A review of evidence, along with a fresh autopsy report by New Hampshire’s chief medical examiner, conclusively shows that Wayne Ring killed Carrie Hicks inside his home in 2007, the state Attorney General’s office announced Thursday. Ring then shot himself in the temple, but survived.
Hicks, who was 25 at the time of her death, spent time living in Ring’s home, though they weren’t romantically involved. Both Hicks and Ring lived with mental illness and depression, and spoke openly with friends and relatives about suicide. Journal entries by Hicks described her purchase of a gun and her intentions to kill herself.
Before the shooting, Ring called another friend, asking him to stop by the home the next morning. That person found both Hicks and Ring shot, and called 911.
The initial investigation failed to definitively determine the order of events on the morning of Feb. 24, 2007, inside Ring’s small, rural Acworth, N.H., home. While Hicks was found with two gunshot wounds to the head, she had a significant amount of gun residue on her hand, leaving open the question if she fired the gun herself. Ring, who was shot in the temple, gave conflicting statements to authorities and medical providers about what happened.
After being formally listed as a cold case, Dr. Jennie Duval, a top state forensics expert, reviewed the original autopsy results earlier this year, which described Hicks’ two gunshot wounds, one from point-blank range, while the second shot was from approximately 6 to 15 inches away.
Duval determined that “it would have been medically and physically impossible for Ms. Hicks to have retained the consciousness or motor control needed to reposition the weapon and fire the second, more distant shot,” according to the newly released report.
Two friends of Hicks told investigators in interviews following her death that they believed she and Ring, who were described as “co-dependent” but not romantically involved, agreed to a suicide pact. One of her friends told police that “Ms. Hicks had specifically told Mr. Ring to make sure he shot her twice, not just once, because she did not want to be left alive.”
While New Hampshire has a law prohibiting people from causing or enabling another person to commit suicide, authorities say Ring’s direct involvement by firing the gun instead amounts to first-degree murder, and that if he were still alive, criminal charges would be filed.
Given Ring’s death in 2012, the case, authorities say, will now be formally closed.
If you or someone you care about is in crisis, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for help.
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