Morbid - Episode 296: James Rodney Hicks Part 1

Episode Date: February 3, 2022

In 1977 Jennie Hicks seemingly vanished from her home in Carmel Maine, leaving her two children behind with her husband James Hicks... at least that was James’ story. Those who knew Jennie were adamant that there was no way she would have left her children, especially not with her husband who was known to physically abuse her. When law enforcement didn’t seem interested in actually investigating Jennie’s disappearance that left James free to do as he pleased, and a few years later would leave another young mother missing and presumed dead.  Great source for this case: Tragedy In The North Woods by Trudy Irene  As always, thank you to our sponsors: Shipstation: Use code, MORBID, to get a 60-day free trial! Just go to ShipStation.com, click on the microphone at the top of the page, and type in MORBID. LiquidIV: Get 25% off when you go to LIQUIDIV.COM and use code MORBID at checkout HunterDouglas: Visit HunterDouglas.com/MORBID for your free design Everlane: Go to everlane.com/MORBID and sign up for 10% off your first order. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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That's W-O-N-D-E-R-Y-P-O-D. Audible.com slash wandery pod or text wandery pod to 500-500 to try audible for free for 30 days. Angie has made it easier than ever to connect with skilled professionals to get all your home projects done well. Just bring them your project online, or with the Angie app, and answer a few questions. With Angie, you can book instantly at an upfront price, or request and compare quotes from multiple pros, so you can find the best price for your project.

So the next time you have a home project, just Angie that and start getting the most out of your home. Download the free Angie mobile app today or visit Angie.com. That's ANGI.com. Hey Weirdos, I'm Alena, I'm feeling it this morning. I'm feeling it this morning. I'm feeling spicy this morning. Feeling spicy, feeling alive. I'm feeling alive, I'm feeling the love. Feeling alive.

I know, for real. I'm feeling a lot of the love. We are, which is wild, but we are number one on the charts right now. We was number one. Which is just really crazy, really mind blowing. It's completely thanks to you guys. So 150,000%. We just wanted to remind you how much we love you

and how appreciative we are to you and how we can't wait to just keep giving you more shit. All the shit. Like like we said, I think in the last episode, we have some extra content planned for later in this year. So you're gonna be getting more content than you know what to do with and we're very excited about it because you deserve it. Yeah, like I just, I'm like, what's the term when you don't have words? Speechless.

No, like I literally couldn't even think of that. I'm just like, I'm just so holy cow, holy shite. And we're still number one today. like I checked and I was like wait what like you guys You guys keep listening damn thing. This is you like we're doing the best we can for you But it's you guys really you guys are putting in the work listening so we appreciate it And we just wanted to tell you that because we really love you. I love you so much. We really do and we just appreciate you Know that you are very appreciated, always, always and forever. Any and F. But today we are going to be talking about some craziness.

It's going to be part one of a part two series because I just can't help myself. I can't help myself. I cannot help myself. I love a deep dive. Just love it. So this one is really gnarly, but before we get into it, I just wanted to quickly talk about, because Ash and I have been like constantly talking about this last two days, and I

know it's really high on everybody's mind right now, is this case out of Hampton Virginia. It's the case where four-year-old Cody Bigsby has been missing. The story is a little strange. Everything's kind of up in the air right now. They have, right now, named the parents as persons of interest. They were saying the stories aren't really adding up. The last thing we heard was that the father said he had seen Cody in his bed at 2am, wearing flip-flops. I know that was

confusing, it confused me. There is the whole thing and a lot of people mentioned it like, well if you have a toddler, you know that sometimes they want to go to bed with like weird shit. That is true. And sometimes maybe there were new flip flops and he was excited and like that's happened before. Like my kids have wanted to go to bed with things. Normally we say no one and something like that you know could potentially hurt them. Yeah. But it happens.

So that was like, okay, but it was still a little strange. And it looks like law enforcement said that that wasn't the only strange things. The timelines weren't adding up. Nothing was adding up. And they came out and said they don't believe that Cody walked away or is, you know, is missing by his own volition. Or was it? And they don't believe he Cody walked away or is missing by his own volition.

Or was it? And they don't believe he was abducted, which doesn't leave a whole lot of good options here. It looks like they did start searching at the Hampton NASA steam plant, which is very unnerving, and they've made it, quote quote an element of the comprehensive search as of Tuesday afternoon. It's just like the fact that they're looking for a four-year-old at a steam plant. And he is just... Oh my god. I was beautiful little babe. I was just saying I feel like so often lately we're talking about these cases like summer wells and then now Cody and the Harmony.

And you're just looking to like these little babies eyes that I said to Elena before we started recording like just looking through pictures of him you can feel your heart breaking. Oh it's it's horrific because it's just like this beautiful little babe with this whole life in front of him and what's even more unnerving about this is that steam plant is where they found a two-year-old Noah Tomlin who they found in July 2019. That story will rip you right apart. It's a horrific one when you find out what happened to that poor little baby. And his quote unquote mother, Julia Tomlin, 37 years old, she pleaded guilty to murdering

him ruthlessly, a two-year-old. What is it? Like I have a two-year-old. What is it? Like I have a two-year-old. I cannot fathom laying a finger on her. No. And that poor baby was like beaten to death a two-year-old. We get upset when we're like, no, you can't do that. When she cries, it breaks my heart.

Even when she cries just because she's pissed that she didn't get to have a snack or something, like something very innocuous. She's your half-five. But a two a two year old crying will destroy your heart because they cry with everything they got. And they do that. They do that. Oh, that face. And it just in the break your heart. That's how they that's how they wrap you around their fingers because they're so damn cute that they're able to get you to just go, you know what? It's okay. Yeah, if you're a little baby. If you're a good human being. Yeah, if you love your child.

But yeah, so this is really horrific. Let's all, and I mean, it looks like the Harmony Montgomery case too is really, we're waiting to see what's gonna happen with that. Right. For Cody's case, I guess the police are asking specifically from help from the public.

They said that anybody near the 100 block of Randallet Drive, or if they've been in that area, if they can look at surveillance videos or like photos that they might have during that particular time, they're really interested on noon Sunday until Monday morning at 9 a.m. So definitely, if you happen to know somebody in that area or you are in that area,

and have a camera There you go, right definitely check it out because we need to at least find out what happened to this baby Exactly. I'm worried about the outcome, but it there needs to be an outcome here But yeah, so that's a really sad case and we're gonna go into another really sad case. I had a feeling yeah So we actually noticed that we were, we got new microphones. I think we mentioned it a couple episodes back and we were sitting in where we regularly sit

and I was like, wait, do we sound kind of funky? I mean, I was like, I think we might be looking a little funky here. Yeah, we sounded a little cavernous. There was a lot, there was some echoes that we were hearing that I just could not let go. So now we're sitting in a closet. And we tested it.

And I was like, that sounds like a late night show like on the radio. Yeah, it's a very, it's like butter. It is. I think we might need to sit in the closet for now. I mean, coming from the laundry room, we move into the closet. I'm back in the closet.

You're back in the closet. L-O-L. But no, it sounds much better in here. Hopefully you notice that. Let's get into this case, because it is a long one. There's a lock going on. It's a crazy one. Okay, I'm ready.

So this, I don't know if you've heard of a man named James Hicks. So I think I have, but I don't know if I know the story. I think maybe I've just heard you say James Hicks before. And I feel like that's also just a name that when you say it, you're like, yeah, that's probably part of a true crime case. Like it just has that vibe about it. Yeah, it does. Um, so he's a really bad guy just to preface this.

Um, I'm going to start it. I'm going to start it. I'm going to start this from like a weird place, but we'll get there. That's like our new thing and it's been fun. So the first victim, we're just going to get right to it of serial killer James Hicks because now you know right up front what's going to happen here was 23 year old wife, mother and nursing home worker Jenny Hicks. Yes, she was James's first wife. Okay. Now she was born Jenny Sear on February 6th, 1954 in Danbury, Connecticut.

