Man charged in dismember case

STROUDSBURG – A Tobyhanna man was charged in the death of Deanna Marie Null on Saturday after police found what they believe to be her hands in his Prospect Street home.

Charles Ray Hicks, of 131 Prospect St., was arrested Saturday on charges of criminal homicide, aggravated assault, tampering with physical evidence and abuse of a corpse, said state police at Swiftwater.

Null’s dismembered remains were found strewn along interstate highways in the Poconos on Jan. 29. Null’s hands were the only body parts not found in January, and police discovered them Saturday inside Hicks’ bathroom plumbing.

Also, police found garbage bags identical to those in which Null’s parts were found in Hicks’ attic on Friday.

Hicks, 33, was the last person seen with Null, 36, who apparently was killed within several days of Jan. 19, when she climbed into the seat of an older model sedan on Olive Street and Capouse Avenue in Scranton, according to Dennis Ingle, a homeless man in Scranton. Ingle said he and Null were friends for three months.

Hicks said Saturday he gave Null money and drugs for sex. Hicks would pick up Null in Scranton, the affidavit said. They drove around in his Mercury Grand Marquis. He recalled smoking crack cocaine with her and had sex on two occasions.

The blue vehicle with the white rag top was parked in front of Hicks’ home for more than six weeks, according to neighbor Kimberly Lombardo, of 135 Prospect St., who told investigators on March 4 about the vehicle driven by a black man in his 30s, the affidavit said.

She also told police Hicks introduced himself to her as Charlie and had mentioned that he worked at Tobyhanna Army Depot.

“We received a tip of a car that matched the description and we were able to pull together a search warrant of evidence,” said Trooper Craig Vanlouvender of the Swiftwater barracks.

Null’s severed head was found about 200 yards from Hicks’ Prospect Street home in Coolbaugh Township in January. On Saturday, investigators discovered two human hands hidden inside a plumbing chase in Hicks’ bathroom, according to the criminal police complaint.

The hands, coated with what appeared to be cleaning detergent, were wrapped up in the Feb. 4 issue of the Scranton Times-Tribune newspaper. The right hand was in the north side of the plumbing tube and, the other, in the south tube.

On March 6, two days after the interview with Lombardo, state police served a search warrant at 131 Prospect St. and on Hicks’ vehicle. Investigators found a Die Hard work boot stained in what appeared to be blood in the trunk.

In the attic of the residence, police found five black plastic garbage bags with blue ties – the same trash bags identical to bags Null’s body parts were found in on interstates 380 and 80.

A manual hand saw also was found inside a bag in a closet during a search of the residence on Friday night, state police said. Hicks has been arrested in Texas for assault causing bodily injury in 2002, aggravated sexual assault in 2003 and aggravated robbery in 2007. He was arrested in Virginia in 2006 for assault and battery and possession of a controlled substance.