Dateline NBC

Podbit · Dateline NBC

Talking Dateline: Secrets Unmasked

Explore episode Jun 24, 2026
True Crime
How Paul Knocked Out Regina and Drowned Her

Talking Dateline: Secrets Unmasked · Jun 24, 2026 True Crime

Regina Hicks was almost certainly rendered unconscious by a blow to the head before Paul put her in the passenger seat and drove the car into the pond. The official cause of death is drowning — water was found in her lungs. The witness saw the car go over the hill but not what happened beforehand.

Where this was said

Viewer Questions: How Did Regina Die?

At 30:50 · chapter starts 29:30

Andrea Canning opens the Q&A segment with a question from viewer Linda Beliglo Abrams: exactly how did Paul kill Regina? The answer requires some unpacking. No one witnessed the actual killing — Steve Gates walked back to the car and found Regina already slumped in the passenger seat, with Paul declaring she was dead (though she wasn't yet at that point). What investigators were able to determine is that the official cause of death was drowning, confirmed by water found in her lungs. But Tim Uehlinger explains that a blow to the head is the most likely mechanism for rendering her unconscious first. Paul then placed her in the passenger seat, drove the car to a pond, and sent it in. Gates watched the car go over the hill into the water but did not see what preceded it. The marks found on Regina's body are consistent with this reconstruction but not definitively explained.

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