James Hicks

Case record: James Hicks

Status and legal outcome

James Hicks pled guilty to two counts of murder. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1984, was released in 1990, and was sentenced to life in prison in 2000.

Timeline

• July 19, 1977 — Jennie Lynn Hicks, 22, was missing from her home in Carmel, Maine.
• Oct. 16, 1982 — Jerilyn Towers, 34, left a bar with James Hicks; that was the last time she was seen.
• 1982 — James Hicks was charged in connection with the slaying of Jerilyn Towers in 1982.
• 1983 — James Hicks was convicted of fourth-degree murder in connection with the disappearance of his wife, Jennie Lynn Hicks; he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and served six years.
• May 26, 1996 — Lynn Willette, 40, was reported missing; she and James Hicks lived together and worked together at a motel.
• April 8, 2000 — After moving to Levelland, James Hicks allegedly attempted to rob a Lubbock woman while making her drink cough syrup.
• April 12, 2000 — Hicks was indicted on a charge of aggravated robbery in connection with the Lubbock case.
• On 1 November 2000 — Maine’s Penobscot County grand jury formally charged confessed killer James Hicks, 49, with the murders of Jerilyn Towers and Lynn Willette.
• Friday, November 17, 2000 — Amid tight security, Hicks entered pleas of guilty to two counts of murder in Penobscot County Superior Court in the slayings of Jerilyn Towers in 1982 and Lynn Willette in 1996.
• Monday, October 23, 2000 — As investigators unearthed remains of women murdered decades earlier by James Hicks, crime scene investigators turned to a team of dental experts for positive identification.

Background

James Hicks served six years of a 10-year prison sentence for killing his first wife, Jennie Hicks, who disappeared from the couple’s Carmel home in 1977. Hicks was not arrested for Jennie Hicks’ murder until 1983, and he was convicted in 1984. Before his arrest, Towers, 34, of Newport, disappeared after leaving a Newport bar with Hicks. Police investigation into Towers’ disappearance prompted the re-examination of Jennie Hicks’ disappearance, and Hicks was subsequently charged with her murder; at the time, police lacked adequate evidence to charge him with Towers’ death.

After his release from prison in 1990, Hicks met Lynn Willette, 40, of Orrington, with whom he worked at the Twin City Motel in Brewer. Hicks and Willette lived together at a South Main Street apartment. Hicks later claimed he killed Willette on May 26, 1996. Willette was also suspected as missing; Hicks was never charged with her death because of lack of evidence until he was handed a 55-year sentence in Lubbock, Texas, and confessed to three killings and led authorities to their bodies.

Hicks was convicted in Texas for an offense involving holding a gun to the head of a 67-year-old woman, forcing her to write a check to him and sign over the title to her car, and then write a suicide note. He planned to drug and drown the woman to make it look like a suicide, but she escaped.

Hicks asked to cut a deal with authorities in Maine, agreeing to direct them to the bodies of three missing women in exchange for serving his time in Maine instead of Texas. Back in Maine, Hicks located the remains of his three victims after two days of digging around his former home in Etna and at several roadside sites in Aroostook County, Maine.

The offences

Murder of Jerilyn Towers

Jerilyn Towers, 34, of Newport, disappeared after leaving a Newport bar with James Hicks on Oct. 16, 1982; that was the last time she was seen. Hicks was later charged in Maine with her murder and pleaded guilty to two counts of murder, including the slaying of Jerilyn Towers in 1982.

Murder of Lynn Willette

Lynn Willette, 40, of Orrington, was reported missing on May 26, 1996. Hicks and Willette lived together and worked together at a motel. Although Hicks was suspected in her disappearance, he was never charged because of lack of evidence until after he was sentenced in Lubbock, Texas. Hicks later agreed to lead police to the bodies and pleaded guilty to two counts of murder, including the slaying of Lynn Willette in 1996.

Killing of Jennie Lynn Hicks

Jennie Lynn Hicks, 22, disappeared from her home in Carmel, Maine on July 19, 1977. Hicks was convicted of fourth-degree murder in connection with the disappearance of his wife, Jennie Lynn Hicks; he received a 10-year prison sentence and served six years before being released.

Investigation and identification of remains

Crime scene investigators unearthed the remains of women murdered decades earlier by James Hicks. Dentists and technicians from around the state formed a forensic dentistry team to positively identify the victims. The dentists and technicians used dental records after Hicks confessed to murdering three missing Maine women; teeth were described as durable and as having identifying characteristics.