She was one of four kids to her parents Myron, Adrian Sear. She had two brothers, Bruce and Roger and a sister Denise. Okay. She was born in Connecticut, but moved to Etna, Maine, with her family when she was very young. She went to herman high school and it was actually there during her freshman year that she met James Hicks. James was also known as Jimmy, to most people. You know, good old Jimmy. Jim mom. Hicks was older. He was a senior, and they immediately fell for each other, according to everybody. They began dating right away. The same year, she became pregnant with their first child, a daughter who I am going to call Holly. Okay.

Not sure how associated her children who are now adults want to be with this whole debacle, so I'm not going to say their real names Holly. Yeah. Now anyways, Jenny was now 16 and pregnant, and it's in 1971, and James is like, you know what, I'm gonna do what he thinks is the right thing here, he asked her to marry him. Okay. You know, things are going okay.

We're having a baby. Let's get married. Yeah. She agreed, and Avi Sir Family was not psyched at the whole way this went down, and wanted her to finish high school, but she ended up dropping out. Now James Rodney Hicks, the father of said child, was born in Etna Mane, where Jenny's family had moved.

He was born on April 17, 1951. His father left the family when he was very young and his mother raised him alone. They struggled a lot as a family, financially and otherwise. He had six siblings, so you can imagine how hard that was for her. Like, imagine what a piece of shit you have to be to abandon six kids. No. Like, what?

How do you abandon six kids? How do you abandon one kids? But then six children to leave somebody like that. Six children, you just up and leave, that's insane. And to leave with like to leave his mother with all of these kids. He just didn't hear. That's wild to me.

But despite all of this, James slash Jimmy was, he was well liked in high school. He was very athletic. He was a good looking guy in high school. Like he came off very, you know, like all American boy. He was on the cross country team and he was like particularly known as like a star in that sport. Hey there fellow podcast listener. It's Elena and Ash and we're taking you back to the days before streaming services. Whoa!

You know when you would come home from high school and it was only a few hours until that TV show Everyone was watching was about to come on. Well in 1999 that show was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In our podcast with Wondery the re-watcher Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we take it back to 1999. So get out your knee high boots and paste that poster of Angel on the wall. It's time to enter the Buffyverse. Some of you avid morbid listeners already know what we've gotten store.

Hey, my nose. Join us as we sway our way through Buffy's drama, action, and romance. Episode by episodes. Lazy. Follow the re-watcher Buffy the Vampire Slayer, wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and add free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app. Darn, un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un-un Over shot nine times, or fell in love with a vampire, or went into a minor surgery and woke up one week later, paralyzed. What would you do? I'm Whit Missildine, the creator of this is actually

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While in high school his brother Sheldon was actually killed in the Vietnam War, this seemed to be something that was obviously very significant to him, that was a big deal, but he was known to be very cold and withholding when it came to emotions. So people said like it seemed like it bothered him, but it seemed like it affected him in a different way than it would normally affect someone. He became colder, he became more distant, he kind of didn't show emotions about it. And I think that's what people remembered most, like that it was like a weird way to react to a family member dying in such a horrific way. Yeah.

But when you think of it in that sense, you're like, well, everyone reacts differently. Like, I don't personate tears and scream and cry. Like, I probably would shut down too. Like everyone reacts a different way. It's like compartmentalizing. Like some people, that's how they deal with it. Exactly. But I think it was like he was known as being that way.

So I think when that happened, people were like, oh, that doesn't even rile you up. And I'm sure looking back now, they kind of look at that differently. Exactly. And they're like, oh, we missed a red flag. Exactly. We may have been a red flag. It's like hindsight is 2020.

He was also though, despite being a little cold, a little withdrawn, he was such a charmer. And he remained a charmer through his whole life, as we'll see. He could very easily manipulate people. And he especially liked to manipulate women and get things from them. He was, like I said, like a decent look and dude.

He was quiet. So, you know, like he didn't come off as super aggressive in high school. But he was definitely hiding a scary personality under there, which I feel like sometimes the quieter that it comes off, there's like something bubbling under there. It's lurking. Now, Jenny Sears' parents could see this

probably better than anyone. They recognized this about him. They were like something's off here. Yeah, because that's their daughter and they're she's about to have a baby with him. I'm sure they're studying him with a fine tooth comb. Of course, because this is gonna be their first grandchild. Absolutely. We need to know what's going on here and they can see things that she's probably blinded by a little bit right now. I mean, and they're getting married. Exactly. It's going to be part of the family. Right. Now, James finished high school, and together they moved in with Jenny's parents, because Jenny's parents were like, we want to be here to help this. Yes.

In 1973, Holly, their first daughter was born, and it was then that things got really tough in their marriage, because as you can imagine, it's going to make a break, yeah. Of course. Especially at that age. Right. If you are meant to be together, and it's gonna make you, right? It's gonna turn you into what you're supposed to be. If you just weren't meant to do this together, it's gonna completely shatter your relationship.

The shows you were in my brain is that I'm just thinking of Caitlin and Tyler from Teen Mom. How it made them. There you go. Boo. It did not break them, I guess. Yeah, I didn't. But, and that's for, you know,

all ages, I feel like. Yeah. I think people don't realize that enough that it's kids really will, they're going to show you what you are, what you're made of as a team, and whether or not you are a team. Right. So I think it's like, I always say it's so important before you have kids with someone to like just discuss what you want that to look like if you are able to. And especially like down the road like your views might change and you want to make sure that they align with each other in the first place. Yeah communication is key everybody. Yeah. This is Dr. Elena telling you no. But like Dr. Drew and like love line for a second. Dr. Drew, Tina, look where we're at. Oh I didn't even realize that connection. Look at that. We're right on it.

So things were getting tough. It was strained. They were young. James was also like a cheating bastard as well. That's tough. That'll do them. He did however get a job at a construction company. So everything was just kind of going downhill.

It's just, it's very clear to both of them that this is not happening. So in 1974, the following year, they filed for divorce. They're like, whatever. Like, call it a loss. But he had acted the way that the reason that they had actually called off the marriage was not just like, not just the culmination of all these things, like the financial struggles raising a baby together, you know.

All the him cheating. Cheating. Yeah. It was he actually hit on her sister Denise. Oh, and that was on top of like a ton of actual affairs. Like he tried to start something with her sister Denise and Denise was like, what the actual fuck? Yeah, like not only am I like the sister of the woman that you're dating, but I'm your child's aunt. There's so much wrong with this and Denise was like no, no, no, get the fuck away from you. When Jenny found that out, she had enough of the bullshit. But once they were in the motion of filing, Jenny discovered that they were actually pregnant with their second child. Oh, which happens a lot. It's like I feel like this happens a lot where people think that it's like, you know, let's make up. Right.

We'll feel we'll feel bonded together for a moment, like intimately. And then that happens. And then you're like, okay, maybe this is meant to, to be, right? Maybe this is like meant to keep us together. Or even sometimes it's just like closure, like one last time for closure. Yeah, it happens all the time. So it's not shocking that this happened, especially at their age. Oh, I can't imagine too, just like the overwhelming feeling in general of finding out that you're pregnant. But it's over all of it. It's like this is not great. Right. Now this time it was a boy who we are going to call Rob. And they decided to stay together

as a result of this. They're going to try to make it work now. So they moved from her parents home to the teen and trailer park in Carmel So James this is in Maine still James got a job at Paul Lawrence construction company in Woodland Which was about two and a half hours away and then two and a half hours back. Oh wow Yeah, and he was commuting instead of staying there during the week Which a lot of people who work that job stayed there for the week and then would come home to their families on the weekends. Okay. Which that happens at a lot of jobs like that.

Yeah, definitely. He actually wanted to commute because he said he wanted to see his kids. Okay. So he's not a good guy, though, so don't worry. Yeah. But Jenny also wanted to contribute to the bills since she wanted to start her own career So she got a job at a nursing home in Brewer, Maine and she worked in the kitchen and was starting school to become a CNA

So she could start moving up the ladder. Okay, so they were like making moves. Yeah, definitely especially at a young age Yeah, they looked they said we have two kids. We got to work Gonna do the same thing. We got to try to make this work Now on top of this on her off-hours, she was baking cakes for like a side hustle. She would decorate and bake cakes. I love that. So she's just like on it.

