14 years later
By Carlos Santos, Correspondent
Authorities aren’t saying what led to the arrest of two Albemarle County men charged in connection with the murder of Jesse Morgan Hicks Jr. Hicks disappeared from Fluvanna County a little over 14 years ago.
Albemarle County Police arrested 56-year-old Richard Glen Spradlin and his son, 34-year-old Kevin Michael Moore, on Oct. 11. Each has been charged with one felony count of first-degree murder, one felony count of conspiracy to commit murder, and one felony count of using a firearm in commission of a felony in connection with Hicks’ death.
Fluvanna County Sheriff’s Capt. David Wells declined to comment on the case, saying, “we’ll defer to the Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office as they are the media point of contact.” Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Tracci said he wouldn’t comment because the cases are pending. Nancy Hicks, Jesse Hicks’ wife, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Authorities have released little information about the case, refusing to disclose the exact location where Hicks’ body was found or the cause of death. Search warrants issued in the case have been sealed by an Albemarle County judge.
Jesse Hicks was reported missing to the Fluvanna County Sheriff’s Office on Sept. 1, 2004 and he was declared legally dead in January of 2012. His remains were discovered near Keene in southern Albemarle County on May 7, 2014. He was 47 when he disappeared.
Jesse Hicks disappearance is one of Fluvanna County’s oldest, cold murder cases. In an interview with the Fluvanna Review in 2010, Nancy Hicks said she last saw her husband – a truck driver – at their home. He was on his way to cut hay on their farm. She went to work. “I left home and I never saw him again,” she said.
On the day he vanished, witnesses saw Hicks driving his 2004 maroon Ford F-150 truck around 12:30 p.m. in the Blenheim area of southern Albemarle County. He was last heard from when he called a friend on his cell phone around 1:50 p.m. on that same day. A few days after he vanished, his truck was found abandoned in a parking area off Rt. 29 near the intersection with Rt. 6 in Nelson County. There was no sign of a struggle in the truck and no sign of Hicks.
Spradlin and Moore, who were indicted by a multi-jurisdictional grand jury, are being held without bond at the Albemarle County Regional Jail.
Albemarle authorities are asking anyone with information about the case to contact Detective Phil Giles directly at 434-972-4047.
