Naman Shrestha
In ABC’s ’20/20: The Secret in the Water,’ the primary focus is on the tragic killing of Regina Rowe Hicks in October 2001 in Willard, Ohio, at the hands of her estranged husband, Paul Hicks. He managed to get away with the gruesome murder for nearly 25 years, but found himself in trouble for another crime in the mid-2010s. When one of his friends cooperated with the authorities, his involvement in the killing came to light, and he was brought to justice for the same.
Paul Hicks Evaded Justice For More Than Two Decades
Paul Daniel Hicks was born on February 17, 1975, to Jewell Hicks and grew up in a seemingly regular household alongside his sister, Crystal Hicks. Not long after meeting Regina Rowe, seemingly in the 1990s, he began dating her. The couple made their relationship official by tying the knot. Around 1997, they entered parenthood as Regina gave birth to their son, Montana Hicks. By the time 2001 rolled in, their marriage began deteriorating, and they were on the verge of filing for divorce. When things got worse, the couple separated, and Regina began dating another man, with whom she moved in. Meanwhile, the estranged couple shared custody of their son. At the time, he lived with his sister, Crystal.
On the night of October 18, 2001, Regina left her boyfriend’s home to pick up her son when she got into a heated altercation with Paul, outside his close friend Steven Gates’ residence. Motivated by the opportunity to gain full custody of Montana and insurance money, Paul killed the mother of his son and placed her inside her white Chevrolet Camaro, which he drove into a pond at Section Line Road 30 in Willard. Steven was a witness to the crime as Paul asked him to follow him while he disposed of the car and her remains. The following day, he filed for divorce, seeking full custody of their four-year-old son. After a homicide investigation was launched following the discovery of Regina’s remains in the pond, the detectives interviewed Paul, who attacked her character and claimed that she used drugs. He also told them that she was suicidal at the time.
Since no physical evidence linked him to the murder or the crime scene, the authorities couldn’t arrest him. More than a decade later, on June 15, 2015, he set fire to his home on Stumpy Lane in Goshen, Ohio, and told the detectives that his ex-girlfriend was responsible for the arson. In order to frame her, he even hired another woman and provided her with a custom mask and wig to make her resemble his ex-girlfriend. However, the investigators cleared his ex-girlfriend of suspicion. Eventually, on January 16, 2019, Paul surrendered himself and was charged with two counts of aggravated arson, insurance fraud, and three counts of perjury. After years of court appearances, he took a plea deal and got sentenced to community control for a misdemeanor insurance fraud charge.
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Paul Hicks is Currently Incarcerated at an Ohio Prison Facility
In 2025, Paul Hicks’ friend and murder witness, Steven Gates, agreed to give his testimony against Paul to the authorities in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Thus, armed with enough evidence against him, the authorities took Paul into custody on April 22, 2025, in Seneca County. On December 9, 2025, his homicide trial got underway. During the trial, Steven served as the prosecution’s star witness, who testified against the defendant and told the jury about his violent past and abuse against Regina. His sister, Crystal, also took the stand and testified that she found her house in disarray on the fateful night and noticed muddy clothes in her bathtub. The defense, on the other hand, argued that no physical evidence linked Paul to his ex-wife’s murder.
The defense also played Paul’s 2001 interview with the authorities, wherein he told them that he believed she took her own life. Ultimately, after about ten days of testimonies, the jury deliberated and reached a final verdict. On December 19, 2025, Paul Hicks was found guilty on three counts of murder and one count of kidnapping. A few weeks later, on January 9, 2026, he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for his involvement in the death of his ex-wife, Regina Hicks. As of today, the 51-year-old convicted killer is serving his sentence at Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Conneaut, Ohio, with his parole eligibility date scheduled for April 2050.
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