Definitely. She did not let anything hold her back. And raising two children on top of all of that. And as we're gonna see over and over and over again, every single person who knew her says she was a phenomenal mom. Oh, they said that number, like the one thing nobody could ever say about her was that she didn't absolutely like follow her kids feet. Because to transform, like that, it's such a young age. I mean, she found out she was pregnant at

16 and then to get married and like try to make the right choice for you and then get a job and then have a side hustle and raising two kids like wow and be on your own too for a lot of the time out of the week. Exactly and this was for her kids like everything they were doing like by all appearances on his part but they were doing it for the kids. Right. They try to give them a good life. Now with James and herself working full time they obviously needed a babysitter.

So one of the next door neighbors offered to help out. Her name was Linda, and she became very close with Jenny. This family was like a really sweet family. She and her husband wamed, said of Jenny, quote, she was just a very nice person. She would do anything for anyone. And then Linda said, she was an awesome woman, a mother to die for. Now they both said that her marriage with Jimmy was not a good one and it was clear she was trying to hide it from the outside world and just kind of keep it together for the

sake of her kids. I'll refer to him as Jimmy now, I feel like it's easier. Now Linda and her husband Wayne also had children, so they were not going to be a permanent solution for the babysitting problem, but they just wanted to help out until they found one. Now luckily a 15-year-old girl named Susan Matley actually came to live in one of the nearby trailers with her boyfriend Dwight. Okay. Dwight actually knew Jimmy in high school. So and it's like I feel like these like New England town like Maine and so it's like that. Everybody's gonna know everybody. Everybody went to the same high school. So Susan this 15-year-old actually offered, you know, I'll be your babysitter and she ended up moving into Jenny and Jimmy's trailer to be the

Live-in babysitter because they went to work so early and she was like I'll just live here Okay, and they were like cool like if you're down for that being your payment that we give you like a roof and food and all that then she was like cool if you're down for that being your payment, that we give you like a roof and food and all that. Then she was like, cool. Now she was good with the kids, the kids loved her. But Jimmy is a fucking pig and started to sexually harass her immediately. Now she's 15 years old.

One incident is truly horrifying. He attacked her while Jenny and the kids were not in the trailer, thankfully. But he tried to rape her. Oh my God. Now he ended up burning the side of her neck with a cigar during the attack. What?

And she was able to escape and told everyone what happened. Good. Now, this was a huge deal, obviously. So after a lot of arguments about this, on Sunday, July 17, 1977, one day after this happened, Jenny and James decided James was going to move out of the trailer and he was going to do it within two weeks. They were going to get everything under control, but she was like, I stay with the kids, you get the fuck out. Good. And they had decided it. They made the decision, plans were being made.

It seemed like everything was kind of moving in the direction that it was supposed to move in, which like, get the hell out. Yeah. So the next day, Monday, July 18th, Jenny took the kids to visit her sister Denise out of town. They hung out, they did the sister thing, just like, chatted. She told her about the whole Jimmy incident, which I'm sure Denise wanted to fucking kill him for, I would. And so the Jenny's daughter, Holly, asked if she could actually

stay with Denise for the night and they agreed. Which is adorable. I love that she was like, can I stay at Auntie Denise's? Yeah, it's cute. And Denise was like, sure. Like, and it's really cute for the best too with everything going on. The tension, I'm sure that Denise was like, absolutely like, just, we'll have like a

cute little night. Yeah. Now, Jenny promised to take Denise to a dentist appointment the next day, like they had made plans, she was going to drive her. And she would just pick up Holly then. So she was like, cool. So Jenny took Little Rob, who I think was two years older, three years old at this time. She took him with her. So she stopped with Rob at the store. They grabbed some stuff to make a cake because she was going to be making one for actually Linda, the neighbor at the trailer, her nephews birthday. She had asked her to make them a cake. So when

she got home, she actually talked to Linda on the phone about it and they made plans for the following day to you know, rendezvous to switch the cake. Sure. Click the cake tour. Apparently Jenny called Linda again a little later in the afternoon and asked her like, was like, do you want to come over and just like hang while I do this? I'm like, you know, the kids can play because Linda had kids too. Yeah. But Linda didn't have a babysitter for her other kids. And I think there was some reason she just couldn't come bring

them. So she was like, oh, I can't, but like, I totally would. So July 18th. He, so Jimmy gets home from work so Jimmy gets home from work. Jimmy gets home from work. He says that Susan was out on a date. And now this is the same day that like she dropped, you know, Holly at Denise's house, blah, blah, blah. Now this is the night Jimmy gets home. Susan's out on a date, the babysitter.

She, he says she got home at 11 and he and Jenny had just sat and watched television all night. Okay, normal, right? Like when he got home, 11 and he and Jenny had just sat and watch television all night. Okay, normal, right? Like when he got home, they just sat and watch television. He said that Susan came in, went straight into her room and they didn't speak. And he said, this was because he was really angry at her because she had lied about him attacking her. Oh, of course. So he ignored her. But he said, her and Jenny did speak very briefly. Before she went, he didn't say a word to her. He then said they stayed up, watch some more

TV. Then they went to sleep. I think little Rob came into bed with them like Jenny brought little Rob into bed with them. He said, he woke up for the next day. Rob and Jenny were still asleep in bed and he went to work. Okay. Sounds like a normal night. Yeah, I feel like it wasn't. That was July 18th. So July 19th is when you got up and went to bed or went to work. I was, so that morning when everyone woke up, Susan Matley wakes up and she's like, what's going on? She sees Jenny's glasses on like a counter and she sees her purse in the trailer,

but no sign of Jenny. Oh. Now, James got home from what, so Jenny's just like that's weird, but she didn't really know what to do. She was just taking care of Rob, doing things. Yeah, she's got to focus on that. Yeah. And again, she's 15.

She doesn't know what the hell is going on. Yeah. So James gets home, or excuse me, Jimmy gets home from work and she told to, and she's like, hey, like have you seen, have you heard from Jenny? Like where is she? Right. She didn't say anything all day. And he was like, I haven't heard from Jenny. And he's like, hey, have you seen, have you heard from Jenny? Like where is she? She didn't say anything all day. And he was like, I haven't heard from Jenny. And he's like, what do you mean?

So he goes to look for her because he's like, that's weird. So he went. Exactly. So he went to Linda's home looking. She hadn't seen her. Went to Denise's home, her sister. Denise was like, no, she was supposed to bring me to a dentist appointment. Yeah.

And I've been trying to get in contact with her. And Little Holly is still there. Exactly. And then he went to her parents' home looking for her. And they were both like, no. Like, he's a shit. Yeah. Susan said he came back to the trailer and told her that she and Rob were going to be going

to his mother's home. He was like, I'm going to bring you guys there so that I can go look for Jenny some more. And so he drove them there and when he dropped them off, he and his brother George left together for a couple of hours and then they came back and said when they stopped by the trailer again, the lights were on and her purse and glasses were now gone. So she must have stopped there in the interim, right? Yeah, totally. For sure. He then went to Denise's home and told her this as well and it was of course bullshit. Yeah, and I'm sure Denise felt as though it was bullshit.

Of course. Now, remember, she was supposed to bring Denise to that dentist appointment. Like, and was supposed to bring that cake to Linda for her nephew. None of those things happened. Right. So, with a fuck is she? Like, she didn't just leave for the day and do her things. Where is she? She wouldn't just abandon all of her responsibilities. No. So her family and Linda and her husband Wayne, it's Linda Elston and Wayne Elston,

are the neighbors. And also Jimmy, all reported Jenny missing. Okay. Everybody did. Side note about Wayne Elston, Linda's husband. He has a race car shop in Carmel, and he made an entire wall covered with news clippings of Jenny's case so people would constantly see it and keep talking about it. He also brought huge exhibits with the details and timelines and clippings of every single thing about this case to every event that he brought his business to, so that he was always keeping the case in the forefront of everybody's like new people's minds. What an amazing human. What a fucking friend. That's a friend you want. Like that's a real dude. Like that is a good friend and wait. You do have a friend and wait.

