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00:00:07It was just like any other day.
00:00:10I was working doing ice cream and it was on the same street I lived on.
00:00:15So it was a bike ride away.
00:00:26I was about three blocks away from my house.
00:00:31And I saw a gentleman pull out in front of me.
00:00:36He grabbed my handlebars and had a gun.
00:00:40He told me to get off my bike and get on my knees.
00:00:44He told me if I didn't he would kill me.
00:00:47And he sexually assaulted me.
00:00:50The first thing that goes through your head is why?
00:00:54Why me?
00:00:56Why didn't he murder me?
00:00:59She had her whole life ahead of her.
00:01:02And I was the one that survived.
00:01:07I had to relive it every day.
00:01:1025 years.
00:01:13And he did the same thing.
00:01:16Even worse to her.
00:01:30In August of 1996, Debbie Dorian had recently graduated from California State University of Fresno.
00:01:38There's Debo taking up the heavy stuff.
00:01:41All right.
00:01:42Don't drop it.
00:01:43Don't drop it.
00:01:44She lived in the North Creek apartment complex, which is four or five miles just north of campus.
00:01:51We had just finished our briefing that we usually have in the morning.
00:01:54I was told that there was a female that was found in her apartment.
00:02:00Peter Dorian, Debbie's father and Debbie had made plans that Debbie was to drive to Peter, her father's house, Thursday,
00:02:10August the 22nd.
00:02:11She had planned to arrive around 7 a.m.
00:02:16She didn't show up.
00:02:18So after a brief amount of time, he went to her apartment.
00:02:22Knocked on the door, rang the doorbell and received no answer.
00:02:25He then turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.
00:02:28And it opened.
00:02:30Which it shouldn't have because his daughter, Debbie, was very security conscious.
00:02:35Would never leave her door unlocked.
00:02:37He went into the apartment, didn't see her in the living room or dining area or kitchen, and then went
00:02:44towards the back part of the apartment.
00:02:48The TV was on, so he began to call for her and received no answer.
00:02:54He then began to look throughout the apartment, and he found the most horrific sight that any parent could encounter.
00:03:03And that was his daughter, Debbie Dorian lying in the middle of her bedroom floor on the carpet, on her
00:03:10side.
00:03:12She was naked from the waist down. Her shirt was pulled up.
00:03:17Her ankles were duct taped. Her hands were duct taped behind her back.
00:03:22And she had duct tape completely covering from the top of her head down to her jaw.
00:03:30We couldn't see her face. Obviously, she wouldn't have been able to breathe at all.
00:03:36Peter Dorian did what any parent would do.
00:03:38He thought if he tried to take off the duct tape, she would be able to breathe, which was impossible.
00:03:45He immediately went to her phone in her apartment.
00:03:49He found that the phone was unplugged, tried to plug it in, didn't seem to be working. He was very
00:03:55frantic.
00:03:56Peter Dorian is in such a state of shock. He actually calls his wife, Debbie's stepmother, first.
00:04:02She's the one who calls 911.
00:04:05Go ahead, ma'am. My husband just called and went to his daughter's apartment.
00:04:09She didn't show, and he found her dead in her apartment.
00:04:12Okay, tell me what your daughter's name is. Her name is Deborah Dorian.
00:04:15And then, Peter makes another devastating phone call to his ex, Debbie's mom, Sarah Loven.
00:04:23Well, he was just, you know, straight on with, Deborah's been killed.
00:04:28I ran screaming through the house, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
00:04:33And that's all I could say 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 going to graduate school.
00:04:52When I spoke to Peter, he said that they were going to go to some other colleges to look at
00:04:58ideology programs,
00:05:00because Debbie was looking at following in her dad's footsteps of being an ideologist.
00:05:06That particular apartment complex was inhabited with numerous college students.
00:05:11It's an area where that type of crime does not occur.
00:05:13Vince Savala spent 18 years with Fresno police and had just joined the California Bureau of Investigation
00:05:20before getting the call about Debbie Dorian's murder.
00:05:24This is where Debbie lived. It must have been crawling with investigators.
00:05:28Crawling with investigators, crawling with people who were worried.
00:05:31You had crowds gathering.
00:05:33There were crowds, yes.
00:05:35According to police, Debbie's dad found her body in her bedroom early this morning.
00:05:39There was no forced entry that we could see.
00:05:42I didn't see major disturbance in the living room or kitchen area.
00:05:48August 1996, my title was a scene criminalist, and I remember going to the scene.
00:05:53It looked like she had just made a sandwich, so the sandwich was there with some Doritos.
00:05:58I also remember going into the kitchen.
00:06:00There was a bag of Froot Loop cereal that had been opened, like it was ripped open.
