Speaker
Carl Patrick
Appearances over time
1 episodes
Episodes
1
Podcasts
Quotes & moments
Regina's mother died in 2015, 14 years after her daughter's murder, never seeing justice done — described by family as dying 'with a broken heart.'
After 24 years of carrying Regina's photo in his wallet and praying for justice, uncle Carl Patrick heard the word 'guilty' and said it was the best moment of his life multiplied by ten. Jennifer Donenworth said she felt Regina's presence in the courtroom. They got what they had fought for — but Regina's mother never did.
Regina Hicks was a 25-year-old Ohio mother who wanted nothing more than a happy life with her son and her family. In October 2001, she disappeared on the way to pick up her 4-year-old boy — and was found days later, drowned in her own car at the bottom of a pond.
Regina Hicks had marks on her head consistent with being dragged, marks on her wrists, and was found crumpled on the passenger side of her own car. The medical evidence made one thing clear: someone else drove that car into the pond.
After Regina's death, Paul Hicks moved to southern Ohio, told a new woman named Kelly that his wife died in a car wreck — and cried about it. Over years, he became increasingly controlling and manipulative, setting a pattern that would eventually lead to an audacious new crime.
Paul Hicks staged the burning of his own house, ordered a custom wearable mask of Kelly's face from a company called 'That's My Face,' dressed an accomplice in it, and used a service called Spoofcard to fake hundreds of calls from Kelly's number. The scheme was designed to frame her for arson — and it nearly worked.
Paul's frame-up wasn't just about the arson. False drug accusations and the manufactured criminal record led courts to strip Kelly of custody of her son — which Paul knew was the most devastating thing he could do to her. She eventually got full custody back, but the trauma remains.
Despite a mountain of evidence — custom face masks, spoofed phone records, staged video — Paul Hicks never went to jail for the arson. After three years of legal delays he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor. The investigators trying to solve Regina's murder were counting on a felony conviction to leverage new witnesses.
Facing a life-threatening kidney disease, Steve Gates — who had been present when Paul Hicks murdered Regina in 2001 — finally agreed to tell the truth in 2024. For decades he had stayed silent out of fear of Paul's threats. His testimony would become the backbone of the murder case.
Steve Gates described walking away during an argument between Regina and Paul, then returning to find Regina crumpled unconscious in her car. Paul told him she was dead, and Gates — just 20, intimidated, and terrified — followed as Paul drove Regina's car into a nearby pond. He never touched her, but he never spoke up either.
Prosecutors presented phone records suggesting Paul had staged a voicemail to Regina after she was already dead, claiming she was late to pick up their son. The call was placed at 9:05 PM — when Paul himself had told police he left Steve Gates's property at 8:30. The timing destroyed his alibi.
Despite no forensic evidence and a star witness the defense called an Olympic-level liar, the jury deliberated for just three hours before finding Paul Hicks guilty of murder on all counts. For Regina's family, it was a moment 24 years in the making.
Despite clear murder evidence, Huron County's coroner refused to rule Regina Hicks's death a homicide, listing it as 'undetermined.' That single bureaucratic decision hamstrung investigators for over two decades — until the Ohio Attorney General's office intervened and the ruling was finally changed.
Analysis
What they talk about
- True Crime 100%
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