It's just like I was like wow. Like that's really nice that he did that. Wow, that's really nice that he did that. So when James spoke to the Penobscot County Sheriff's Deputy, named Tim Richardson, he'll come back. He immediately said he believed that Jenny had run away from her family with a truck driver. That's what Jimmy told the sheriff. He was like, you know what, I know where she went. She ran away with a truck driver. Yeah, because she had so much time on her hands. She does link up with

one. Absolutely. This made zero sense. And her family jumped on it. They said she would never leave her children. That is just not a possibility. That's not not even a remote possibility. And everyone who knew her as a mother maintains this. And I 100% agree after reading about her, there's no way she would have left those children. Now, four days after she went missing, according to court documents, Jenny's father saw James Hicks furiously like scratching and itching his arms and saw like rash on his arms. You got Poison Ivy for being in the woods burying your wife's body?

Wow! When he was asked, he said it was Poisony and he got it on a job site. Yeah. When police spoke to his supervisors, they said there's literally no way he got poison ivy on this job site. He was definitely lying. They're like it didn't happen here. You were in the woods, but he got it to work. Yeah. Now one week later, Jimmy said he saw Jenny in a car. Sure. So all of a sudden, oh, I saw her. And he said, I saw her in a car with a man outside the gateway bar, which is a new port. He said he was with his brother, George. And he said, he saw Jenny, he ran up to her. And she told him, I'm moving to Florida with my new man, totally. And here he is.

And he was like, he was a trucker. And he said, she asked if the kids were doing well but made no mention that she wanted to take them with her or anything. Bullshit. After this, he also said she called a few times but none of these happened. None of them.

None of them. This didn't happen, none of it did. Which also, I'm like, brother George, what's going on with you? Well, I was gonna say that. Exactly. Well, it's, I mean, seemingly like George was with him when he disposed of the body

if you're putting two and two together question marks. It's a strange thing. Now, things are starting to now feel strange to everybody after this. People are starting to question Jimmy's far fetched tales about Jenny and people started really thinking about, wait a second, this was a really bad marriage. Yeah, and like, wait a minute.

Like maybe we should have thought about that in the beginning. He was literally about to move out. Yeah, and like, wait a minute. Like, maybe we should have thought about that in the beginning. He was literally about to move out. Yeah, that's what things get the most dangerous. Exactly. When you finally are trying to escape, right? And people started saying, no, like, he's actually just like a really cruel mother fucker. And like, I don't, people were like,

I don't think people are talking about this enough. And Jimmy is just making things worse and worse. He actually can't, so Jenny never picked up her final paycheck. That should tell you everything in each. Yeah, she was a fool. Right. She didn't have that money with her. Of course. Now he contacted her job at the nursing home and demanded they release her last paycheck to him. No. They said they couldn't do that because she was a missing fucking person. Right. And they were like, you saw her. You're telling us she's still alive. You can't just have her face open. Of course, you're gonna hold it.

So he showed up there and threw a fit in a nursing home for this paycheck. Good. And they still didn't release it to him luckily. Now, her parents, Myron Adrian accused him outright one day. Wow. They asked him, they said, where is our daughter?

Like, you know where she is. And he said She's living in Florida with another man and they were like bullshit Yeah, he was like you know what you're right. She's living in New Hampshire And they were like bullshit and so they were like you're fucking lying and they said to her I think you killed her and hit her body They said that like that to him his verbatim, what they both said, you'll never prove that. Oh, do imagine somebody saying that to you as a parent

about your child. I just the wave that just washed over my body of just like pure shock. Not I would never. That's horrible to say. You'll never prove that. And it's not. They wouldn't that's admitting it Oh, yeah, and they knew it they knew it from the start her family knew it was him from the start of course because who else would it be? Now Jimmy moved in with several different women in the weeks and months after Jenny's and his appearance does he have the children?

He does okay, and he started keeping the children away from Jenny's family. Now this was devastating to them. Of course. And they kept searching for their daughter while also trying to prove that he had something to do with it, but no one was listening to them. Of course not. They took out a missing person's ad in the paper describing Jenny asking for any information for themselves. They hired a private detective to look for her and they did not have the money to hire a private detective, but they scrimped and scrounged to do it. In February of 1978, my friend Jenny's mother actually wrote to the main secretary of state for help. Wow.

She basically said her daughter had gone missing. They were not able to question her husband for fear of him claiming harassment, because he was threatening that. He was like, I'll just get you arrested for her asking me. She explained the details of the case and asked if they could, if he could just, he was like, she was like, all I want from your office, the secretary of state, can you just tell me if my daughter renewed her license? That's literally what they were asking.

And they were like, because if she renewed her license, she would have to have her new address on it. And I just want to know if she's alive. Yeah. Can you please help me? My daughter. Yeah. Now, nothing ever came of that, of course.

So Ken, well, let's talk about Jimmy for a second, because suddenly people started coming out and being like, wait a fucking second. Yeah, they're saying he's like super cruel, so what's that all about? Exactly. So, friends said that Jenny, he was very controlling, very possessive, he had a nasty temper, and all of this doesn't make his story very airtight. No.

Because he's sitting there, I'm just this loving husband, I don't what? She likes to me, and he's trying to now play the match. Now she just left me and her children like an asshole for some other guy. It's exactly what he would do. Exactly. And friends actually said that Jenny couldn't even just sit and her children like an asshole for some other guy. It's exactly what he would do. Exactly.

And friends actually said that Jenny couldn't even just sit and talk when Jimmy was around with them. Like she was very like nervous and very like quiet around them if he was there. Like she would hold back. And Linda, the neighbor actually said that one time he had offered to drive her home after like he was kind, like she said he was sitting in the room while her and Jenny

We're talking and at one point he just got up and was like all right Linda time to go home Which like fuck what yeah, like I'm a grown woman all this time when I think she was like what and she was like Jenny Can tell me when to go home exactly but she so she didn't have a car with her and Jenny was like I'll drive you home And he was like no, I'll drive you home and I guess Jenny grabbed her and was like don't get in a car with her and Jenny was like, I'll drive you home and he was like, no, I'll drive you home. And I guess Jenny grabbed her and was like, don't get in a car with him. What? And so she called Wayne, her husband and was like, can you come pick me up and he had to pick her up.

Oh, no. So she was like, I don't know what that was about. And you just have to wonder, like those are just very small instances that people are like thinking back on and kind of putting the pieces together. What was Jenny going through? Exactly. Exactly.

Exactly. What was she going through? Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. And what were her kids witnessing? Yeah. That's the thing. It's like, what were those kids seeing? And for months, nothing happened in this case. Well, her family fought and fought to have it investigated.

The cops just believed Jimmy's story that she ran off with a truck driver. Like, what evidence did they have to support that? Literally none. So it's like, you're just gonna take him for face value? Yep, no evidence, just take his word. And also, he was a charming mother fucker and he buttied up to them and they were like, Oh, he's a good guy.

Yeah, it's just like in the Lawrence Smith fields case. Exactly, he's a good guy. He's a nice guy, why not? Oh, yeah, for sure. So her poor family is stuck trying to pull any string they could pull, which we know is not easy for victims' families to be in with. And especially when law enforcement is not eating them even in the least. At all.

Is eating the man that they believed did this? Now, five years went by and nothing happened. Wow. No help for this family, no answers us to where Jenny had really gone and what happened to her. Meanwhile, James continues working, moved into his parents' property in Etna, and started dating, cohabitating, and even marrying multiple women. In the meantime, normal.

Yeah. Then in 1982, another woman went missing. From that same bar, that Jimmy claimed to have seen Jenny at with her new trucker bow. Wow. This would finally bring some good cops into the folds who did what they should have done for Jenny in 1977.

So was this a different, um, district or just new cops? New cops. Gotcha. Now, this is, this missing person is Jerry, Jerry Lynn Lee Towers. She was born December 2nd, 1947. She was raised in Maine as one of six kids. She had two brothers and three sisters.

