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00:00:00It was just like any other day I was working doing ice cream and it was on
00:00:13the same street I lived on so it was a bike ride away I was about three blocks
00:00:27away from my house and I saw a gentleman pull out in front of me he grabbed my
00:00:37handlebars and had a gun he told me to get off my bike and get on my knees he
00:00:44told me if I did it he would kill me and he sexually assaulted me it's the first
00:00:51thing that goes through your head is why why me why didn't he murder me she had
00:01:00her whole life ahead of her and I was the one that survived I had to relive it
00:01:08every day 25 years and he did the same thing even worse to her
00:01:29in August of 1996 Debbie Dorian had recently graduated from California State
00:01:37University of Fresno there's Debo taking up the heavy stuff all right don't
00:01:42drop it don't drop it she lived in the North Creek apartment complex which is
00:01:48four or five miles just north of campus we had just finished our briefing that we
00:01:53usually have in the morning I was told that there was a female that was found
00:01:57in her apartment Peter Dorian Debbie's father and Debbie had made plans that
00:02:04Debbie was to drive to Peter her father's house Thursday August the 22nd she had
00:02:12planned to arrive around 7 a.m. she didn't show up so after a brief amount of
00:02:19time he went to her apartment knocked on the door rang the doorbell and
00:02:24received no answer he then turned the doorknob and pushed the door open and it
00:02:29opened which it shouldn't have because his daughter Debbie was very security
00:02:34conscious would never leave her door unlocked he went into the apartment
00:02:39didn't see her in the living room or dining area or kitchen and then went
00:02:44towards the back part of the apartment TV was on so he began to call for her and
00:02:52received no answer he then began to look throughout the apartment and then he
00:02:58found the most horrific sight that any parent could encounter and that was his
00:03:04daughter Debbie Dorian lying in the middle of her bedroom floor on the carpet on her
00:03:10side she was naked from the waist down her shirt was pulled up her ankles were
00:03:19duct taped her hands were duct taped behind her back and she had duct tape
00:03:24completely covering from the top of her head down to her jaw
00:03:30couldn't see her face obviously she was wouldn't have been able to breathe at all
00:03:36Peter Dorian did what any parent would do he thought if he tried to take off the
00:03:40duct tape she would be able to breathe which was impossible
00:03:46he immediately went to the her phone in her apartment he found that the phone was
00:03:51unplugged tried to plug it in didn't seem to be working he was very frantic
00:03:56Peter Dorian is in such a state of shock he actually calls his wife Debbie's
00:04:01stepmother first she's the one who calls 911
00:04:06my husband just called and went to his daughter's apartment she didn't show and
00:04:10he found her dead in her apartment okay tell me what your daughter's name is her
00:04:14name is Deborah Dorian and then Peter makes another devastating phone call to his
00:04:20ex Debbie's mom Sarah Loven well he was just you know straight on with Deborah's been
00:04:27killed I ran screaming through the house no no no no no no no no and that's all I
00:04:34could say it was no no no
00:04:38it just feels like somebody took a great big spoon and carved out your heart
00:04:45Debbie was working towards her degree in economics but she was also thinking about
00:04:50going to graduate school when I spoke to Peter he said that they were going to go
00:04:55to some other colleges to look at ideology programs because Debbie was
00:05:01looking at following in her dad's footsteps of being an ideologist that
00:05:06particular apartment complex was inhabited with numerous college students
00:05:10it's an area where that type of crime does not occur Vince Savala spent 18 years
00:05:16with Fresno police and had just joined the California Bureau of Investigation
00:05:20before getting the call about Debbie Dorian's murder this is where Debbie lived it must have been
00:05:26crawling with investigators crawling with investigators crawling with people who were worried you had
00:05:32crowds gathering there were crowds yes according to police Debbie's dad found her body in her bedroom
00:05:38early this morning there was no forced entry that we could see I didn't see major
00:05:44disturbance in the living room or kitchen area August 1996 my title was a scene
00:05:51criminalist and I remember going to the scene it looked like she had just made a
00:05:54sandwich so the sandwiches was there with some Doritos I also remember going into
00:05:59the kitchen there was a bag of fruit loop cereal it had been open like had been it was ripped open
00:06:05a couple of things are possibilities one she knew this individual and let him in two he displayed some
00:06:13kind of a weapon immediately and she complied with his commands to allow him into her residence
00:06:19obviously one of the things that does come to mind is whether or not it's a serial type of thing
00:06:26mostly because of the sophistication of how she was taped the coroner determined Debbie's cause of
00:06:35death was due to suffocation because the duct tape had covered her entire head
00:06:42in situations like this the pathologist that did the examination he knew right off the bat that he was
00:06:54going to do a sexual assault kit just because of the way she was found there was semen found on
00:07:00the victim and then there was saliva sample that was found and they came from the same source there
00:07:05were the same individual this profile was as soon as possible uploaded into the National DNA
00:07:14Database there was no hit in 1996 I was a lieutenant in the Fresno Police Department assigned as the
00:07:23public information officer it was frustrating that we had DNA evidence but we had no one to tie it to
00:07:29I knew it was a tough one and so I immediately volunteered anything I could do to help them with
00:07:39that case before I took it over what made you think oh this is tough because they were hitting brick
00:07:45walls left and right it was a whodunit and those are the most difficult homicides to solve but an
00:07:51eyewitness is about to offer a major clue he had seen an individual approach Debbie store a short
00:07:58conversation to the effect oh hi how are you there is some very evil cemented predator out there you're
00:08:06thinking we have a murderer on the loose you didn't know if when and where he was going to strike again
00:08:15strike it rich advertise in the Fresno beat classified 0.7 krzr Hanford Fresno I'm Dave Rogers
00:08:29it's the tragic story of a young woman's life that ended too early Debbie's murder was immediately
00:08:35covered by every television station every radio station in this area front page news the Debbie
00:08:44Dorian case definitely stayed with me the horrific way that she was killed and then the terrible impact on
00:08:52her family and especially her father Debbie's dad found her body in her bedroom early this morning
00:08:59just the thought of him finding her like that it's just really unimaginable and bad news as they
00:09:06say spreads like wildfire just as the whole town is hit by the news of Debbie Dorian's murder her
00:09:12childhood friends Katina and Heather are learning about it too I heard it on the news it showed her
00:09:18apartment and they gave her name family members and neighbors say Debbie Dorian a Fresno State student
00:09:24worked hard and had plans to specialize in audiology and I couldn't believe it so I immediately called
00:09:30Katina and she goes something's happened to Debbie and I said Debbie who because it wasn't
00:09:37registering with me and she goes Debbie you're Debbie and she said Debbie's been murdered and I slammed the
00:09:45phone down and I lost control the fear triggered by Debbie Dorian's murder was felt throughout the
00:09:52entire city of Fresno but the hardest hit right here in and around the campus of Fresno State where her
00:09:59fellow students were left not just grieving her loss but grappling with their own fears for their safety
00:10:04there was a bubble around Fresno State you know and a hush and people were whispering and there
00:10:12was a lot of fear that's about that time blue light started going up I mean just the awareness started
00:10:18going up about not walking to your car by yourself you know just all the things that we tell people
00:10:23today just started being said right about that time it struck fear into Fresno oh yeah yeah yeah
00:10:31definitely our parents were worried and everything yeah Fresno's a sleepy little farm town Fresno is
00:10:39located in in the heart of California we like to say that we have we're a big city but we have a
00:10:45small-town feel not only is the temperature nice and warm in the summers but people are wonderful here
00:10:51and we have a sort of a farming you know mentality and if you're not in AG you know somebody that's in
00:10:57AG we produce more agriculture in Fresno County than anyone else in the world but we also pride
00:11:03ourselves on just that community feel we really have such a sense of family that we we feel like
00:11:12you know Debbie was not only the Dorian's child but she was Fresno's child too it's frightening to
00:11:20think that that this could happen to Debbie because if it could happen to Debbie Dorian it could have
00:11:24happened to any of us she's the daughter that so many people have that you were afraid to let go
00:11:35to college because you didn't want anything bad to happen to her she had a really bubbly personality
00:11:40always ready for a joke and a laugh she was a big people person we hung out at each other's houses a
00:11:53lot a lot a lot a lot of girl talk we go to the movies we would cruise we drive waste gas what
00:12:01was on the radio I think it was CNC music factory maybe Pearl Jam Pearl Jam Motley Crue Guns N' Roses
00:12:13Guns N' Roses 103.7 KRZR Dave Rogers here time for your concert update brought to you by Budweiser the
00:12:26she went to Fresno State and she said economics she was president of the econ club she sounds like the
00:12:33golden girl yeah there literally is not a day that goes by that I don't think about her
