that choice. You erased her from her son's daily existence. You silenced the voice that would have guided him.

[00:26:25]You sold a mother who would have comforted him, protected him, corrected him, and love him through every stage of his life. He grew up without her wisdom, her reassurance, and her presence.

[00:26:38]Regina will be remembered forever. You will be held accountable and forgotten.

[00:26:43]>> Paul Hicks, you are a monster. I hope Paul Hicks and Joel Hicks see Regina's face every night of their lives. I hope you, Paul Hicks, get a disease that eats you away slowly and very painfully. I hope you rot in hell, Paul Hicks. You think you're above the law, but they finally got you.

[00:27:01]>> Paul was not born a monster. Monsters are made. They are created through choices, through entitlement, through being enabled and never held accountable. Over time, Paul was allowed to believe he had power over others, and that he could have had control, harm, and destroy without consequence.

[00:27:23]And that belief turned him into exactly what we see today. Regina was everything he was not. She was a beautiful spirit.

[00:27:32]She carried light, kindness, and warmth into the lives around her.

[00:27:37]>> Your honor, this case could have been solved 24 years ago. the Hon County Sheriff Department and Dane Howard would have done their job, but they didn't.

[00:27:45]So, I want to thank you, this court, and the jury for getting justice for Regina and my family. As far as saying anything to Paul, he don't care. I'm not going to say anything. Only thing I got to say to him is get used to prison food and don't drop the soap.

[00:28:00]>> Thank you, your honor.

[00:28:01]>> Montana, Paul and Regina's now 28-year-old son gave a written impact statement which was read to the court by a victim's advocate. I stand before you as the biggest victim of this tragedy. I grew up without a mother and was shunned by my mother's family and treated like an outsider. My whole life has been affected by this and is still being affected today. I can't escape this.

[00:28:22]During this impact statement, it became clear that Montana wasn't fully convinced that his father had killed his mother. To me, there is no justice as to lack of evidence. Nothing has been solved and nothing will be until the truth comes out about who really did this to my mother. Do I feel like he should be punished? No, but anyone who committed a crime should pay. I lost my mom and now I'm losing my dad. Montana then asked the judge for leniency, urging mental health treatment for his dad rather than incarceration. After taking everything into consideration, the judge handed down Paul's sentence.

[00:28:55]>> Uh there is no reason for any leniency in this case. The defendant had the benefit of roaming free for the last quarter of a century uh before facing justice here today. Uh the court's total sentence then would be 25 years to life.

[00:29:09]>> Paul sat emotionless as he learned his fate. He was taken to the Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Conat, Ohio, where he will spend the rest of his life behind bars.