Speaker
Steve Gates
Appearances over time
2 episodes
Episodes
2
Podcasts
Quotes & moments
Eyewitness Steve Gates kept silent about witnessing Paul Hicks murder Regina for 24 years, driven by fear and threats on his life.
Persistent family pressure on cold cases isn't just emotional — it's strategically essential. Keith Morrison argues that when families keep pushing, they give police departments the institutional cover to justify ongoing expenditure on cases that might otherwise be shelved.
Paul's plan to commit arson involved ordering a custom-made wearable face mask from a UK company called 'That's My Face' — now defunct — to make his girlfriend appear to be someone else on security cameras. It's one of the strangest schemes ever covered on Dateline.
Paul used a 'spoof card' to make calls appear to come from a different number entirely, which initially made innocent people look guilty and guilty people look innocent. It took a deep investigative dive to untangle the deception.
Steve Gates watched Paul drive Regina Hicks's car into a pond in 2001 and said nothing for nearly 25 years. He lived in fear that Paul's network in the small town would make his life impossible. When he finally came forward, his testimony was the single factor that delivered justice.
In an exclusive clip, Steve Gates tells Keith Morrison that Paul is now powerless — no minions, no reach, no danger. After 25 years of fear, Gates finally stopped being afraid. Morrison pushes him: why didn't you have that courage 24 years ago?
Paul would never have thrived in a big city — but in Willard, Ohio, he was the dominant personality who collected 'satellites': enthralled followers who were simultaneously afraid of him and desperate to stay in his orbit. That dynamic is what allowed him to keep witnesses silent for decades.
Without Steve Gates's testimony, the prosecution had nothing. Tim Uehlinger is direct: this case would have remained unsolved past its 25th anniversary. The immunity deal, uncomfortable as it was, was the only path to justice for Regina Hicks's family.
Terry Sweet, a woman connected to Paul who had cooperated with his activities, died the very day insurance investigator Zach McCune was scheduled to speak with her again. Her death was ruled natural causes, alcohol-related. Keith Morrison notes, with characteristic restraint, that some people believe in coincidences and others don't.
Steve Gates's testimony delivered justice — but Regina Hicks's family still holds hard feelings toward him. They believe their mother deserved to see a verdict before she died. Gratitude and anger can coexist, and in this case, they do.
Regina Hicks's cousin told producer Tim Uehlinger she could feel the guilty verdict in her toes. Twenty-five years of grief, kept raw by uncertainty, broke open in that courtroom moment — and Tim was there to witness it.
Keith Morrison admits that he often dreads the start of a new murder story — the invasion of someone's grief feels heavy. But in the end, the reward is getting to know the victim, to celebrate a person who died long ago. That's what makes it worth telling.
Small towns breed the conditions for the most gripping murders: tight relationships, concentrated emotion, and the shock of violence in a place where everyone knows everyone. Keith Morrison points out that crime in small towns has fascinated storytellers from Agatha Christie onward — precisely because it's so unexpected.
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.
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.
Analysis
What they talk about
- True Crime 100%
Connections
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