00:12:39we tried to determine basically what her lifestyle was like whether or not she hung around with people
00:12:47who might cause or have some kind of dealings that would cause this to happen we formed a timeline of
00:12:56Debbie's actions prior to her murder Debbie was killed between roughly 12 and 4 o'clock in the
00:13:03afternoon on August the 20th 1996 one of Debbie's neighbors did report that he had seen an individual
00:13:12approach Debbie's door and he noticed the individual because he didn't recognize him he wasn't somebody
00:13:18that was normally in the area there appeared to be a short conversation something to the effect oh hi
00:13:24how are you and that's all he saw but nobody knew who it was they only had a description of it being a
00:13:30white male a certain age and height with no obvious signs of forced entry detectives quickly turn their
00:13:36attention to any white males that Debbie knows including her boyfriend John Thomas I knew he would be
00:13:43a suspect I mean it's obvious the first people they look at are people that they care about and that
00:13:48they're close to there's always that side of you that says well if he wasn't involved he's going through
00:13:55some traumatic experiences right now but as your job is you have to interview him my name is John Thomas
00:14:02as of August 1996 we've been dating approximately two and a half years Debbie was very outgoing very
00:14:10extroverted fun to be around I was doing contract work for the US Forest Service northeast of Fresno
00:14:16I left town approximately a week before she was murdered since a sexual assault was involved in
00:14:25this murder we had to ask John Thomas some tough sexually related questions you actually get angry
00:14:33because and I know why they're asking the questions but it's almost like a character assassination it's
00:14:39hard to hear things said about this person that you love that it's been murdered we were able to
00:14:45determine that John Thomas at the time of Debbie's murder was assigned to fighting a fire in Northern
00:14:50California I asked for a DNA sample from John Thomas and he voluntarily provided one he was eliminated as
00:14:58being a donor of the DNA the last time I saw her was 10 days before she was killed was John's graduation
00:15:10she'd had her hair done and a new outfit and she was beautiful that would be the last
00:15:15videotape of her and and they'd be some of the last pictures taken of her it's hard to look at him
00:15:22today still so John Thomas is fully cooperating and able to offer investigators critical information
00:15:30about Debbie in the weeks leading up to her murder turns out Debbie had been looking for a roommate that
00:15:36that sent up a really big red flag she put ads and flyers up which was pretty typical make a couple of
00:15:44people had fallen through so I don't think you know that could be stressful I think she was getting
00:15:49desperate she needed to get some finances so that she could pay her bills she needed somebody soon could
00:15:55it be that someone who had come to visit her apartment did this that became something that
00:15:59concerned us she had some papers on her dining room table with names on it a list of prospective roommates
00:16:07becomes a list of people of interest she opened the door for somebody so who was on the other side of that door
00:16:14a police spokesman says the department has two detectives working full-time on the Debbie Dorian murder case
00:16:30they had a tremendous amount of pressure because the police had very little to go on it's not
00:16:37usually a one-time thing somebody doesn't commit a one-time horrendous crime you know they commit it
00:16:44again and one lead jumps right to the top of the pile her search for a roommate she had put ads in
00:16:52the paper she had posted flyers at Fresno State and she had a list of people's names on her table anytime
00:17:04you have a list of people that you believe have had recent contact with the victim those people are
00:17:11going to be persons of interest a few of the names I remember specifically one was Alvin one was Laura and
00:17:19one was Nick or Rick there was a person named Alvin who had actually made contact with her in person
00:17:29Alvin called the police department after he heard the news and said hey you know I was supposed to rent
00:17:34a room for the from the girl that was murdered I was at the apartment he had provided a deposit and
00:17:41signed an agreement with Debbie to take the room but he hadn't received a key yet Alvin doesn't fit
00:17:49the neighbors description of the white man he saw outside Debbie's apartment Alvin is black in his
00:17:54early 20s and over six feet tall we thought it was a little unusual that she would have a male roommate
00:18:14it was strange because she didn't rent to men but I know how desperate she was to get a roommate
00:18:21a background was conducted and it was determined that he was a sex registrant in the state of California
00:18:40California that definitely sent some alarm bells going off in investigators heads because of the
00:18:46circumstances around Debbie's death that must have made you think oh boy absolutely and then he tells
00:18:52you something odd about going back to the apartment he went back because he was concerned since Debbie didn't
00:18:59answer the door that maybe she was taking his money of course this raises big questions he admits
00:19:23he's turning the door handle and finding it unlocked but he says he doesn't enter that statement must have
00:19:29struck you as odd absolutely so you're questioning Alvin about his alibi and he gives you another name yes and
00:19:36that is Maurice Alvin and Maurice Dixon worked at the same place a business called grocery outlet they
00:19:44were friends at that time Dixon at that time was 28 years old he was an army veteran he didn't have any
00:19:50criminal record he transported Alvin to Debbie Dorian's apartment on several occasions and on some of
00:19:57those occasions he accompanied Alvin to the front door of Debbie Dorian's apartment however he never
00:20:02entered never met Debbie Dorian never been inside her apartment and as I recall never really had a
00:20:09conversation with her so you've never seen this girl don't know what she looks like
00:20:13you've never talked to her no I'm not from all that started happening at first you know I never seen her or just heard her voice on the phone and then recently like when we were talking I've seen a picture on the news
00:20:27during the interview he'd stick to the story that he'd never met Debbie we started getting into some
00:20:34of his sexual background he said that the only duct tape he ever had was for a punching bag that he had
00:20:55at his home that was a little suspicious to us that he would volunteer that kind of information he wasn't told we
00:21:04were looking specifically at duct tape that we were only looking at bondage type of things Dixon says he had been
00:21:12asked specifically about duct tape in an interview with another detective which is why he brought it up
00:21:18but investigators eyebrows are officially raised we're able to get consent to search his home found
00:21:40the punching bag that he had used it had duct tape around it it didn't match up with the duct tape that
00:21:47was used on Debbie's body or that was located on Debbie's body the DNA from Debbie's body was compared
00:21:55to Elvin and he was excluded as being the contributor to that DNA Elvin was eliminated Maury Stixson sample was
00:22:04also submitted to see if we could exclude and he could not be excluded it didn't add up because he
00:22:14said he'd never been in her apartment so the fact that he said that and that the DNA at least had a
00:22:20preliminary match I think everyone thought he wasn't telling the truth our investigation is that you were
00:22:26the one that did this no I am not the one who did this I have nothing to do with this at all how
00:22:31many times I had to keep telling me I did not go inside this apartment I do not know this person I
00:22:37never met her as a result of that test Maury Stixson was arrested and charged with the murder of Debbie
00:22:43Dorian when Dixon arrived home from work undercover officers swooped in and he was arrested with his
00:22:49hands up right in the middle of the street he pleaded not guilty his bail was set at over a million
00:22:55dollars I think the feeling was that the case had been solved most people thought it was over I
00:23:00think it's great I mean hopefully it's the right person but this case is far from over as investigators
00:23:05keep digging they're about to get a big surprise it's a surprise to the police to the media to
00:23:11everyone you could think of
00:23:12Maurice you have to understand something okay you're under arrest for murder an arrest was made in
00:23:30the death of Deborah Dorian police out of nowhere you know they made this arrest of a man named Maurice
00:23:38Dixon who had gone to the apartment with his friend who was responding to Debbie and her advertising for
00:23:44a roommate residents were shocked that he is charged with Dorian's murder yeah very surprised yeah this
00:23:55is quite neighborhood you don't expect something like that and like said kept coming especially coming
00:23:58from him now Dixon's arrest comes just one year after the OJ Simpson verdict the so-called trial of the
00:24:05a century it was a vote of not guilty for OJ Simpson and a vote of no confidence in the LAPD at the time the
00:24:16general public especially in California was more aware of DNA but there was also more scrutiny of
00:24:21police investigations well well actually I don't want to go into race but just knowing the background
00:24:29of a black man in society being arrested and the scared feeling that our family had with Maurice
00:24:38actually been in the system I mean really brought a lot of anguish to our family there was a lot of
00:24:46racialized tensions in the air at that time OJ Simpson's verdict to just come in that came on the heels of
00:24:54Rodney King but to the people of South Central LA that 30-hour rampage was more revolt than riot
00:25:03there was a lot of pointing fingers but the police had reason to be looking at
00:25:10Maury oh I definitely think there was a reason to look at him he had been there in a very close
