PROVO, Utah -
In a surprise plea deal Friday, Gerald Hicker, 58, admitted his role in a 35-year old, cold case murder. Hicker confessed to killing then 21-yearold Barbara Jean Rocky on March 11th, 1974. He shot her six times in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Hicker had been a suspect from the very beginning but police had no eyewitnesses and no evidence, or so they thought. And the case grew cold. But in 2000, Salt Lake County Sheriff's Det. Todd Park started to review the case file. He tested an old soil sample from the crime scene and it tested positive for Hicker's DNA. He was arrested in the fall of 2007 and was awaiting trial for capitol murder when the plea was announced.
Under the original charge Hicker could have faced the death penalty. Friday he was sentenced to a prison term of zero to five years with credit for 2-years already served in jail. But Hicker in very poor health and prosecutors, along with defense counsel, feel Hicker may die in prison. Barbara Jean's mother, 83-year old Olga Rocky says Friday's plea brings her some closure but the past 35-years have been very, very difficult.
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Under the original charge Hicker could have faced the death penalty. Friday he was sentenced to a prison term of zero to five years with credit for 2-years already served in jail. But Hicker in very poor health and prosecutors, along with defense counsel, feel Hicker may die in prison. Barbara Jean's mother, 83-year old Olga Rocky says Friday's plea brings her some closure but the past 35-years have been very, very difficult.
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! @fox13now
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