He watched her last moments in 2001. 24 years later, he helped solve her murder.

Steve Gates carried a dark secret for more than two decades. In the fall of 2001, he witnessed the last moments of Regina Hicks’ life. He saw her crumpled body on the floor of her Camaro. He saw her estranged husband — his friend — drive that Camaro into a pond in rural Ohio with her inside. Prosecutors would later say that she was unconscious.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSMicroplastics are changing the color of ocean water, study suggests

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDemocratic Senate set to thwart Trump’s Supreme Court and judicial appointments

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow an unlikely Virginia law could offer a path to justice after a Texas campus sexual assault

FOR SUBSCRIBERSNewly elected Democrats could become 2028 power brokers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSStudents’ scrolling thousands of YouTube videos shows need for stricter rules, officials say

FOR SUBSCRIBERSEven before election, Trump’s White House was prepping for Democratic investigations

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAnger over GOP education agenda fueled blue sweeps in Texas, advocates say

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInside the miscalculations that cost Trump control of Congress

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat Democrats plan to do with House majority: Investigate Trump and tackle affordability

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump discussing possible Hegseth replacements, sources say

FOR SUBSCRIBERSMaps: How the vote shifted from the 2024 presidential election to 2026

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe dynamics behind the Democrats’ midterm drubbing of Republicans

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTexas election upset means ‘MAGA’s own private law firm’ will be led by a Democrat

FOR SUBSCRIBERSElon Musk moved to Texas to escape Democrats — now they’re in charge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSVance tiptoes out on his own after a midterm wipeout

Slide 1 of 1

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSMicroplastics are changing the color of ocean water, study suggests

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDemocratic Senate set to thwart Trump’s Supreme Court and judicial appointments

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow an unlikely Virginia law could offer a path to justice after a Texas campus sexual assault

FOR SUBSCRIBERSNewly elected Democrats could become 2028 power brokers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSStudents’ scrolling thousands of YouTube videos shows need for stricter rules, officials say

FOR SUBSCRIBERSEven before election, Trump’s White House was prepping for Democratic investigations

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAnger over GOP education agenda fueled blue sweeps in Texas, advocates say

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInside the miscalculations that cost Trump control of Congress

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat Democrats plan to do with House majority: Investigate Trump and tackle affordability

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump discussing possible Hegseth replacements, sources say

FOR SUBSCRIBERSMaps: How the vote shifted from the 2024 presidential election to 2026

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe dynamics behind the Democrats’ midterm drubbing of Republicans

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTexas election upset means ‘MAGA’s own private law firm’ will be led by a Democrat

FOR SUBSCRIBERSElon Musk moved to Texas to escape Democrats — now they’re in charge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSVance tiptoes out on his own after a midterm wipeout

Slide 1 of 1