She was a single mother of three children, and they lived in a duplex that she shared with her mother, June Tibbets, and her stepfather, Millard Tibbets, in Newport. Now, she, like, struggled a little bit as a mother, like she was having a little trouble getting her own life together, but she was working very hard on it at this point and Had all of her children with her at this point, but there were times when like she was struggling Now again, this is just to say why some of these are getting brushed under the rug a little bit

because Law enforcement is looking at it like up just to like that's like that's what they do and it's like no That's not what she was doing right now according to tragedy in the north woods by Irene Irene Trudy which is a great book and I'll link it um Geraldine liked to bowl and she liked to take her kids bowling that was like the thing they did together um she loved to play like card games and she loved the outdoors and she was very superstitious and she always kept a penny in her shoe for luck. I love that. She was just like the little quirks about you.

Now October 16th, 1982. That night she had gone to the Gateway Bar in Newport. Her stepfather had actually dropped her off at 6.30 pm and he was planning to pick her up when she called later. He waited up and she was not calling. And he said at 1 a.m., he heard a car loudly pull into the driveway. Like loudly as in the exhaust was really loud. Okay.

And then back out. So he was like, oh, she must have got a ride from someone. And she, that must have been her. Right. So he just went to bed. He was like, cool. She's coming in. Yeah.

In the morning, Geraldine's oldest son woke them up and said, mom's not home. And I think he was 13 at the time, I believe. They were immediately panicked. She had also been on medication for liver problems, and they were like, she didn't have it with her. And we were like, if she's not home right now, that's weird. Yeah.

Now, June, her mother, called police to report her missing on October 18th. And also, they ran an ad in the paper asking for information. They got a response from that ad from a psychic who told them their daughter was in a river in Bingham. I had just based on the look of your face. I had a feeling that it was like not going to be a good time. No, not a good time psychic.

When the police asked around, they couldn't find any witnesses who saw Jarlyn at the bar that night after her stepfather had dropped her off. Within two days of her case becoming an official missing persons case, that same psychic Nathan Small, who had called and said, you know, she's a river. He actually called detectives this time. And he talked to officer James Ricker, and corporal Eugene Robinson, who were the leads on the case. He told the detectives that seeing dead bodies without physically seeing them was like kind of his thing. And he was sure that what he had told the family was true. Okay.

So he said, Jarlyn is dead and she's in that river. So then I'm sure they spent a lot of time in resources looking in rivers and then she probably wasn't there. Yeah, they did end up following up on this. They checked the location, they felt compelled to. Of course. They had to check up on anything. Yeah, they had nothing else. So they're like, why not?

Why as well? Jarylyn was in on that river. That's, I fucking hate that shit. It's irritating. Whenever a psychic shows up and like, stop. And stop. Like in this case, in the very beginning, precious time loss.

Oh, so much time loss. And resources allocated. It's just like, stop. Just stop. Right. Now, soon police were getting a couple of actual tips from people who were at the bar that night. Someone anonymous called and said,

a guy named Gary Hicks was someone that was with her that night. Gary. So, yeah. So, they went into the bar, the officers, and they started talking to people. No one knew a Gary Hicks. No, I don't know a Gary Hicks in this case. No. Exactly.

No, when the officers started asking around, they spoke to a man sitting at the bar, and he said, hi, I'm Jimmy Hicks. And they were like, oh, did somebody know we just get it wrong Gary Jimmy? Like did somebody get around and he said so they were like, oh like were you at the bar that night? And he said no, I don't he said he didn't know Jarelin. He wasn't at the bar that night of her disappearance. You know Jimmy, he's always got an excuse and always has a distance from these missing women somehow. They're around him, but not totally around him. Right. So after they talked to him at the bar

and he told them, you know, I wasn't there, don't know her, whatever. He left that night from the bar and the detectives were convinced that he was no one worth chasing. He was still convincing cops with his just like, I'm a bro demeanor. Do better, cops.

Like, they were completely convinced. They weren't even going to look at him again. Are good at lying. And usually bad people are good at lying. So it's like, uh, maybe that's like part of your training, man. Right. But luckily, they finally had some good guys on this force who were like, I think he's lying. Exactly. So unfortunately for Jimmy's dumbass, the bartender that evening was like, um, actually, no, I saw inserved Jimmy Hicks that night the geruland went missing. I know it. And she said he arrived at 10 p.m. that night and spent the night talking to geruland. They also got word that he had recently had his car fixed. In particular, he had gotten a busted exhaust fixed. Oh, interesting. Remember at 1am that night the gerollin went missing?

Her stepfather and mother heard a car with a loud exhaust pull into the driveway. I'm very confused about why he pulled into their driveway, but I'm sure you'll tell me. I'm sure we will find out. Now, they also heard from witnesses that they saw his car on the road leading to Geraldine's home that night. So now officers are like, whoa, whoa, whoa, let's talk to Jimmy Hicks again. So they got his address and they got his address from which is, it seems like so old timey police work here.

They got his address from the postmaster who just also who was like, by the way, like that Jimmy Hicks is real fucking strange. Like I just want to put it out there. Like I love that they were like, can we have his address and they were like, who was like by the way like that Jimmy Hicks is real fucking strange like I just want to put it out there Like I love that they were like we have his address and they were like he was like Lemmy FYI Lemmy let you in on a little bit of insight here. You can picture it in like a movie right? I picture the scene of small town. He's leaning on his elbow. He's got a hat. It's got a big bag on his shoulder full of mail Oh, yeah, and full of news just in his pocket there. And then he said literally everyone around town. He said everyone in this area, he goes, you know, like he probably killed his wife, right? And they were like, I'm sorry, what? Because these are new detectives and they're like, what now?

And he's like, oh yeah, everyone in this area knows he did it, but nobody can prove it. So like, he's like kind of a pariah, but people are scared of him. What? So off the detectives include, so it's Ricker and Eugene. They go out to his house and they're like, we got a question you and it was a trip. Okay. So first they said they tried to question him in the police car

and he was so panicky that they were like, do you want to go in your house? Like do we want, should we just sit down at a table, like you can't even function. Why? They said he was sweating and shaking. Lericka immediately was like,

oh, this is our guy. Like literally. Yeah. He was like, he almost fainted. He was like, he literally was hyperventilating. Now they went in the house and actually they got a glass of water and he ended up spilling a whole glass of water all over himself. He was so stressed out.

Wow, wait, I mean, I'm happy that he was acting that way, but like, wow, dude. Exactly. And after almost losing his damn mind during the interview, he finally admitted that maybe he had been at the bar that night. The gerryland went missing. Maybe. And maybe he had talked to gerrylin. But he said they definitely didn't leave together. So detectives were like, okay, well people saw you leave together and he was like, okay. Maybe I left at the same time as her. We didn't leave together.

And maybe I also drove my car down her street just for just some giggles. Maybe. Then he just broke down and was like, you know, my wife is Jenny Seer and she, she's still alive. I saw her at that bar after she went missing and she also sends Christmas gifts to the kids every year

and her parents have talked to her. Yeah. Like just so you know, and they were like, we didn't even ask you about that. Right. Like thank you so much for volunteering all that shit to us. Cool, cool, cool. So they're like, okay, so her parents still talk to her? And like, you have these gifts and everything. And he's like, yeah, yeah, totally. Absolutely. He then repeated that maybe he was at the bar that night with Jarlyn,

but he said, I definitely left a closing time alone. So when they dropped the bombs on him, that they knew about the exhaust getting fixed and the fact that he was seen in the area of Jerry Lin's home that night, he was just shocked, like just couldn't. So he looked as if he was about to break down and just go, okay. Like what happened? They said his face was literally like, fuck, like I can't get out of this. Like what happened? They said his face was like, fuck, like I can't get out of this. Then his girlfriend at the time, Linda Markey comes home, flips out, interrupts the interview and tells the police

to get the fuck out of her house. Okay, Linda. Now, James Rickard, that detect, one of the lead detectives on the case, he said to this day, he said, I fully believe Jimmy Hicks was about to confess everything in that moment. He said he was such a mess

and it was Linda who interrupted them and stopped it from happening. Wow, Linda. Yeah. It's so infuriating. And Officer Ricker also said, it was that interaction with Jimmy that convinced him from the outset

that he was 100% guilty. Wow. He said, no one acts like that unless they are damn guilty. Right, of course not. There's no reason for him to, and he was like, this wasn't even like, a little nervous.