00:25:15proximity to the time that she was last heard from and so you know he was definitely somebody that was on
00:25:21the list Maurice Dixon walked into court shackled at the hands and feet after Maurice Dixon was arraigned
00:25:29please continue to investigate so one of the things they did was conduct a more sophisticated DNA test you
00:25:40have to remember at that time DNA technology was changing rapidly investigators initially relied on one
00:25:46tests that compared six markers but we're about to start using a more precise test looking at 13 markers
00:25:53similar to what labs use today it was a matter of weeks between the first test and the second DNA test
00:26:00the more discriminating one that second more powerful test reveals the DNA from the Debbie Dorian
00:26:08crime scene does not match Maurice Dixon he is cleared and all charges are dropped Maurice Dixon had been in
00:26:15custody for a little more than two weeks tonight he is free and the investigation into the Debbie
00:26:21Dorian murder case returns to square one the fact that that DNA did not match I think was a surprise to the
00:26:29police to Debbie's family to the community to everyone you could think of except for Maurice Dixon because he knew he
00:26:38didn't do it right now we don't want to comment anything at this time we're just happy that he's he's I'm being released so
00:26:47after Maurice Dixon was released from jail I interviewed him he told us that you know he was living with the shadow over his life that there was this air of suspicion around him and he was a lot of
00:26:51he was potentially facing the death penalty for a crime he didn't commit people you know stir at me and of like you know accusing me but not knowing you know the full details of what happened I totally understand his feelings I understand the family's feelings but it was all part of my investigation we know that
00:27:21that there's someone out there that have committed this crime and basically the city is afraid again we know it's hard on her family also because they have to go through it again waiting to see who they may arrest next
00:27:38I just okay we're back to square one we need to rethink this I work with children and I didn't want to be emotionally upset when I'm working with children so for my lunch breaks I go and cry for 20 minutes and then I come back and we're okay for a while
00:27:50you know I just had to keep going yeah our future has been taken away we will not see a wedding we will not see grandchildren she will not get to have a life the one thing we can do and the one thing we strive to do is to get the person who did this every time something like this happens it's like pulling the scab off a wound
00:28:13Peter Dorian her father was very committed to keeping the case in the mind of the community in the mind of media I would hope that a person would have the morality to come forward if they know something just because they want to help or they feel maybe a little guilt about something
00:28:40we put flyers everywhere we put them all around Fresno State we put them and all the businesses that governor's reward was 50,000 then our family reward was 10,000 it's quite a big reward
00:28:55I can't live with myself unless we've done everything we can do to help solve the crime
00:29:03he was very active at first I think it became so overwhelming that it just hurt too much to keep going and so he decided he would retreat
00:29:14I remember receiving a telephone call from Peter and he told me he says Vince he says I can't do it anymore she'll forever be in my heart but I cannot hold out hope any longer
00:29:26but Debbie's mom Sarah pushes forward holding investigator Vince Zavala to a promise
00:29:33I made a commitment to her I would never quit and she asked me well what about when you retire I says well I won't retire I won't retire until I solve it
00:29:45I've been a law enforcement officer for a little over 40 years and I farmed all those 40 years in addition to working
00:29:55with a cold case you pour your heart and your soul into it and all the time you have and hopefully you solve the case
00:30:03it entails a lot of patience just like farming no matter what you're doing you have to continue to farm or all the time will be for nothing
00:30:14so if I had to come out at night and work on the case during the day I'd come out at night
00:30:20and some of those pieces are about to fall into place
00:30:28Fresno police are looking for a Caucasian male in his late 20s early 30s
00:30:34thanks to a string of terrifying attacks just an hour from Fresno
00:30:40we feel he's a predator he could strike at any time
00:30:44this was a person who was repeating
00:30:46and then the break investigators have been waiting for
00:30:48this guy is still around we've got a shot at getting this guy
00:31:06so this case became personal defense of all it he was determined to find debbie's killer
00:31:30some of the investigators on this case continued doggedly to work on it
00:31:36that's Fresno you know the Fresno PD never gave up
00:31:38you know how frustrating it must be for them
00:31:42to just wake up every day and not know who did it why did they do it how did they do it
00:31:48were there moments where you lost hope of solving the crime
00:31:52I never lost hope I always had faith but there were many many times I was frustrated
00:31:58it stayed with the department stayed with me even to this day there was this desire to solve the case
00:32:06but we needed evidence
00:32:10our investigation of the murder of Debbie Dorian focused basically on the Fresno area
00:32:18then I received a telephone call from our Fresno Regional Laboratory
00:32:24and was told that there was a DNA case to case hit
00:32:32remember the DNA from Debbie's case is already in that national DNA database CODIS
00:32:38and now finally after six years another case is a match
00:32:43there was a lead where the DNA in Debbie's case matched suspect DNA in a sexual assault in Visalia
00:32:55Visalia is about an hour away from Fresno to the south
00:33:00so in July 1999 there was a sexual assault occurred on the south side of Visalia
00:33:06over the period of the next three years several other similar crimes occurred in Visalia
00:33:12but I believe these crimes were committed by the same suspect
00:33:16in each of those cases the suspect was described as a white male adult
00:33:20in his 30s generally from five six to maybe close to about six foot
00:33:24medium-sized build
00:33:26so his M.O. would be that he'd find a young woman
00:33:30late teens early 20s he'd find her alone
00:33:33he produced a gun and told him that he'd shoot him if they didn't do what he said
00:33:37he was described as either wearing a bandana over his face or he was wearing a hoodie with the hood pulled up over his face
00:33:47the victims described him as wearing black pants and black shoes
00:33:50which eventually lead us to think that maybe he was involved in the restaurant business
00:33:54police aren't able to collect physical evidence from every assault
00:33:58but in one case they get lucky collecting DNA from the suspect
00:34:02that will become the critical puzzle piece linking these assaults to Debbie Dorian's murder
00:34:08Jane Doe number one was riding her bike home from work
00:34:15a man approached her with a gun
00:34:20tells her to get on her knees
00:34:24models were under her clothing
00:34:26she was able to show investigators where the sexual assault took place
00:34:31so they were able to collect DNA from that area
00:34:35and now they know that whoever left that DNA
00:34:38is also the person who murdered Debbie Dorian
00:34:41they just don't know who it is
00:34:43it brought it to a whole new level
00:34:47because now we got a guy that is running around in the Visalia area that is killed before
00:34:52it gets everybody's attention
00:34:54once I heard of the case-to-case hit
00:34:59I was so excited I jumped in my car and immediately went to Visalia
00:35:02this guy is still around
00:35:06we've got a shot at getting this guy now
00:35:09working together the team in Fresno and Visalia conduct background checks
00:35:14interviews they collect and test well over a hundred DNA samples
00:35:18but they just can't seem to hit their mark
00:35:21they were chasing what seemed like a ghost
00:35:24and the clock was ticking
00:35:26once we had exhausted our leads in Visalia
00:35:30we were desperate
00:35:31you never know when he's going to get the urge to hit again
00:35:33you never know if he's going to escalate or
00:35:35or when he's going to go back to something else
00:35:37he could strike at any time
00:35:39there were times I couldn't sleep at night
00:35:44because what can we do
00:35:45so as the years go by
00:35:47I said you know what we have to preserve the cases that we have
00:35:51you know statute of limitations on sex rights
00:35:53ten years in California
00:35:55and we were approaching the ten year mark
00:35:57so the clock is running out
00:35:58the prosecutors decide well we have the DNA
00:36:01we have a commonality
00:36:02we can identify this DNA profile
00:36:06we just don't have a name
00:36:08we just don't have a name
00:36:10Lieutenant Pewter wrote a John Doe warrant
00:36:13for the DNA profile
00:36:15and that was very instrumental
00:36:17because what it did was preserve the statute of limitations
00:36:20the warrant officially stops the clock on the statute of limitations
00:36:23it's the first of its kind in the county
00:36:25say authorities
00:36:26buying the team more time to find their John Doe
00:36:31we knew that if we could find this person
00:36:34that we really had him
00:36:35which you know is a big part of the puzzle
00:36:37a puzzle that's about to get some help from an unlikely source
00:36:42a serial killer
00:36:43I'm sure the detectives back then
00:36:46couldn't imagine this
00:36:47it's crazy
00:36:49I really felt this was going to crack the case
00:36:53a killer with decades old secrets is in their sights
00:36:57sorry but we got to check all the boxes off
00:37:00and the victim the survivor who promised to take her attacker down
00:37:04all I remember saying is I'm going to get you
00:37:07you're not going to get away with it
00:37:09what went through your head when you realize the man who assaulted you is also charged with murdering somebody
00:37:23why didn't you murder me?
