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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hi, it's Kate Snow, NBC News anchor and host of the NBC News podcast, The Drink. And this month, I'm grabbing a Hugo Spritz with former reality star Lauren Conrad here at The Drink. We love learning about someone's journey to the top. And Lauren and I, we go back to the very beginning of her extraordinary story.
We talk about why she always saw reality TV as temporary for her, the scrutiny she faced in the public eye, and why she says she'll never watch Laguna Beach again. Hope you'll join us for the drink.
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Chapter 2: What is the story behind Regina Hicks' mysterious death?
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Hey, everyone. This is Andrea Canning, and we are talking Dateline. And today we are joined by the legendary Keith Morrison and his legendary producer, Tim Eulinger. They are here to discuss their Dateline episode, Secrets Unmasked. This episode is about the murder of Regina Hicks, a 25-year-old Ohio woman who disappeared on the way to pick up her son from her estranged husband, Paul.
Days later, Regina's car was found submerged in a pond with her body in the passenger seat. What followed was an investigation spanning two decades, a bizarre arson scheme, and a reluctant witness. If you haven't seen the episode yet, you can stream it now on Peacock or listen in the Dateline podcast feed today. Then come right back here.
Later, we will have an extra clip from Steve Gates, the witness who kept his silence for nearly 25 years, reflecting on how he feels about Paul now. And we will answer some of your amazing questions from social media. Okay, let's talk Dateline. Hey, Keith and Tim.
Hi. Hi. How are you, Andrea? Nice to see you.
It's always nice to see you guys since you're out there in California, Southern California, so I don't get to see you very often. Yeah.
Great to see you.
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Chapter 3: What unusual evidence prompted a re-investigation of Regina's case?
So true.
And in a way, in a strange way, it's like you are celebrating a person who died a long time ago.
I agree. I agree. And also, Keith, they look like they wanted to be there talking about Regina.
You could feel it. Yeah, they did. Regina's brother, for instance, Chuck Rowe. I hit it off with Regina's brother, Chuck, because he was wearing a Marine cap. United States Marines. It was a snowy day.
We love Marines.
We love the Marines in this household.
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Chapter 4: Who is Steve Gates and what role did he play in the investigation?
Yes, I know you do. So I met Chuck. He's wearing this hat. And I introduced myself. And I said, are you a Marine? And then I asked, where do you serve? And he goes, well, one of my foreign deployments was in Somalia. I was like, Somalia? Yeah. 1992 Somalia. And I said, were you there on the first day? First wave? He's like, oh yeah. Yeah. All the TV cameras were in my face.
I said, oh my God, that was me. I was there on the beach.
It's funny how paths cross, isn't it?
So we hit it off and it was like, but it was very funny. Anyway, his, that family is really very, very nice people.
Nice. The crime, it starts out with, you know, she goes missing. Of course, Regina, they find her car in the water and the cause of death is ruled as a drowning. Manner of death, however, is pending. And I'm thinking to myself, this poor woman is in the passenger seat now. So how do you figure that, and she's got marks on her, how do you figure that this is anything other than a homicide?
I didn't really get that.
It was a source of puzzlement to a lot of people, I think. Yeah. The coroner may well have felt that he would be sticking his neck out a little too far if he went to declaring that it was a homicide. Right.
How else does she get in there, though?
Well, you know, there are ways and ways. It's possible that she could. She could slide into the passenger seat. When things are at least remotely possible that, you know, good many in the law enforcement community quite – probably quite rightly are saying, well, we can't quite go with that yet.
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Chapter 5: What were the challenges of covering a cold case after many years?
Yeah, sure.
Terry Sweet is another person, you know, who went along with Paul.
Right.
I should say, allegedly, Terry Sweet. But she died, right?
She died the very day the insurance inspector was going to talk to her. Talk to her again.
And Andrea, this is funny. This is something we can bring up. I mean, obviously, we attempted to get the death certificate and to see if there was any investigation.
How did she die?
Apparently, according to the little information out there, is that it was probably alcohol related and it was, quote unquote, natural causes.
Do people think otherwise?
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Chapter 6: How did the small-town dynamics affect the investigation?
There were like two or three changes of judges and they just wanted to wrap this cape. case up and get him on something. And they did. They got him on misdemeanor. And in the civil case, he ended up supposedly having to pay $400,000. But I don't think he ever paid it.
All right. Can we talk about Steve? So Steve, as we mentioned, Steve is, I guess, the old friend who admitted finally that he was there that night. He says he didn't see the murder happen, but he went along with Paul to cover it up. And it took him a really long time to do the right thing.
Yes, it did. And he would say that even years and years later, when Paul was living in a different part of the state altogether, hundreds of miles away, he couldn't go to the police, in his opinion or his view at the time, without Paul finding out immediately. And somebody in Paul's circle of friends and acquaintances in that little town would make life very difficult indeed for Steve.
He lived in fear that whole time, he claimed. You know, given the sort of personality that he presented to us and the role that he played in that relationship, I can kind of see it.
We have an extra clip from your interview with Steve.
What do you think about him now?
I don't think he has any more minions that will pull any weight for him. I don't think that he has anyone left in his corner anymore. I think he's powerless at this point. I don't think he has the reach that he used to have. I'm sure he still has connections, but I don't think that they would... I don't think that they're a danger to me, his connections.
You don't get that little itch in your back anymore that somebody might do something to you someday?
No. No, I'm not afraid of him anymore.
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