He poured a glass of water on himself. He was like, I thought he was gonna puke all over himself. Like, he was literally, he said, he, there was sweat beads dripping down his face. He was bright red. He was visibly trembling. What a tough guy. What a tough guy.

What a tough guy. What a big man. Tough guy who kills women and shits his pants when police talk to him. Yeah. Now that they have the direction to start going in, because they were like, wow, this is a lot of information. I'd be like, can we call this probable cause? Right.

So then they started to go through the other things they knew about Jimmy Hicks. So they knew he had a first wife named Jenny Sear, who went missing missing because he literally told them. They're like, let's start here. So they decide to talk to Jenny's family and get some information to help move things forward. Now, Jenny's family were so happy to see Detective Ricker. I'm sure. They said they'd been non-stop trying to find Jenny or information about where they could, where she could be since you were missing. And he said when he got there, when he, so he called and said, I'm going to, like, come to talk to you. He said at least 10 members are for family were there when he arrived, crying and just

desperate for help. Like, they were literally like sobbing like, I can't believe you're going to talk to us. Oh my God. Now they were just so happy someone was paying attention to them. Right. Now, myra, Jenny's mom, told Ricker, quote, no one has ever believed me. Like, literally said that to him.

That's so fun. And he was like, it killed me. Like, hearing her say, no one has ever believed me, and I know he did it. Right. And she explained that she just knew that he had killed her daughter and had to live with that. And she said, and she's also taking our grandchildren away

and telling people that Jenny left her family for a trucker, like just a random reputation. Like we don't even have this trucker's name, we don't even know it. And it's like, why'd you pick a trucker? What does that even have to do with anything? Like, I'd so weird. And they kept saying she never would leave her kids.

She would leave him, but she would never leave her kids. Now, Ricker told them how James had claimed to see Jenny outside of that bar after her disappearance and also claimed that they had spoken to Jenny since she was gone. They were astounded by that and said absolutely not. They had not seen her heard from her since the day she went missing. A friend Susan Hart told police that Jenny had told her that even if her marriage was the absolute worst, and even if something really bad happened in it, she would still never leave her children. She told her that.

They also said about the fact that he had tried to assault the babysitter, and her mother told them that he had responded with, you'll never prove that. That's so fucks. When she accused him of killing Jenny, she was like, all of this stuff is pretty fucking fishy. Yup. This is when the real deal came out about his abusive ways.

Like, this is when the police are now like, wait a second. Mm-hmm. What? Like, tell me more about that, baby sitter thing. He was a fucking, he was an animal, and he was an animal abuser, too, and they didn't even know that, that's a tell-tale sign He's a piece of shit in every way you can imagine now. I'm gonna quickly mention something about animals

So if you don't want to hear it just skip forward like 15 seconds I'm sorry. You don't have I won't go into detail or anything because I hated to yeah He had been given a dog once or he had given a dog once to someone and he was giving it to them. He got in his car and then intentionally rode over the dog as he drove away. What the fuck? And then he bragged about this to members of Jenny's family who were absolutely horrified. Bragged about murdering a dog. He had bragged about murdering a dog. He had bragged about killing a cat as well, by like dragging it on the back of a truck. No, no, no.

He had talked about killing and hurting other animals. No, no, no, no. Of course, this leads to escalation of cruelty and he inflicted this upon his wife. Of course. He had actually harmed Jenny to the point of her needing hospitalization before. Why?

And that wasn't out until now. When? I'm not sure when it was, but it had happened. her mom Jenny to the point of her needing hospitalization before. Why? And that wasn't out until now. What? I'm not sure when it was, but it had happened. And people around them described him as a bully and extremely controlling of her. I wonder, like, what happened that led her to be in the hospital? Yeah. In the neighbors that seem bruises and such.

And you don't realize that? Yeah. Until years and years after she went missing, nobody bothered to say like, hey, was she ever in the hospital? Yeah, like no one asked. Because of him. And this family is trying to tell them this and no one's listening to them. That's so fucked.

So Ricker was like, wow, what? Like was literally like, are you kidding me? He's like, how did this happen five years ago? Like this all happened five years ago. Right. What happened in this investigation? Because he wasn't there while it happened. Right. What happened in this investigation? Because he wasn't there while it happened.

Right. And the family was like, oh yeah, nothing. Nothing happened in that investigation. Absolutely nothing. They listened to us. The records of them reporting Jenny missing were gone at the Penobscot County Sheriff's Department. Wow.

Gone. Records, they even filed them in the police. I don't even think they really filed them. Yeah, I don't think so. And Ricker himself, the lead detective kept asking for the reports from the Panab Scott Sheriff's Department. And they kept being like, sure, sure, sure. And then he found out they were gone and just bullshitting him. Wow. Isn't it sad? Like, I feel like more and more you're hearing about things like that. It's just in the cases that we cover.

And it's like, how do you just like put a missing person's report to the side and do like, oh, fuck it. Yeah. And that's like human. And this is like complete. Like they saw these people. It's just not important to them. It's just fun.

How do you place such a small value on a human life? And put one person's case over another. Like it doesn't make any sense. They never filed that missing report, person's report. I guarantee it. Literally one of the police step-uties when the call came in in 1977 about Jenny missing.

He went out, he talked to James Hicks, we're talking about Tim Richardson. I'm also like, I wonder how James Hicks was then when he don't to you about that. Well, I guess he was fine because he charmed the hell out of him. Yeah. But I think that's the thing.

This guy came out in 1977 and was like, hey, Jimmy, what's up? What's going on? When Jimmy was like, oh, you know what? I know exactly what happened. She left with a trucker. She had been in our family, what a bitch. Yeah.

Moving on. And then Tim Richardson was like, yeah, bro. And then they left. And he felt great about it. But this time, he a bitch. Yeah. Moving on. And then Tim Richardson was like, yeah, yeah, bro. And then they left. And he felt great about it. But this time, he knew he was caught. And they had like a couple other things that they even did before going there. And they're like, oh, how about that new exhaust you got?

So he's shitting himself. Because at the time he looked at it, like, I covered my tracks, I'm fine. She's gone. No one's ever gonna question it again. No one can just shit about her family asking questions. I got everything I want. But then five years down the road when a cop shows out two detective show up at your door and they go, Hey, Jimmy, you want to sit down and talk to us after the night before?

They talk to you at a bar about another missing woman like they're closing and I knew his shit was on fire. Like he was literally like, oh, what do they have? So the thing for me though is this is two parts and like I feel like we're nearing like the end here. We are not. Okay. We are not.

Okay. So like I said, Tim Richardson in 1977 talked to Jimmy. Jimmy Charmed him, told him what he wanna do. He wrote down that Jimmy left for it with a truck driver and that was that they never investigated this case at all. That Jenny left with a truck left. All of this new information and the knowledge now that the original investigation was completely botched and ignored, allowed detective

Ricker to really tick the investigation up now. And now he was like, well now I'm going to focus on Jenny's disappearance first, so that we can hopefully be led to what happened at Jarlin, because he's like, these are clearly connected. Of course. Jimmy's involved in both of these. Now, Detective Ricker went looking for neighbors at the trailer park where Jenny and Jimmy lived, the T&N trailer park. And he spoke to one of the neighbors, Trudy Levin's seller. She was super nervous and she said she was scared to involve herself because she said Jimmy was scary. And she was like, I didn't want to involve myself. I'll account so far. She is more than correct.

Yeah, she is, but she said she wanted to help Jenny's family because she said they're good people. I want to help, but I was just really scared. And she said, I was scared when he was living here still to say anything, because he was like, he's right next to me. Yeah. But she was like, now that he's not living here, I'll tell you.

She's gonna see it cops going over there. Exactly. She was like, that wasn't my bag. So she told Ricker that, yes, Jimmy was abusive and cruel and scary. And she said she saw Jenny with black eyes and bruises. And she said she would never say where they came from. Then she said that the night of July 18th,

she had heard them fighting, heard banging in the trailer. And then her Jenny yell, stop, please stop, you're going to kill me. Oh my God. And later she heard that night, she heard what she thought was wood being chopped. What? In the direction of their trailer. Okay. This was in the middle of the night, my June.