00:37:24Debbie's dad found her body in her bedroom early this morning
00:37:28if it could happen to Debbie Dorian it could have happened to any of us
00:37:31this case is often referred to as a million piece puzzle
00:37:35this is just a sample right?
00:37:37this is a fraction of what was collected trace evidence
00:37:41fibers, fingerprints
00:37:43we have to find this monster out there
00:37:47have you ever seen that girl?
00:37:48no
00:37:49no
00:37:50you don't know her?
00:37:51on the surface he did seem like your next door neighbor
00:37:54his alter ego
00:37:56Nick Steele
00:37:57online
00:37:58more of a fantasy
00:37:59he talked about his bedroom looking similar to Fifty Shades of Grey
00:38:02it was crazy
00:38:04it was crazy
00:38:05her name was Debbie Dorian
00:38:06you didn't kill her did you?
00:38:07here's this bogeyman of your nightmares
00:38:09and yet everyone described him as the guy who could be your neighbor
00:38:14who was your neighbor?
00:38:15yeah I hope you find him
00:38:17I hope we do catch the guy
00:38:26here in this quiet city of Visalia nestled in the Sierra Nevadas
00:38:30the same man who brutally murdered 22 year old Debbie Dorian
00:38:34begins a brazen string of sexual assaults against other women
00:38:39one of them is attacked riding her bike home from work
00:38:42one tries to escape the predator by cutting through a field
00:38:47and another just a high school student at the time attacked as she was walking home from school
00:38:53another is assaulted here while waiting for a bus
00:38:57all of these women's identities have been shielded from the public by law enforcement
00:39:03each of them referred to simply as Jane Doe
00:39:08but tonight for the first time one of these brave survivors is stepping out of the shadows
00:39:14we're rolling
00:39:16you were Jane Doe number one for many years
00:39:23but you're comfortable now with saying at least first name please my first name yeah
00:39:28and you're comfortable going on camera I wasn't for a long time
00:39:33and when we sat down for her first interview she told us she was ready to reclaim her voice
00:39:39taking back what she says was stolen from her at just 19 years old when she moved to the central valley of California
00:39:48it was your love of horses that drew you here
00:39:51yes you kind of had your future mapped out in your head
00:39:54I wanted to be a horse trader
00:39:56and you were an independent young woman
00:40:00yes
00:40:01who I thought
00:40:05and then you're riding your bike home from work one day
00:40:08I was about three blocks away from my house
00:40:11and I saw a gentleman pull out of a street
00:40:14it was 10 30 at night there was nobody on the road
00:40:17he grabbed my handlebars
00:40:20and had a gun
00:40:21and you saw the gun
00:40:22yeah
00:40:23told me to get off my bike and get on my knees
00:40:25he told me if I didn't he would kill me
00:40:28and I believed him
00:40:29I was 19
00:40:30you have a gun to your head
00:40:32you do what you're told
00:40:33and the whole time
00:40:34all I remember saying is
00:40:36I'm gonna get you
00:40:37you're not gonna get away with it
00:40:39that's feisty
00:40:41yeah
00:40:42with a gun pointed at you
00:40:44I don't know what else to do
00:40:46Beth says the man concealed his face
00:40:49she could only see his eyes in the dark
00:40:52she was sexually assaulted
00:40:54and then she says the man fled
00:40:57he told me
00:40:59to stay where I am
00:41:02count to 10
00:41:03and turn around and go home
00:41:05if I turned around or try to come and find him
00:41:10he knew where I lived and he would kill me
00:41:12he told you he knew where he lived
00:41:15that is so frightening
00:41:16by the time I got to my apartment
00:41:18I threw my bike on the grass
00:41:20called my sister
00:41:21about a minute later
00:41:23four detectives and police
00:41:25and everybody was in my apartment
00:41:27Jane Doe had the presence of mind to quickly report
00:41:32reporting patrol officers were able to quickly locate the crime scene
00:41:37and collect the DNA evidence
00:41:42and then over the course of the next three years
00:41:44we had another three different crimes
00:41:46all of similar M.O.
00:41:49and really it wasn't until maybe the third or the fourth crime
00:41:51that we realized we had the same suspect
00:41:53and we had a pattern
00:41:54the DNA collected in Beth's case
00:41:57is compared to other crimes
00:41:58in the national criminal database
00:42:00called CODIS
00:42:01and that's when things take an unexpected turn
00:42:04that case to case hit
00:42:07whoever left the DNA at Debbie Dorian's crime scene
00:42:11committed that sexual assault
00:42:13knowing he was in the Visalia area
00:42:17was the first big boost
00:42:20we had since the murder of Debbie Dorian
00:42:22I like it
00:42:23my slides just like yours
00:42:24what went through your head
00:42:25when you realized
00:42:26the man who assaulted you
00:42:27is also charged with murdering somebody
00:42:31why didn't he murder me?
00:42:34that's the first thing that came to my head
00:42:36because I asked when the murder was
00:42:39it was 96
00:42:41and mine was 99
00:42:45why do you think you survived?
00:42:46God only knows
00:42:49I don't know
00:42:50and as the years clicked by
00:42:53I would get a phone call every five years or so
00:42:56saying my case is still open
00:42:58and they're
00:42:59like oh okay
00:43:00well thanks for the call
00:43:01and that was it
00:43:05the thought that we would never catch this guy
00:43:07was not something I wanted to live with
00:43:10you know
00:43:11for the victims in Visalia
00:43:13and then for
00:43:14Dorian family
00:43:16it's something that I
00:43:17it's something that I
00:43:19I wanted to do
00:43:20everything in my power
00:43:21to find this guy
00:43:23sorry I'm getting emotional
00:43:25the string of attacks on women
00:43:28seems to suddenly end
00:43:29but even though the perpetrator appears to have stopped
00:43:32Vince Savala won't
00:43:34in the Debbie Dorian case
00:43:37we had over 286 pieces of evidence submitted for analyzation
00:43:43Delia moved up the ranks
00:43:47and eventually became the director for the entire Fresno Regional Laboratory
00:43:51whenever I needed help pushing evidence through I would call Delia
00:43:57he was very persistent
00:43:59he would bring additional references
00:44:02maybe registered sex offender cases that sort of look similar
00:44:06we collected DNA from over 146 individuals
00:44:11and compared to evidence left at Debbie Dorian's crime scene
00:44:15146 DNA tests
00:44:18and that's on top of the mountain of evidence Vince has collected throughout the years
00:44:23and shared with new detectives who would join the case
00:44:27this is just a sample right
00:44:29this is a fraction of what was collected at the evidence warehouse
00:44:33it's just shelf upon shelf of evidence
00:44:36in 2018 after nearly two decades of investigating
00:44:40this now very cold case is about to heat up
00:44:43thanks to the arrest of another serial predator
00:44:46we have identified Joseph James DeAngelo
00:44:49as the sole suspect in the Visalia Ransacker crime series
00:44:56the Visalia Ransacker case was really kind of criminal lore
00:44:59throughout Visalia, throughout my entire career
00:45:03ultimately that entire case would become the Golden State Killer
00:45:06we begin with that bombshell arrest
00:45:08they say cutting-edge DNA testing allowed them to make a match
00:45:12I heard like everyone else
00:45:13and then a thought came to my mind
00:45:15why couldn't we use the same DNA technology
00:45:19used to capture the Golden State Killer
00:45:21on Debbie Dorian's homicide case
00:45:24Visalia Police Department worked on that task force
00:45:26and I knew a lot of those detectives
00:45:29and that started the ball rolling
00:45:34a very dear friend of mine who's the retired Sacramento County D.A.
