Louisiana man charged with murder in Camden County cold case

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Camden County prosecutors charged a Louisiana man Friday with murder in a woman's 1984 beating death.

A warrant was issued last week for the arrest of Larry G. Hicks, 78, on a second-degree murder charge. Hicks is accused in the Dec. 15, 1984, beating of Diane Lukosius, who was was found next to her abandoned near Camelot Estates in Camdenton, according to court records. Lukosius later died from her injuries.

An investigator writes in a probable cause statement that authorities identified Hicks, who lived in Camelot Estates, as a person of interest in 1989. Interviews with witnesses showed that Hicks arrived home soon after Lukosius' vehicle was run off the road, according to the statement. Friends and family also told investigators that Hicks' alcohol problem got worse after Lukosius' death and that he became more withdrawn from people around him.

Witnesses also said Hicks had scratches on his cheek after the night Lukosius was beaten, according to the statement. Authorities say Lukosius scratched her attacker.

Investigators got a statement from Hicks, who by that time was living in Franklin, Louisiana, in 1990. The probable cause statement mentions no other contacts with him until last Wednesday, when Camden County investigators drove to Franklin to speak with Hicks. Hicks allegedly told investigators that he might have blacked out the night Lukosius was found.

Sheriff's deputies in Louisiana were also at Hick's home last week and brought a search warrant for the home and another for Hicks' DNA, according to the probable cause statement.

Hicks was not in the Camden County Jail on Monday and it wasn't immediately clear if he was in police custody in Louisiana. No lawyer his listed for Hicks in online court records.

His bond was set at $100,000.