So she was like, why is someone chopping wood? Mm-hmm. Now, upon further speaking with more neighbors, some of the neighbors' kids said they had actually heard screams in the middle of the night that night as well. Like, why did nobody call the police? But they didn't know what to do and they didn't know if it was like just, you're hearing

things. Uh, Trudy reminded Detective Ricker about the babysitter Susan Matley. Yeah. And it was like, have you talked to her? I was wondering if she was going to come back in a play here. Yeah. And finally, they got Susan Matley, the babysitter, and they interviewed her. She had been living in Massachusetts since the whole thing.

Yeah. Uh, she told the police that Jimmy and Jenny fought a lot and that Jimmy was very aggressive with her. She also made it clear that Jenny was her, basically, like her own mother. Yeah. She was like, Jenny was my mother. She said she was a very kind, very loving person

who took care of Susan whenever she needed her. She said she was a wonderful mother to her own children as well. And her entire life was about those kids. Right. Just like everybody else had a kid's firming again that she never would have left those kids, especially with this fucking monster of a father. No way. So she said the evening of July 19th when Jenny wasn't missing. She said she had come home from a date at around 4 a.m.

Now remember, Jimmy said 11 p.m. because he claimed initially that her curfew at their house was 11 p.m. He later testified to this time too and she maintained I came home at 4 a.m. Right. None of this really makes sense so I'm confused by a lot of it but these are in court documents. She said that she saw Jenny on the couch in a blue bathrobe and she was in a strange position. She didn't say anything to Susan, which was strange to Susan, and Jimmy said she was just sleeping. She said she was very weirded out by it, and this is what she told the detectives, and I found court documents of exactly what

she said. She said, as she entered the living room, she found the defendant, Jimmy, sitting in a chair watching television, and Jenny lying on a love seat with her head down on its wooden arm. Jenny's hair would cover her face, and Susan noted that her body was in an awkward position for sleeping. The defendant told Susan that Jenny was asleep. Remember, Jimmy claimed before that he didn't speak a word

to Susan because he was mad at her. Right. Once again, we're getting conflicting shit. She said that Jenny was asleep, but Susan feared that Jenny was not well. Susan remembered seeing Jenny wearing a fuzzy, but blue bathrobe at that time. After Susan went to her room and got into bed,

she heard slippers scuffing across the floor, like someone was being dragged, you know, and heard the trailer door open. Susan was afraid to investigate what she heard. She hid her head under the covers and eventually fell asleep. I mean, imagine like what she had already gone through by that point. She's 15. Yeah, she's terrified. And she imagined what she saw too. Exactly. And she also later said more about that point. Yeah, she's terrified. And she imagined what she saw too. Exactly. And she also later said more about that morning. She said she woke up that morning with Rob, little boy. She said Rob was just crying at his parents' doorway. No, it was home. Right. And she thought that was strange because she said Jenny wouldn't leave without waking her because she your old rob was in the house. Susan looked around, she found both of Jenny's glasses at the home.

Because later, Jimmy would claim, well, Jenny has two pairs of glasses. Yeah. So maybe that was just the one she left. No. Susan said, I look at the drawer. I found that second pair of glasses. What? And one was on the counter, one in the drawer. Her eyesight was very bad. And everyone said she would not be driving without those. She also said later and testified that no clothing was missing except for that blue fuzzy robe that she'd seen her in the night before. She had not taken any of her other clothes with her. So now there's a woman called Fern God so and that's the former girlfriend of What's his name Jimmy? I was like what's it? What's that ass? What's his name?

And former girlfriend is in right after Jenny disappeared. He immediately started doing this girl shocky. She said Yeah, she it was weird and she said I was concerned. I'm still concerned. And she said basically he got rid of the trailer. Uh, that Jenny and him had why. He immediately wanted out of there. And she said while they were taking things out of that trailer, she had seen their mattress. And she said their mattress had a giant blood stain in the middle of it. Uh-huh.

Like huge. And she asked him about it and he had like some stupid like answer for it. Sure. And she said he was also a very aggressive person to her as well, very rough, rough sexually in particular, even while she was pregnant. Oh God. And she said even when I was like very pregnant. Oh my God. Now, office of attorney general and the main state police looked into the original handling of Jenny Sears case and determined it was a fucked up investigation from the start. They were like, how did this happen? How did this slip through the cracks? They determined that they had just decided that Jenny had left and they weren't looking into anything else. And so now they have to like actually start the investigation again. And it's like, what do you do?

Like, where's the trailer even? And it's like, we have this other missing person's case. We have Jarrell in Towers. Right. And it's like, now we have to do these side-by-side trying to figure out what the fuck happened here from scratch essentially. And that's a long one.

So, Officer Ricker, Detective Ricker, was now leading up the investigation completely. And he said he told the Sarah family that he was reopening this case and he was going to make sure he found who it was. And he said they basically exploded for joy. Like, he was like, they had been ignored for years. Just a closure. Just finally.

Just please tell me what happened to my child. And they knew. That was the thing. They knew what happened. You just want and they knew that was the thing they knew what happened You just want it confirmed. They just didn't want to see him behind bars. Yeah, they wanted to see him pay for it And the problem was there was still no evidence they could hang on to and no body for either case and Unfortunately, they don't have a body. They don't have a body. They don't have bodies for any of this So this is all just they got to figure out how to start. Right, right.

Unfortunately, the evidence for James having something to do with Jeralyn's disappearance was compelling in like a micro scale, but not enough. Like when we look at it, we're like, hell yeah. Because we know everything and we're putting many, many pieces together. But when they're trying to bring this to a judge, in a court of law, to get warrants and all kinds of things, they don't have quite enough. Yeah. But you know, we had the sighting at the bar at the same time.

We have the sightings of him speaking and leaving with her. We have his actions and the fact that his exhaust was loud as fuck and Geraldine's parents heard that loud exhaust. But they just don't have that smoking gun yet. And I'm still so confused, and I know that we're going to find out, but I'm just like, why was he driving down her street? Yeah. Well, you're like, I know, I know.

I'm like, I know. We're not there yet. There was however, significant evidence in the state's mind to suggest that he had something to do with Jenny's disappearance. Definitely. So this was there in. So they figured they should start there, see what unfolded. So they decided to bring it to trial. Definitely. So this was therein. So they figured they should start there, see what unfolded. So they decided to bring it to trial. Okay. It was going to come to trial. Okay. They had enough. So Ferdinand R. Law Rochelle was the chief of the criminal division of the Attorney General's Office and he was the lead prosecutor on the case. On October 4th, 1983, it was presented to a grand jury, and they agreed that James Hicks

likely caused the death of Jenny Hicks in July of 1977. He was immediately arrested, and his trial began in 1984. This was the first time in Maine State history that a trial actually happened when there was nobody. Wow. Formerer. Wow. Now the neighbors were all witnesses.

And some described like they all came on the stand and testified. Some described hearing a lot of physical fights between Jenny and Jimmy. Well, others said they never heard anything above an average fight for a married couple. But also, what is your definition of an average fight for a married couple?

Thank you. You're welcome. Because my next thing I was going to say was, I kind of always wonder what this kind of testimony It's tough because right some people truly don't consider gnarly fights a real fight So that's just their marriage and it's like Some people don't even raise their voice with their spouse. So it's like I would say even my definition and your definition of like a Nourily fight is different. Yeah, because it's like I if somebody's yelling to me

That's a terrifying fight. Right, like that's scary. And like me and Drew have definitely yelled at each other before because I have a temper. But like, it's not a bad thing. And it really is like, it's very subjective. Right. Who, what your relationship is or what you have seen

as a model of a relationship in your own life. Absolutely. Like, you know, my parents didn't yell or get mad at each other. They're not like it really yelled all the time. In your jail, though, the time. So it's like, you're, that's like a very like, oh, people fight like that. It's environmental for sure. But to me, it's like, whoa, people don't fight like that.

Like, I would be terrified. They are somebody screaming at each other outside. Yeah. So it's to be clear, me and Julie, like, don't scream at each other. Oh my god, no. But it's like, it's just a different kind of relationship. Of course. And everybody has one.