00:45:37Ann Marie Schubert
00:45:39who was just an essential part
00:45:41of solving the Golden State Killer case
00:45:44we found the needle in the haystack
00:45:46and it was right here in Sacramento
00:45:48she called me and said hey we need to come down to Fresno
00:45:51because this technology is amazing
00:45:53I'll bring my staff
00:45:54and so then we started to work together with them
00:45:56Sacramento County their D.A.'s office
00:45:59gave us a blueprint how to move forward with this
00:46:01this new investigative technique
00:46:06they are able to come up with family members
00:46:11who are likely to be related to this suspect
00:46:16you can build out essentially a family tree
00:46:19and then start investigating backwards
00:46:21to see who are the relatives that could potentially be a suspect
00:46:25within maybe a week we got a lead
00:46:28and bells start to go off
00:46:31exactly
00:46:32a witness had seen a suspicious male
00:46:34outside of Debbie's apartment
00:46:36on the day in question
00:46:38and as I read that description
00:46:40and I'm looking at the photograph of the suspect
00:46:42I'm like this is our guy
00:46:44this really is
00:46:45the picture matched up to the descriptions
00:46:48I'm like Mark it was like this is him
00:46:50257 to the arrest team stand by
00:46:52this is a pomegranate orchard
00:47:09this is what I farm
00:47:11I've been farming probably a good majority of my life
00:47:17farming is much like investigating cold cases
00:47:23because there's a lot of unknown
00:47:26there's a lot of hard work
00:47:28and you don't know what you're going to end up with
00:47:30you got to be very patient
00:47:32watch it grow
00:47:33and hopefully you get fruit
00:47:35after nearly 40 years of being a detective
00:47:40and a farmer
00:47:41the time finally comes for Vince Zavala
00:47:43to retire from his day job
00:47:45but there is one unsolved case
00:47:48he can't let go of
00:47:52it was tearing at your heart
00:47:54absolutely
00:47:55but I made a promise to Sarah
00:48:02when I retired
00:48:03I talked to Chief Dyer
00:48:04because we were friends
00:48:05I realized
00:48:06as a police chief
00:48:08there's more than I can do
00:48:10and it's bring Vince back
00:48:12he allowed me to come back
00:48:14as a reserve police officer
00:48:16which gave me police officer powers
00:48:18when I was on duty
00:48:19and that was important
00:48:20but no police officer pay
00:48:21I told him
00:48:22I didn't want to be paid
00:48:23with that genetic genealogy DNA match in hand
00:48:29Vince was more hopeful than ever
00:48:31that his years of investigative work
00:48:33were about to bear fruit
00:48:35probably the best lead we've had in over 23 years
00:48:38this could very well be our guy
00:48:41they are able to take this genealogical DNA
00:48:46and ultimately they came up with a name
00:48:50Nicky Dwayne Stain
00:48:54he married
00:48:55had a couple of kids
00:48:56his work history was very solid
00:48:59no criminal past that we could see
00:49:02this is a normal guy
00:49:03but then you think
00:49:04well a normal guy could have committed this
00:49:07that's why we haven't been able to find him
00:49:13he was living in Visalia
00:49:15in the city
00:49:16he raised his kids
00:49:18was at the PTA
00:49:19his focus was the family
00:49:21and he did work for charity organizations
00:49:25now that detectives have a name
00:49:27they want to talk to this guy
00:49:29they discover that he's been divorced
00:49:31and working at a food court in the local mall
00:49:34turns out that early hunch
00:49:36that their suspect may work in the restaurant business
00:49:39was spot on
00:49:42we were all hands on deck
00:49:45let's do what we got to do
00:49:47let's get a DNA sample from him
00:49:49our primary mission was to look for anything
00:49:52that he would publicly discard
00:49:55that we could obtain a DNA profile from
00:49:58so we thought a trash run might be the best opportunity
00:50:06my partner and I dressed down in plain clothes
00:50:09put on a vest as if we were part of solid waste
00:50:13we removed the trash cans from the street
00:50:16and replaced them with the empty trash cans
00:50:19it's called a surreptitious trash dump
00:50:22because once he throws it away outside on the street
00:50:25it's free game
00:50:28we found male razor blades
00:50:31that appeared used and were discarded
00:50:33and so we sent that up to be tested
00:50:35to see if it had any DNA on it
00:50:37I was excited
00:50:38but
00:50:39I'd been excited before
00:50:41so that kept me from
00:50:43totally jumping in
00:50:44but two weeks later
00:50:46his phone rings
00:50:47I was at home
00:50:49it was the middle of the day
00:50:51I put it on speakerphone
00:50:53I said hey Vince
00:50:55you gotta sit down
00:50:56because I have news
00:50:57we got the guy
00:51:00it's him
00:51:01my wife was close to me
00:51:06once she heard it she cried
00:51:10so did I
00:51:14as I've gotten older
00:51:20as I've gotten older
00:51:21I've gotten more emotional
00:51:23I'm pretty old now
00:51:26I was happy
00:51:31it was good
00:51:34it was a lot of years of work
00:51:39Nicky Stain
00:51:41Nicky Stain
00:51:42was our 147th individual
00:51:45who we obtained a DNA sample from
00:51:48for comparison
00:51:49and he
00:51:50was the match
00:51:55ok you're good
00:51:56we're out of the car
00:51:58their next stop
00:51:59is that shopping mall in Visalia
00:52:01to surprise Nicky Stain
00:52:03with a visit
00:52:04there's a couple of customers Chris
00:52:06you don't feel comfortable with the
00:52:09we'll just wait hang back
00:52:10yeah
00:52:11they're off
00:52:13I don't see how we're going to be able to talk to more of the county
00:52:17we went to his workplace
00:52:19asking for him
00:52:20hi is Mr. Stain in?
00:52:22Mr. Stain in?
00:52:23yeah
00:52:24hi
00:52:25hi Mr. Stain
00:52:26my name is Vince Savala
00:52:28hi Vince
00:52:29this is Bob Sodas
00:52:30hi Bob
00:52:31we're doing some grunt work here
00:52:32we're looking into a matter that happened a while ago
00:52:34takes five minutes
00:52:36ok
00:52:37ok
00:52:38that's fine
00:52:39we begin to ask them some questions
00:52:41have you ever seen that girl?
00:52:43no
00:52:44no
00:52:45you've never committed any violence against her
00:52:46no I haven't made anything
00:52:47I don't
00:52:48see I don't know her so I wouldn't know how to
00:52:50yeah
00:52:51so have you never committed violence against anybody?
00:52:53no no violence against anybody
00:52:55but Vince hasn't waited this long
00:52:57and come this far
00:52:58to take no for an answer
00:53:00her name was Debbie Dorian
00:53:01she was found murdered
00:53:02you didn't kill her did you?
