  john r. hicks (july 31, 1956 &ndash; november 29, 2005) was a murderer executed by the u.s. state of ohio. he was executed for the august 3, 1985 murder of his five-year-old stepdaughter, brandy green. he was also convicted of the murder of his mother-in-law, maxine armstrong, for which he received a life sentence. ==crime== born in cincinnati, ohio, hicks was a cocaine addict and alcoholic. he had purchased cocaine around 4 p.m. on august 2, 1985, but felt a further craving, so he took the vcr from his own home as security for a $50 purchase. he did not have the cash to redeem the vcr and so he knew his wife would become angry when she found out what he had done. he then decided to rob and murder armstrong. he telephoned armstrong to say he was coming home. when he arrived around 11 p.m. he put his stepdaughter to bed. he then approached armstrong from behind and strangled her with his own hands. to make sure she was really dead he used a length of clothesline. he searched her bedroom and stole $300 and some credit cards. after buying more cocaine, he realized his stepdaughter would place him at the scene of the crime and could be a potential witness. he returned and smothered her with a pillow. when this failed to kill his stepdaughter, he tried to use his own hands, and then duct taped her mouth and nose. he attempted to dismember armstrong in the bathtub, but gave up after nearly cutting one of her legs off. returning to the body of brandy green, he removed her panties and penetrated her with his finger. his last plans in the apartment were to steal a checkbook, a ring, a .32 caliber pistol, and a box of ammunition. after returning to his apartment around 3 a.m., he fled cincinnati at 6 a.m.. he was eventually arrested two days later in knoxville, tennessee on august 4, 1985. ==trial and appeals== he was convicted of the aggravated murder of maxine armstrong while committing robbery, for which he received a life sentence to be served concurrently with a 10 to 25 year sentence for aggravated robbery. in the murder of his five-year-old stepdaughter, hicks was convicted of aggravated murder to escape detention and purposeful killing of more than two people. for this he received a death sentence. he was sentenced to death on march 3, 1986 for the
1956_births 2005_deaths 21st-century_executions_by_Ohio 21st-century_executions_of_people_from_Ohio_by_lethal_injection American_murderers_of_children American_people_convicted_of_murder Executed_African-American_people People_convicted_of_murder_by_Ohio People_executed_by_Ohio_by_lethal_injection People_executed_for_murder People_from_Cincinnati,_Ohio