
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 28, 1990                   TAG: 9007280319
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By Associated Press
DATELINE: COLONIAL HEIGHTS                                LENGTH: Short

HICKS' AUNT SAYS COUPLE GOT ALONG AT TIME OF SLAYING

The elderly aunt of murder suspect James Hicks testified Friday that Hicks and his wife, Lena, got along well before Lena Hicks was murdered.

The aunt, Katherine Patterson, 85, said the Hickses "got along beautifully" during the time she lived with them. She moved into the Hicks home at Hicks' request about five weeks before the slaying.

Patterson said the family had a normal dinner the night of Jan. 8, after which Hicks offered to make a fire for her in the den, as he usually did.

Lena Hicks was attacked about 7:30 p.m. in the garage, which is near the den. But Patterson said she had opted to go to her room instead of the den and was writing letters.

Hicks, 44, a prominent Campbell County educator, is accused of hiring Reuben Gregory Barksdale to bludgeon his wife to death with a sledgehammer Jan. 8. If convicted, he could be sentenced to death.

Barksdale, a 29-year-old Lynchburg carpenter, has pleaded guilty. He said Hicks hired him and planned the death, which occurred on Lena Hicks' 45th birthday. Barksdale has not been sentenced.

by CNB