00:53:04no
00:53:05no
00:53:06Nicky Stain denied knowing Debbie
00:53:08during our conversation with Nicky Stain
00:53:10I told him
00:53:11I said look
00:53:12we've been asking everybody we talked to
00:53:13if they would voluntarily give us an oral swab
00:53:17to compare to evidence
00:53:19that's at this scene
00:53:20but if you haven't been there
00:53:22I mean
00:53:23you know it's just kind of a mundane thing
00:53:25it sounds like
00:53:26yeah it sounds like
00:53:27I don't know
00:53:28that sounds like
00:53:29I don't know if I want to do that
00:53:32Stain refuses to turn over his DNA
00:53:34and the interview
00:53:35seems to come to an end
00:53:37we thanked him
00:53:38for his time
00:53:39as we were walking
00:53:42Nicky Stain stops
00:53:43he looks me in the eye
00:53:45and he says
00:53:46yeah I hope you find him
00:53:47I hope we do catch the guy
00:53:49thank you have a good day
00:53:50we had the arrest team standing by the exterior door
00:53:53267 to the arrest team
00:53:55stand by
00:53:56where he was going to have to re-enter the mall
00:53:58back to his place of work
00:54:00now five
00:54:03Nicky Stain
00:54:04hi
00:54:05hands behind your back
00:54:06turn around man
00:54:07five seconds later
00:54:08he's arrested
00:54:09he was ultimately arrested at that time
00:54:12on the sexual assaults from the Visalia cases
00:54:17shortly after
00:54:20Nicky Stain
00:54:21was handcuffed
00:54:22I made a telephone call to Sarah
00:54:24he called me
00:54:25and he says
00:54:26we actually have him
00:54:27we have him in custody
00:54:28and I said
00:54:29really?
00:54:30really?
00:54:31this is really something
00:54:32yeah called all my friends
00:54:33called everybody
00:54:34guess what?
00:54:35guess what?
00:54:36guess what?
00:54:37yeah it's really happening
00:54:38as police begin talking to Nicky Stain
00:54:42they're about to discover that he is anything
00:54:45but the guy next door
00:54:46if you have my phone
00:54:47you'll be able to see that
00:54:48because it has like 400 videos on it
00:55:05turn around man
00:55:06after Nicky Stain is arrested for the sexual assaults in Visalia
00:55:10he's brought into the police department to be questioned
00:55:13go ahead and have a seat in that chair
00:55:17right over here
00:55:18yes
00:55:19and to the surprise of detectives
00:55:20he seems to have a lot to say
00:55:22Nick
00:55:23do you know why you're here today?
00:55:24yeah I do know why I'm here
00:55:26from the beginning of the interview
00:55:28he knew why he was there for the Visalia cases
00:55:30and we just let him talk
00:55:32I know I've done a couple things that here in Visalia
00:55:35that I shouldn't have done
00:55:36so when you say a couple things in Visalia
00:55:40what are the couple things that you're talking about?
00:55:43oh there's a couple times that I approach women out in the street
00:55:46that they know and stuff and cohorce them into having some final oral
00:55:50and so those are things I shouldn't have done
00:55:53against their will?
00:55:54yes
00:55:55detectives then walk Nicky Stain through each of the sexual assaults he's accused of
00:56:01suspect pulled sweatshirt over his face
00:56:05and then placed a handgun in her side
00:56:08he escorted the victim and concealed their location behind some bushes
00:56:12requested the victim unbutton her shirt
00:56:14that might happen
00:56:16I think that might happen
00:56:18she was standing alone waiting to catch a bus
00:56:22suspect approached the victim
00:56:24suspect told the victim not to run or he would kill her
00:56:28I say that sounds like me but I don't think that was me
00:56:32the worst thing that any defense attorney can hear is
00:56:35when you're questioned about a crime
00:56:38it's like well I don't know but it sounds like me
00:56:41do you recall what you wore during those?
00:56:45I recall wearing a hoodie
00:56:46this is something I had to sense
00:56:48with my demeanor I think really brought some comfort to him
00:56:51to really open up about our sexual assault cases
00:56:53so you know I kinda like had some bad things that go on in my life
00:56:57and I can say that I've had a problem with I guess sex or sex addiction
00:57:07if you have my phone you'll be able to see that
00:57:09because it has like 400 videos on it
00:57:12of probably a hundred different women
00:57:14during my interview he did mention that he began sleeping with prostitutes
00:57:19starting in high school all the way up until his arrest
00:57:23I had so many encounters with women
00:57:27you know I'm talking about like paid for encounters
00:57:30or this or that or like start chatting with them
00:57:32and then all the next thing we know we're doing something
00:57:38he did brag seemed proud about his sexual promiscuity with prostitutes
00:57:44I'm a single guy for the last two years and it seems like the
00:57:47really the only women that pay me any attention are the younger ones
00:57:51he was happy to talk about himself
00:57:54and all the sexual things that he had done in his past
00:57:57it was crazy
00:57:59it was crazy
00:58:00I'll tell you the truth I don't really think that
00:58:02hiring an escort or having a sugar babe or anything like that
00:58:06I personally don't think that that's a wrong thing
00:58:16he talked about his bedroom looking similar to 50 shades of grey
00:58:20oh my god
00:58:34I had saw pictures of those types of rooms dark rooms
00:58:38on the internet and I said I wanted to paint it that way
00:58:41now that everybody who sees it says it would be great
00:58:44when they did the search and he had these silk robes in his closet
00:58:48and sex toys
00:58:51during our investigation we learned that Nicky Stain
00:58:54was operating an Airbnb operation out of his home
00:58:58he would also rent rooms out to younger females
00:59:01he talked about providing for these young females
00:59:06Investigators also find what appears to be a fake Facebook profile
00:59:10where Nicky Stain calls himself Nick Steele
00:59:13and claims to be chairman of a Fortune 500 company
00:59:17his alter ego Nick Steele
00:59:19yes
00:59:20online
00:59:21pointed
00:59:22in a different direction
00:59:24yes
00:59:25I think more of a fantasy
00:59:26he also posted videos of himself on that Facebook page
00:59:29going out to party
00:59:31ok I'm going out tonight
00:59:33was he sort of baiting women online?
00:59:36oh I don't believe so
00:59:37I think it was more about this is me
00:59:40I'm capable of this
00:59:42I'm so attractive
00:59:43I'm so you know
00:59:44I am my proudness is such that you know
00:59:47these things happen in my life
00:59:50during our search warrant at his residence
00:59:52we located that he had a wall plug camera
00:59:55in one of the roommates bathrooms
00:59:57that was associated to a younger female
01:00:00there were also allegations of peeping Tom
01:00:03peeping Tom
01:00:04yes
01:00:05it's kind of a voyeurism obviously
01:00:07and then it steps into inappropriate actions
01:00:12inappropriate actions that land Nicky Stain
01:00:15with a misdemeanor peeping charge
01:00:17Stain pleads not guilty to the charge
01:00:19which is eventually dropped
01:00:21he definitely had some sexual deviances
01:00:24but as Nicky Stain's defense attorney points out
01:00:29sexual deviance doesn't necessarily equate to murder
01:00:33it was separate and apart
01:00:34usually people move forward as far as the seriousness of their crimes
01:00:40and so it was odd that there was this homicide
01:00:44but then later there's peeping Tom activity and assaults
01:00:51the violence seemed to deescalate
01:00:53yes
01:00:54and back in that interrogation room
01:00:56when the conversation turns to Debbie Dorian's murder
01:00:59Nicky Stain's not done talking yet
01:01:02the detectives there today before you guys arrested me
01:01:05you bring up an interesting case
01:01:07one that you know it does shock me
01:01:09when detectives show up at the mall to confront Nicky Stain at his workplace
01:01:22they ask him about Debbie Dorian
01:01:24he claims he's never seen her before
01:01:26have you ever seen that girl?
01:01:27no
01:01:28no
01:01:29you don't know her?
01:01:30ok
01:01:31but when they get him into the interrogation room
01:01:33he has a different story
01:01:34the detectives there today before you guys arrested me
01:01:37you bring up an interesting case
01:01:39I was with that girl you know several times
01:01:41and stuff like that
01:01:42you were?
