STROUDSBURG -- Convicted killer Charles Hicks was formally sentenced to death in Monroe County on Tuesday.
He killed Deanna Null, dismembered her body, and scattered the parts along two interstate highways in the Poconos.
The victim's family spoke out for the first time on Tuesday.
It is a case many in Monroe County are calling one of the most heinous and gruesome they've ever had.
Charles Hicks was formally sentenced to death for that killing. He was sentenced to death by a jury in the penalty phase of his trial last November.
Emotions ran high in the courtroom as the victim's family spoke out for the first time.
It was about seven years ago that state police began investigating a gruesome case along Interstates 80 and 380. A woman's body was found chopped up in trash bags.
Hicks was found guilty last November of killing Deanna Null, and dismembering her.
Null's family says this is how they remember her now:
"She was full of life, without a doubt. She was a very kind-hearted good person. She was silly all the time. Just would make you laugh," said the victim's brother-in-law Craig Kimble.
Null's family was able to talk to Hicks in court. The victim's mother and sister both told Hicks he deserved the death penalty.
"He's cold, evil, he has no remorse. He doesn't care. He gets a thrill out of what he's doing is how I felt," said the victim's sister Angela Kimble.
Angela and Craig Kimble have raised Deanna's four children, now ages 13, 14, 15, and 23.
"You try to explain even to her children, their last vision of her was garbage bags on the news," said Craig Kimble.
Prosecutors say while this case may be closing, Hicks confessed to at least five other murders in Texas, and investigators believe there may be more.
"I know that they're actively investigating it, particularly the Texas Rangers, in conjunction with several local sheriffs' departments, where similar crimes have occurred. And they're linking him to them," said Monroe County first assistant district attorney Michael Mancuso.
Null's family says they won't rest until this convicted killer is executed.
"I'm never going to ever forgive him. I'll be there the day that he dies. I'll watch him. I'll watch him die."
Hicks told the court he felt he had ineffective representation, but those appeals will have to wait
As for the cases in Texa,s the Monroe County D.A.'s office says we could see charges within the month.
