Pocono News Section

Highway Body Parts Case Heads to Court

Highway Body Parts Case Heads to Court - Friday, March 14, 2008 at 5:50PM EST

Reported by: Laurie Monteforte
Friday, Mar 14, 2008 @05:50pm EST
TOBYHANNA, MONROE COUNTY - Police say he brutally murdered a woman, sawed her bod apart, stuffed her remains in eight different trash bags along the highway.

Friday the accused, Charles Ray Hicks was in court for a preliminary hearing. It took about two hours for five witnesses to testify.

The Monroe County Sheriff sent extra security to Charles Hick's preliminary hearing in Tobyhanna. The gruesome murder and dismemberment story has received so much attention that deputies wanted to make sure everyone involved stayed safe.

Police say Charles Charles Hicks killed Deanna Marie Null, dismembered her body and scattered her remains along highways in the Poconos in late January.

WBRE spoke with his Aunt and Uncle who said it can't be true. Hicks Uncle Burks Dixon said, "He's a nice person. He's my nephew. He works hard and everything. I don't believe this."

But many believe the evidence against Hicks is too strong to ignore. Witnesses told the judge they found the dead woman's hands hidden inside Hick's bathroom. They say Hicks admitted he gave Null money and drugs in exchange for sex.

They also say he likely had mental problems and had been prescribed psychiatric medications. One trooper testified Hicks tried to kill himself in the months before Null's murder.

"I don't know about that. I don't remember anything like that," said Dixon.

Inside of the courtroom Null's family scowled at Hicks through most of the haring. While Hick's family sat behind them shaking their heads no and calling State Troopers liars.

The Judge in Tobyhanna decided there is enough evidence to send Hick's case to trial. A date has not yet been set.

Monroe County District Attorney E. David Christine said, "There's a lot of evidence that has to go to the lab and how it plays out in the case is for a jury to decide."

Hick's lawyer said just because police found the victim's hands in the accused bathroom doesn't mean he killed her. The attorney argued it could mean Hicks dismembered Null but that doesn't necessarily mean he took her life.

He suggested the judge only send an abuse of a corpse charge to trial. The judge denied that request.