01:01:43yes I was
01:01:44so
01:01:45you know to be honest with you
01:01:46she was a picture up on
01:01:48in the present there on the street there at one time
01:01:51you know after I dropped her off
01:01:53I thought that was going to be the last time I seen of her
01:01:55ok
01:01:56and then
01:01:58and then she
01:01:59you know found her way to my workplace
01:02:01you know
01:02:02you know on other occasions
01:02:03and
01:02:04and
01:02:05asked me if I
01:02:06you know would want to again
01:02:07he acknowledged that he did know Debbie
01:02:09and that he had been to her apartment multiple times for
01:02:13sex
01:02:14the stunning allegation that Stain and Debbie had met for consensual sex
01:02:19is something prosecutors dispute
01:02:21but his new defense team will now try to prove
01:02:24Brian Pinto is the defense's lead investigator
01:02:27I spent a lot of hours in the jail with Nicky Stain
01:02:31he's probably one of the most intelligent clients I've ever had
01:02:35but he's also one of the most complicated
01:02:38and mysterious
01:02:41Brian attempted to track down co-workers and acquaintances from Stain's past to back up his story
01:02:47did you have any verifiable evidence that they had met before or that this was consensual in any way
01:02:55a lot of people that he gave me that would potentially back that story up were people that he worked with
01:03:01that he only remembered first names
01:03:03there was some evidence that she may have gone into his place of work
01:03:10but you know we weren't able to really chase those folks down because it was so long ago
01:03:16there was nothing to support that she had come into contact with him in any other way
01:03:22it was completely concocted
01:03:24after his police interview Nicky Stain is booked fingerprinted
01:03:29and now that he's under arrest has no choice but to turn over his DNA
01:03:33the authorities reach out to Beth who spent years as Jane Doe number one
01:03:38with the news she never expected to get
01:03:41they told me that they got him say that again it took me a couple times for them to tell me that they got him
01:03:50and that there was going to be a press conference the next day
01:03:53it was the last press conference that I held as a police chief so it meant a lot to me
01:04:00Nicky Dwayne Stain is the primary suspect in the rape and murder of Debbie Dorian
01:04:09I locked myself in my room and I watched it and I bawled my eyes out and all those emotions that came came back hard
01:04:21Nicky Stain is every woman's nightmare
01:04:24what did you mean by that?
01:04:25Nicky Stain looks like an average guy
01:04:27he looks like a normal person
01:04:28he blends into the background
01:04:30yeah he blends in
01:04:31almost 12,000 days of waiting searching hoping disappointments and frustrations
01:04:41what this arrest has finished is the struggle to always be searching
01:04:46Nicky Stain is charged with four counts of sexual assault in the Visalia attacks
01:04:51and for the murder of Debbie Dorian
01:04:54in 2020 the Fresno DA's office takes the lead on prosecuting the cases
01:04:59Stain pleads not guilty to all the charges
01:05:04I'm the City Hall and Courts reporter at ABC 30 Action News here in Fresno
01:05:09it was definitely a big story to walk into as a 22 year old just a few months out of college
01:05:15live at 5, clear to proceed
01:05:17Nicky Stain could face
01:05:18the contrast between the two sides of this courtroom really could not have been any different
01:05:23on the right side of this courtroom you had Deborah Miller and Caitlin Drake
01:05:27two very straight to the point senior deputy district attorneys
01:05:31and on the other side you had Jane Bulger
01:05:33somebody who really believes in defending her client
01:05:35and protecting the process that everybody in this country is entitled to
01:05:40Jane was the defense attorney of the very first court case I ever covered
01:05:45and at one point Jane had asked me how old I was
01:05:49and when I told her she said Gabe I have pants older than you
01:05:52it was the fall of 2023 when this preliminary hearing started
01:05:57but in so many ways that courtroom went back to 1996
01:06:00the judge orders that no civilian witnesses can be shown on camera
01:06:04I put on the neighbor of who had seen the white male at Debbie's doorstep on that Tuesday
01:06:13he basically knocked on the door and it wasn't a confrontational kind of encounter
01:06:22but she let him in
01:06:26Nicky Stain matches the description
01:06:29it makes you wonder whether or not the person that was seen in her apartment was Nicky Stain
01:06:34one of the items of evidence that I presented was the list that was located at Debbie's apartment on her kitchen table
01:06:42which appeared to be a list of potential roommates
01:06:45and what does it say by number six
01:06:47by number six it has the name Nick and then scratched out or Rick
01:06:52you know it says we'll call Tuesday to 12 o'clock
01:06:57we'll call Tuesday 12 o'clock
01:06:59yeah
01:07:00what I believe happened is that Nicky Stain called Debbie on Tuesday
01:07:06said I would like to come by and look at the apartment
01:07:09she said sure
01:07:10gave him the address and he showed up on her doorstep and she let him in
01:07:17I put Peter Dorian on the stands
01:07:20after years of not speaking publicly about his daughter's case
01:07:25Peter Dorian has to recount those horrible moments when he finds her in her apartment
01:07:29what did you see when you entered Debbie's bedroom
01:07:34she was lying on the floor
01:07:36was she moving?
01:07:39no
01:07:40is there anything else about Debbie that you noticed that were?
01:07:44well she was lying face up
01:07:47her mouth and nose had been taped shut with some gray colored tape
01:07:56so I prevented her from breathing
01:07:59we had two of the sexual assault victims from Visalia testify at the preliminary hearing
01:08:05when you saw him in the courtroom
01:08:07did anything register?
01:08:09the eyes and the voice
01:08:11the eyes and the voice
01:08:13you're always going to remember that voice
01:08:15what went through your mind when you heard it?
01:08:17that's him
01:08:19holy crap that's him
01:08:22she was able to describe what happened to her in the courtroom in front of Nikki Stain
01:08:29it was something to watch
01:08:31how dare you be able to go on living knowing what you did
01:08:37that you've destroyed who knows how many people's lives
01:08:41and you can continue your life like nothing happened
01:08:46how dare you?
01:08:48when prosecutors and the defense said that she was free to go
01:08:51she just sat there and she wept
01:08:53you could tell that she has never walked away from this
01:08:56that it has been with her every single day
01:08:58and prosecutors have one more piece of evidence up their sleeve
01:09:04hello
01:09:05this call is from a correction facility
01:09:07recordings of Nikki Stain's phone calls from jail
01:09:11hello?
01:09:12hello mom
01:09:13and Nikki Stain just keeps talking
01:09:23this call is from a correction facility
01:09:25and is subject to monitoring and recording
01:09:28can you hear me Nick?
01:09:30during the preliminary hearing
01:09:31prosecutors introduced calls
01:09:33that Nikki Stain made to family members
01:09:35while he was being held in the Tulare County Jail
01:09:38and on those calls he doesn't hold back
01:09:41yeah I can hear you
01:09:42you know what?
01:09:44those hurting people and things like that
01:09:46that was in my past
01:09:47I know I need to be punished for it
01:09:49I just know that I'll be here the rest of my life
01:09:51one could say that the jailhouse phone calls
01:09:53were a sense of admission
01:09:55because there was no denials
01:09:57but you're innocent until you're proving guilty
01:09:59in my book
01:10:00you know what you did
01:10:01we don't
01:10:02we're going to say that you're innocent
01:10:04until they proved otherwise
01:10:06in my opinion
01:10:07that's the way that America works
01:10:09I'm guilty
01:10:10I'm guilty
01:10:11you know I did some bad things
01:10:14I'm not trying to kind of like hide them
01:10:17you know I mean
01:10:18I'm ashamed of them
01:10:19but you know they're there now
01:10:22so it's just like you know
01:10:24quit running from it
01:10:25just take it
01:10:26are you innocent of any of those crimes?
01:10:31no not really mom
01:10:32I was kind of like involved in all of them
01:10:34to us that's an admission
01:10:36that he committed all of these crimes
01:10:39including Debbie Dorian
01:10:40those revealing phone calls
01:10:42could be key evidence
01:10:43if the case proceeds to trial
01:10:45but the defense insists
01:10:47that Nikki Stain
01:10:48never admitted to killing Debbie Dorian
01:10:50including in that police interrogation
01:10:53I did wrong
01:10:54okay
01:10:55and even the things that I did back
01:10:57you know
01:10:58in here in Visalia
01:11:00that those things were haunting me forever
01:11:03but the thing in Fresno there
01:11:05I didn't know that that went down
01:11:08I didn't know that happened
01:11:10I didn't feel remorse for that
01:11:11or anything like that
01:11:12or anything because I didn't know
01:11:13that it happened
01:11:14during the preliminary hearing
01:11:16the defense was trying to
01:11:19attack the investigation
01:11:21specifically with the arrest of
01:11:24Maurice Dixon initially
01:11:26and the DNA testing originally
01:11:29so that's a mistake
01:11:31I'm not going to say it's a mistake
01:11:34no
01:11:35you refused to say that arresting the wrong man
01:11:43on faulty lab work is a mistake
01:11:49did you get the right guy?
