Staff Writer

A woman found murdered Friday afternoon in her Endwell apartment had local ties, former co-workers said Monday.

They remembered Nicole M. Hicks, who police said was murdered by her live-in boyfriend, as a friendly, warm, down-to-earth woman with a good sense of humor.

Hicks, 36, lived in Oneonta and Harpersfield and worked in the Otsego County Chamber as an administrative assistant, said Rob Robinson, president and chief executive officer of the chamber.

"She was a very talented person — very personable," Robinson said, adding that Hicks reworked the chamber's computer system. "She did a wonderful job."

State police in Kirkwood found Hicks, who Robinson said moved to the Binghamton area in spring 2000, strangled in her apartment.

Police arrested John A. Leonard, 37, also of Endwell, in Gainesville, Texas, on Saturday in connection with Hick's death. Leonard was charged as a fugitive from justice, with the underlying charge of second-degree murder, a felony, police said.

Police said Leonard strangled Hicks after an argument, then fled with her car and bank card. Police said they traced transactions with Hicks' card throughout last week at ATMs along interstates to Gainesville, where Leonard was found in a hotel room at about 3:10 p.m.

He was found with a small amount of marijuana and was immediately taken into custody, police said.

Hicks worked at the local chamber from January 1999 to April 2000, Robinson said. Hicks, who had family in Colorado, moved to the Binghamton area to pursue better job opportunities, he said.

Neighbors told the Press & Sun Bulletin of Binghamton that Hicks was a nursing student at Broome Community College.

While in this area, she lived in Harpersfield, and later moved to Fairview Street in Oneonta, Robinson said. He described her as "the last person in the world you'd think this would happen to."

"I picked up the Binghamton and Albany papers and was just blown away," Robinson said.

County tourism Director Deb Taylor, who worked at the chamber with Hicks, called her "a bright, kind, energetic woman."

"She had a good sense of humor, and she was down to earth," Taylor said. "She was a 'what you see is what you get' type of person."

She and Hicks still spoke occasionally, Taylor said.

"We played telephone tag all summer, and never got in touch," she said.

Neither Taylor nor Robinson knew Leonard.

Leonard was sent to Cooke County jail in Texas to await extradition, police said.

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Carolyn Norton can be reached at cnorton@thedailystar.com or (607) 441-7218.