Yeah. And that's why these kind of testimonies are hard. Yeah. Because I literally, like I'm thinking of me and you want to stand, we would say totally different things. Yeah, we would probably have a different opinion of what was actually happening. Yeah. So they brought Susan Matley on the stand.

Very crucial, very disturbing. She said, Jenni and Jimmy were arguing even before she had left that night for her date. So she was like, I left and they were already mad at each other. Oh, no. And when she arrived home, she saw Jenni and Jimmy in the living room and he was watching TV. She said this on the stand. Yes, same thing. She said, on the stand, she said, quote,

I opened the door and seen Jimmy sitting down in the chair and Jenny was laying down in the love seat and I asked him, I said, is Jenny asleep? And he said, yes, how was your night? And I said fine. And I walked into the bathroom and then I climbed up on the top bunk, the bed and I was scared, nervous, I was listening. So when pressed further, she said she was nervous because they were like, why were you nervous? That seems like a very normal interaction. And she said, I was listening. So when pressed further, she said she was nervous because they were like, why were you nervous? That seems like a very normal interaction. And she said I was nervous because she looked very weird. She was like, she did not look like she was sleeping

on the couch. It didn't make a lot of sense to me. She was in a weird position. And she said, you know, Jenny would talk to me when I came home and she didn't look asleep. And it was just weird, it was silent. And I didn't like any of it. I just got a bad feeling. Yeah, I was gonna say walking until like a scene like that, you can just feel the tension.

Exactly. You would feel it. You would sometimes, you can't necessarily describe like why you felt that way, but the body knows. Exactly. And when you've lived in this house with these people, it's like you're gonna get vibes. Absolutely. And it sounds to me to be honest, like she probably expected Jimmy to be a dick to her because she had brought up what had happened. And Jenny and him had fought about it. And for him to be like, how is your date? You're like, she was probably like, whoa, what is happening here? To me, that's a pretty big red flag that she was being

normal to her. But then his testimony is that no, I didn't speak to her because I was pissed. And it's like, no, no, I think you did speak to her. You know you, and it showed your entire hand to her by sitting there and being like, hi, what's going on? What's going on? That's because that raised alarm bells and she was like, something's off here.

Yep. So she then went on to say, quote, her feet were scrunched up and her head was like, one eye and half of her nose and her hair was more or less covering her face. Okay, I'm so she'll dead dying to know where her eyes open or closed. Well, she said one eye like it seemed like one eye was half open. That's why she was a little like nervous. Yeah, she also said her arms were in strange positions and she said then she heard that dragging noise,

specifically like someone in slippers being dragged across the floor. And she said the next morning, Jenny was gone, Blue Bathroom was gone, she was gone, everything was gone. My question, I feel like the first thing I think when she's describing the position that Jenny was in was like she was drugged, but that I'm trying to think of like, well that big blood stain on the mattress, like maybe she wasn't, but it's just why would she be sitting in the room? Like, how'd she have already, like, stabbed her, done whatever to her?

Exactly. But I'm sure I'll find out. Don't worry. Just had to point out what I'm thinking. No, I'm sure it's what everybody's thinking because what I was thinking when I was first reading this, I was just, what the hell happened. Right. Because let me just tell you right now, it takes a long time to figure out what happened here,

which sucks because right now we're on a trial. That's family-wired, a long time. Now, Jimmy Hicks testified and said that Susan had come home from her date at 11 p.m. He went back to that 11 p.m. He's not changing his story. And he said he was angry at her for telling Jenny about what had happened. And he said he did not speak a word to her. He said that on the stand.

And then he and Jenny, he said Jenny and Susan had spoken to each other for a bit and then she had one to sleep. So now he's totally conflicting. And Gina, how his demeanor was on stand. They said that he was just very cold and on feeling. Like he showed it. He showed it right off. It's so interesting that he like, shit himself with that one interview,

but then somehow like got himself together for the trial. To me that one interview was unexpected. He was caught off guard. He had been caught off guard the night before talking to the police officer in the bar. I'm sure detective Ricker looked him right in the eye and was like, I fucking got you. Like I'm sure he was like, you did it.

And I know you did it. Right. That there's no way to me that Jimmy Hicks did not look at James Ricker and think, I fucking got you like I'm sure he was like you did it and I know you did it like that There's no way to me that Jimmy Hicks did not look at James Riker and think that no like I got him right Jimmy Hicks sat there and said shit. This guy's not gonna stop like he's gonna figure out right so that's right He needs me that he can just chill out that's true thing here. It's controlled. He has had time He's had time to get it together. He's had time to make that story what he wants to make it. When those detectives showed up in his door

and said you wanna come in the car and sit down and answer some questions, he didn't have any time prepared. Right. Now he has his story, he's sticking to his story. This is what happened. That baby sort of crazy. What are you talking about?

Right. Where's my wife? It's just so funny to think of him like literally pouring a glass of water on himself in one scenario and then just being cool calm collected. Maybe so it's crazy. What are you talking about? Where's my wife? It's just so funny to think of him, like, literally pouring a glass of water on himself in one scenario and then just being cool, calm, collected. It's the types of scenario and the amount of time he has to prepare for them.

That's what it is. So March 22nd, 1984, after nine hours of deliberation, the jury found Jimmy Hicks guilty of fourth degree murder, which is current day manslaughter. I was like, what is fourth degree murder? And he was sentenced on April 20th, 1984 to 10 years in prison. Why manslaughter?

Because one, they didn't have a body. Okay. So this was all inference. This was them basically saying, we believe he caused the death of this woman, but we do not have a body to prove it. And was it one of those things where they thought like maybe he, they believed it was a crime of passion, right, right?

And they believed that, and it's that lack of body that they have, lack of murder weapon, lack of any kind of thing there. Every bit of, like all the testimony, all the evidence they did have, point to him causing her death or disappearance but they just don't have exactly what they need for that murder charge. And I might be getting this wrong but manslaughter means like there wasn't any intent, right?

Usually it's based like there was no planning. There was no malice of forethought and that just means planning. That yeah like there was no like coming up with this like I'm gonna walk into this trailer and I'm gonna kill her. Okay. Like we're gonna argue and then I'm gonna murder her. Okay, so it was basically just like crime of passion. Right, like essentially. Okay. And so he was given 10 years in prison,

but that is only the end of part one. That's the end right there. Because yeah, he's in prison for 10 years. What else could there be? Well, I don't know, there's a part two maelm there's two other murders and a possible confession coming what and there's going to be yeah it's this whole thing seems like it's wrapped up it is not wrapped up we are gonna have decades of finding out what this fucker did and part two is going to be bringing you two more writers.

What? Because we are finally going to get a little closure on Jerelyn. Okay. And we're going to have one more. Okay. And we're going to learn exactly what a piece of shit Jimmy Hicks really is. I am confusion. I don't know if you've ever seen that like video.

I think it was by. I am confusion Yeah, this is an insane case because it does not end with him being put in prison for 10 years But it does it is not what it is not that is only the beginning that is the end of part one the beginning of part two Shit, okay, let me tell you there's a lot more What the whole part two more more damn? Yeah, I need to know right now though. It's a crazy one I hate that like and she's she does this thing where she doesn't even tell me no she doesn't even tell me she doesn't even She does this thing. She doesn't even tell me guys

We're in this together and I'm gonna go bat shit crazy Look at you bursting into high school. Yeah. It's a cool number when you took me to school. It's just gonna suck ice. I took you to it all nice. What a weird place we ended up in. That's right.

We hope that you keep listening. And we hope you keep it. Wee-er. But that's a weird that you do any of that. I'm like so, I'm so shook right now. Right. I can't even tell you how not weird to keep it. Not so weird that you almost piss yourself and murder the people that you supposedly love.

And yeah, like, don't be Jimmy Hicks. I was speechless in the beginning and I forgot even what the word was, but I know what it is now and I'm still speechless. Still living in that land. I'm in a land of speechless. Bye. Hey, Prime Members! You can listen to Morvid, Early, and Add Free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen Add Free with Wondery Plus and Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey.

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