01:11:50he was eventually cleared
01:11:52yeah
01:11:53so he was the wrong guy
01:11:54but prosecutors maintain
01:11:56that the DNA evidence in this case
01:11:59tells the whole story
01:12:00there was no other foreign DNA on Debbie's body
01:12:03the only DNA located
01:12:05was Debbie Dorian's DNA
01:12:07and Nikki Dwayne Stain's DNA
01:12:09when the preliminary hearing wraps up
01:12:11the judge decides there is enough evidence
01:12:14for the case to proceed to trial
01:12:16the defendant is held to answer on all counts and charges
01:12:20prosecutors announced
01:12:22they're going to seek the death penalty
01:12:24but ultimately Nikki Stain is ready to make a deal
01:12:28Nikki Stain's case was heading toward a jury trial
01:12:32early next year
01:12:33but now a possible deal with prosecutors
01:12:36just five weeks after the judge had set a trial date
01:12:39we got word that Nikki Stain would be entering a change of plea
01:12:43Stain's defense team had asked prosecutors
01:12:45if they would allow him to plead guilty
01:12:47to just the murder charge
01:12:49and dismiss the sexual assault charges
01:12:51I contacted the parents
01:12:54Peter was on board because Nikki Stain would receive life
01:12:58without the possibility of parole
01:13:00and he did not want to have to testify at jury trial
01:13:04Sarah Loven had a different opinion
01:13:06and she wanted him to admit and plead guilty
01:13:12to everything that he did
01:13:15and she wasn't the only one who felt that way
01:13:18why did you feel so strongly that you wanted those sexual assaults?
01:13:21because those victims deserved to have him say
01:13:25I did this and I'm going to get sentenced for it
01:13:28I'm going to be punished
01:13:29that's right
01:13:30and I am going to serve not just time for Debbie Dorian's murder
01:13:33but for the crimes I committed against you
01:13:35ultimately Nikki Stain was willing to do that
01:13:39he didn't want to go forward to trial
01:13:42the district attorney's office also agrees to forego the death penalty
01:13:46he would serve life without the possibility of parole
01:13:49he would serve life without the possibility of parole
01:13:51people unlawfully and with the balance of forethought
01:13:53committed murder against Deborah, Sarah and Gloria
01:13:56Mr. Stain, how do you plead?
01:13:58Guilty
01:13:59Why plead guilty?
01:14:01To save his life
01:14:03to save his life
01:14:05I believe if we had gone to trial
01:14:07it would easily have been a death penalty verdict
01:14:10I just knew that because we're emotion driven
01:14:14it's almost impossible to be unbiased
01:14:17we all have our biases
01:14:19she was an attractive young woman
01:14:21she was doing positive things in her life
01:14:23going to school
01:14:24her life was just beginning
01:14:26she had, you know, parents that loved and adored her
01:14:29and I just was fairly certain that he would end up with a death sentence
01:14:37The courtroom was full for Nikki Dwayne Stain's sentencing
01:14:41the court department 6 is now session
01:14:43the general judge for representing
01:14:45Jane Doe, number one, steps up to the podium
01:14:48and delivers her impact statement
01:14:50with cameras carefully trained on her hands
01:14:53My life changed forever that day
01:14:56I tried moving on
01:14:58I have tried to forget
01:15:01To me, every man was him
01:15:03I was always scared
01:15:05I wish I was dead
01:15:07I wish he did kill me
01:15:10It would have been a lot better
01:15:12than having these thoughts in my head
01:15:14and flashbacks
01:15:16the night playing over and over again in my head
01:15:19Your statement is incredibly powerful
01:15:22Hopefully it got through to him
01:15:24that I wish he would suffer just as much as all of us did
01:15:28I hope that he knows that I got him
01:15:35That's it
01:15:36Thank you Jane Doe, what?
01:15:38And you also said you wanted to speak
01:15:40on behalf of other survivors
01:15:42Yes
01:15:43And give voice to them
01:15:45If anything comes of this
01:15:47I would just hope that people come forward
01:15:50and people will get the help that they need
01:15:54because it took me a long time
01:15:56But the final words spoken in that courtroom
01:16:00would stun everyone
01:16:02It was a raw moment
01:16:03I screamed and screamed
01:16:05Everything went dark
01:16:06I knew my life was over
01:16:21I wanted people to know that Deb was a real person
01:16:24She was a beautiful baby
01:16:27A darling little girl
01:16:29She went through all the things that children go through
01:16:33These are her ballet slippers
01:16:36When she was five
01:16:38These are her riding gloves
01:16:41I just want people to know
01:16:43She had these little hands
01:16:45They felt things
01:16:47And they were sweet
01:16:49We have waited and searched for this murderer for 28 years and 10 months
01:16:5629 Christmases
01:16:58And almost 29 birthdays
01:17:01Sarah Loven was the last to deliver an impact statement
01:17:07She shared what she thought Debbie would have wanted to say
01:17:10Speaking in her daughter's voice
01:17:12Adrenaline flooded my body
01:17:14I screamed and screamed
01:17:16But he didn't stop
01:17:18He wrapped my head in duct tape covering my mouth
01:17:21I couldn't breathe
01:17:23Everything went dark
01:17:25I would never take a hike with John
01:17:30The love of my life
01:17:31Spend time with my mom
01:17:33I wouldn't have a wedding
01:17:37I wouldn't be a beautiful bride
01:17:40My dad wouldn't walk me down the aisle
01:17:45I knew my death would break my mom's heart
01:17:47And change my dad forever
01:17:49The pain that they suffer is deeper than anyone can know
01:17:55Though he took my precious Deb
01:17:57He did not take my soul
01:17:59I am wiser and stronger than ever
01:18:02From having to go through this ordeal
01:18:04He has the rest of his life
01:18:07To pay for what he did
01:18:08And he will pay for his evil actions
01:18:14It was a powerful statement
01:18:15It was a powerful and emotional moment
01:18:17For everyone in the courtroom
01:18:22At this point sir
01:18:23You are remanded in the custody of Franklin County Sheriff
01:18:25To begin serving your time
01:18:27He no longer has the power
01:18:30Whatever he wants for power
01:18:32It's behind bars
01:18:38To my dear Vince
01:18:39You know how much this case has meant to us
01:18:42You know how many years it has taken
01:18:44And you've carried us all through this
01:18:46And I love you
01:18:48You're about to harvest pomegranates
01:18:50What's that moment like?
01:18:51How fulfilling it must be
01:18:53It's exciting to see all the hard work
01:18:56Come to fruition
01:18:59You saw a dry leafless bush
01:19:02Get leaves
01:19:03And now they're big red and beautiful
01:19:07It's like a cold case again
01:19:08You put all that work into it
01:19:10And we'll see if there's a rainbow at the end of it
01:19:13Finally having him behind bars
01:19:15Must have been a real capstone to your career
01:19:18There were many capstones
01:19:20But this is the one at the top
01:19:22She was a precious person
01:19:25Sweet and loving and smart
01:19:28And a wonderful young lady
01:19:31A mother's never-ending love
01:19:35Debbie's mother Sarah did get to meet and hug that brave survivor Beth in court
01:19:43As for Nikki Stain, David
01:19:45His plea agreement included a provision that he forfeits his right to appeal his conviction
01:19:51That's our program for tonight
01:19:53Thanks for watching
01:19:54I'm Deborah Roberts
01:19:55And I'm David Muir
01:19:56From all of us here at 2020 and ABC News
01:19:58Good night
01:20:13Thank you
01:20:27Give me a call
01:20:28You
01:20:30You
01:20:31You
01:20:32You
01:20:35You
01:20:38You
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