Dr. Thomas Richardson, a Portland dentist who headed one of three forensic dentistry team in the state, said:

"It's putting the pieces of the puzzle together to solve the mystery,'' said Dr. Thomas Richardson, a Portland dentist who heads one of three forensic dentistry team in the state.

Maine’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Margaret Greenwald, said:

"We try to do that as quickly as possible,'' Greenwald said. "There are a lot of people out there that are concerned about making sure that the remains of a person is who we believe it to be: for the family, for the detectives that are trying to determine what happened to the person and for the public who are concerned about what may be happening.''

Forensic team work included matching past X-rays and dental charts against teeth found with remains; dentists were present at the scene for recent exhumations because they could recognize small pieces of dental material that could be important for identification. Dr. Bruce Gallup, an Auburn dentist whose interest in dental forensics dated back to his years as a paramedic firefighter in Indiana, said:

"You're hopefully given a known - X-rays of who they think this person may be - then it becomes simply a matching game,'' said Dr. Bruce Gallup, an Auburn dentist whose interest in dental forensics dates back to his years as a paramedic firefighter in Indiana.

The forensic dentistry team discussed identification in disaster scenarios, noting portable X-ray equipment and dental mapping techniques. Richardson said:

"With the Hicks case, you have three people and you're pretty sure who they are and it's a matter of making a visual match,'' Richardson said. "When you have a plane crash, it's a different ballgame.''

Another facet described was the use of bite marks. Richardson was called in after John L'Heureux of Sanford was arrested for the murders of his stepdaughter and former landlady in Augusta, where police believed a red mark on his arm was a bite. The dental mapping and matching process was described, including a transparent sheet with peaks of teeth denoted and a tattoo of a skull. Richardson identified that his stepdaughter had bitten the arm and that the arm had been wrapped around her from behind, pulling back sharply.

Richardson said:

"It's always an investigation,'' Richardson said. "A person comes in with a toothache and you need to find out what the problem is and how to cure it.''

Arrest, charges, and plea

On 1 November 2000, Maine’s Penobscot County grand jury formally charged confessed killer James Hicks, 49, with the murders of Jerilyn Towers and Lynn Willette.

On Friday, November 17, 2000, amid tight security, Hicks entered pleas of guilty to two counts of murder in Penobscot County Superior Court in the slayings of Jerilyn Towers in 1982 and Lynn Willette in 1996.

Sentencing

Hicks was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the killing of his first wife, Jennie Hicks, and served six years before being released in 1990. In 2000, Hicks was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of murder.

Lubbock Texas proceedings and admitted killings

James Hicks was convicted in Texas of holding a gun to the head of a 67-year-old woman, forcing her to write a check to him and sign over the title to her car, and then write a suicide note. The plan involved drugging and drowning the woman to make it look like a suicide, but she escaped.

A Lubbock prosecutor said that Hicks, who pleaded guilty to a robbery in Lubbock on Friday, told authorities he was responsible for three New England women’s deaths. The prosecutor said Hicks was convicted of killing his former wife, Jennifer Hicks, 23, of Maine, in 1984 and served six years in state prison for the crime. The prosecutor said Hicks was suspected in the suspicious disappearances of two other Maine women but had not been charged, and that Hicks, 49, agreed to serve 55 years for an April robbery in Lubbock.

The Lubbock prosecutor, Susan Scolaro, said:

Hicks forced a Lubbock woman to write him a check for $1,250 and sign over the title to her car, a Lubbock police report states.

The prosecutor said Hicks forced the Lubbock woman to drink cough syrup, intending for her to fall asleep.

Scolaro said Hicks would serve out any jail time he may receive for the admitted murders in Maine before he served the 55-year Texas sentence received in Lubbock on Friday.

Hicks was living with his current wife, Brandie, in Levelland when he was arrested in Lubbock in April.

Remains, locations, and description of the bodies

Hicks located remains of his three victims after two days of digging around his former home in Etna and at several roadside sites in Aroostook County, Maine. The remains of his former wife and Towers were found 100 fett appart next to the home where he grew up. Willette’s remains were found in concrete buckets buried next to the road in Aroostook County. The bodies were described as dismembered, and some parts were allegedly tossed in a nearby river.

Other details

Hicks was classified as a serial killer by Jim Ricker, police chief in Newport, Maine in April. Ricker said his department frequently followed new leads into the cases of missing women, but had failed to uncover tangible information. Police reports stated that after Hicks forced a Lubbock woman to drink cough syrup, he attempted to rob her.

A victim’s body status was described as never found for Jennie Hicks’ body, and the bodies of two other women were described as never found prior to Hicks leading authorities to their remains.