Jury Imposes Death Penalty for Man Who Killed, Dismembered Woman

An eastern Pennsylvania jury has imposed the death penalty on a man convicted in the murder and dismemberment of a woman whose remains were found along a pair of eastern Pennsylvania interstates six years ago.

Forty-year-old Charles Ray Hicks was convicted last week of first-degree murder in Monroe County in the January 2008 murder of 36-year-old Deanna Null.

Null's remains were found in trash bags scattered along Interstates 80 and 380 near Stroudsburg, about 70 miles north of Philadelphia. Police said her severed hands were found hidden in the walls of Hicks' home.

After hearing testimony from several defense witnesses and closing arguments, jurors deliberated for more than seven hours and asked for a legal definition of torture before deciding that Hicks deserved execution.