Post by WaTcHeR on Feb 7, 2006 12:43:17 GMT -5
Officer Dennis Hickman
02/06/2006 - WAXAHACHIE — A former North Texas police officer is under arrest in connection with a case of arson and murder.
Investigators said Dennis Hickman worked for the Cockrell Hill police department at the time of the crime, which took place in Waxahachie.
Hickman, 30, is jailed in Waxahachie, charged with arson after a man's body was found inside a burning vehicle.
The victim was discovered last Oct. 2, when patrol officers spotted a Lincoln Navigator on fire in a Waxahachie cemetery.
They found the body of Miguel Angel Martinez, 30, of Dallas, inside the vehicle. Police said Officer Hickman allegedly participated in the arson.
Police said Martinez was stabbed to death before the body was burned. Three other people have been charged with murder, and the FBI is also involved in the investigation.
Hickman was not only a police officer in Cockrell Hill, he also served about five years on the Waxahachie police force and was a peace officer at Southern Methodist University.
Cockrell Hill police Chief Catherine Smit said she was stunned by Hickman's arrest. "When I first heard about it... just absolutely sick," she said.
Smit hired Hickman in September, 2005. He was an officer in training at the time of the alleged arson and murder.
"We had no clue," Smit said. "I mean, there were no signs at all."
Hickman left the Cockrell Hill police department about a month after the Martinez murder. Hickman said he needed to take care of personal family issues.
Hickman had no record of major discipline problems in any of the other departments where he had worked.