HURON COUNTY — Day three of the Paul Hicks murder trial featured former law enforcement, Hicks family members and others who testified Thursday.
Some of which we can't name, show or share audio of their testimony because they requested to be off camera.
Prosecutors accuse Hicks of knocking Regina Rowe Hicks unconscious before leaving her body in her 1992 Camaro and driving the car into a pond. As part of its evidence, the prosecution provided a list of theories given by the defendant back in 2001. Hicks implied Regina committed suicide.
“The defendant made up a twin brother that he didn't have and tried to blame what happened to Regina Hicks on the twin brother. It's in a letter that the defendant wrote,” said Prosecutor Dan Kasaris.
To confirm this, Hicks' mother, Jewel Hicks, was called to the stand and confirmed he was not a twin. Jewel also said Regina was one of the best mothers she knew.
Regina’s car was pulled out of the pond by a farmer and his son four days after she went missing in October 2001.
They testified Thursday about their gruesome discovery.
“We didn't know it was a car until we started to pull and all of a sudden Roger hollered and then the trunk lid came up,” said Farmer, Richard Wheestona.
The prosecution is trying to rule out a potential defense argument that Regina may have committed suicide. They focused on whether the father-son duo saw tire marks near the pond.
“You drew the turquoise line across the image of the pond, what was the purpose of you drawing that line across that image,” said Prosecutor James Sitterly.
“To show where the tracks were going from the road through the grass, up over the bank and into the pond,” said Wheestona.
The defense came back and questioned if there were tire marks leading into the pond.
"No, my impression was that the car went flying out and had to go up over that bank,” said Wheestona.
Hicks faces three counts of murder and one count of kidnapping. The trial will continue Friday morning.
