On a summer day in June of 1982, a dedicated officer's life was tragically cut short in a secluded area of King County, Washington. Detective Sergeant Samuel A. Hicks, a 38-year-old White male, was an 18-year veteran of the King County Sheriff's Office. On June 24th, he and his partner, Detective Leo Hursh, were following a lead in a homicide investigation that led them to a rural property near Flaming Geyser State Park.
They were seeking a man named Robert Wayne Hughes, who was a suspect in a recent murder.
As the two plainclothes detectives drove their unmarked car down a long, wooded driveway, they encountered the very man they were looking for. Without warning, Hughes opened fire on their vehicle with a high-powered rifle. In the ensuing gunfight, both officers returned fire and scrambled for cover, but Sergeant Hicks was struck in the chest. Despite being rushed to Harborview Medical Center, he succumbed to his injuries during surgery later that day.
The shooting sparked a massive manhunt for Robert Wayne Hughes, involving numerous law enforcement agencies. Two days later, acting on a citizen's tip, authorities located and arrested the 29-year-old suspect without any further violence. The investigation revealed that Hughes was a convicted felon on parole and was also wanted for the robbery and murder of another man just a week prior to his deadly encounter with the detectives.
In February 1983, Robert Wayne Hughes stood trial for the killing of Sergeant Hicks. On March 12, 1983, a jury found him guilty of the murder of Sergeant Hicks and the attempted murder of Detective Hursh. He had previously pleaded guilty to the murder of the other victim, John Early. For his crimes, Hughes was sentenced to three consecutive life terms in prison, ensuring he would not have the possibility of parole.