00:06:06A couple of things are possibilities.
00:06:09One, she knew this individual and let him in.
00:06:11Two, he displayed some kind of a weapon immediately, and she complied with his commands to allow him into her
00:06:19residence.
00:06:20Obviously, one of the things that does come to mind is whether or not it's a serial type of thing,
00:06:27mostly because of the sophistication of how she was taped.
00:06:32The coroner determined Debbie's cause of death was due to suffocation, because the duct tape had covered her entire head.
00:06:47In situations like this, the pathologist that did the examination, he knew right off the bat that he was going
00:06:55to do a sexual assault kit just because of the way she was found.
00:06:59There was semen found on the victim, and then there was saliva sample that was found, and they came from
00:07:04the same source. They were the same individual.
00:07:06This profile was, as soon as possible, uploaded into the National DNA Database.
00:07:14There was no hit.
00:07:18In 1996, I was a lieutenant in the Fresno Police Department assigned as the public information officer.
00:07:25It was frustrating that we had DNA evidence, but we had no one to tie it to.
00:07:33I 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.
00:07:42What made you think, oh, this is tough?
00:07:44Because they were hitting brick walls left and right. It was a whodunit.
00:07:48And those are the most difficult homicides to solve.
00:07:51But an eyewitness is about to offer a major clue.
00:07:54He had seen an individual approach Debbie Storr.
00:07:58A short conversation to the effect, oh, hi, how are you?
00:08:01There is some very evil, demented predator out there.
00:08:05You're thinking, we have a murderer on the loose.
00:08:08You didn't know if, when, and where he was going to strike again.
00:08:23Strike it rich. Advertise in the Fresno beat classified.
00:08:29It's the tragic story of a young woman's life that ended too early.
00:08:34Debbie's murder was immediately covered by every television station, every radio station in this area. Front page news.
00:08:42The Debbie Dorian case definitely stayed with me. The horrific way that she was killed, and then the terrible impact
00:08:52on her family, and especially her father.
00:08:56Debbie's dad found her body in her bedroom early this morning.
00:09:00Just the thought of him finding her like that, it's just really unimaginable.
00:09:05And bad news, as they say, spreads like wildfire.
00:09:08Just as the whole town is hit by the news of Debbie Dorian's murder, her childhood friends, Katina and Heather,
00:09:15are learning about it too.
00:09:16I heard it on the news. It showed her apartment, and they gave her name.
00:09:20Family members and neighbors say Debbie Dorian, a Fresno State student, worked hard and had plans to specialize in audiology.
00:09:27And I couldn't believe it, so I immediately called Katina.
00:09:32And she goes, something's happened to Debbie.
00:09:35And I said, Debbie who? Because it wasn't registering with me.
00:09:39And she goes, Debbie, you're Debbie.
00:09:42And she said, Debbie's been murdered. And I slammed the phone down and I lost control.
00:09:48The fear triggered by Debbie Dorian's murder was felt throughout the entire city of Fresno.
00:09:53But the hardest hit, right here, in and around the campus of Fresno State, where her fellow students were left
00:10:00not just grieving her loss,
00:10:02but grappling with their own fears for their safety.
00:10:05There was a bubble around Fresno State, you know, and a hush, and people were whispering, and there was a
00:10:12lot of fear.
00:10:13That's about that time blue light started going up.
00:10:17I mean, just the awareness started going up about not walking to your car by yourself.
00:10:21You know, just all the things that we tell people today just started being said right about that time.
00:10:27It struck fear into Fresno.
00:10:30Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely.
00:10:32Our parents were worried and everything, yeah.
00:10:34Fresno's a sleepy little farm town.
00:10:39Fresno's located in the heart of California.
00:10:42We like to say that we have, we're a big city, but we have a small town.
00:10:46We have a small town feel.
00:10:47Not 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.
00:10:55And if you're not in ag, you know somebody that's in ag.
00:10:58We produce more agriculture in Fresno County than anyone else in the world.
00:11:02But we also pride ourselves on just that community feel.
00:11:08We really have such a sense of family that we feel that, you know, Debbie was not only the Dorian's
00:11:14child, but she was Fresno's child too.
00:11:18It's frightening to think that this could happen to Debbie because if it could happen to Debbie Dorian, it could
00:11:24have happened to any of us.
00:11:32She's the daughter that so many people have that you were afraid to let go to college because you didn't
00:11:37want anything bad to happen to her.
00:11:38She had a really bubbly personality.
00:11:42Always ready for a joke and a laugh.
00:11:46Girl time to crawl her.
00:11:48Yeah, she was a big people person.
00:11:50We hung out at each other's houses a lot.
00:11:53A lot.
00:11:54A lot of girl talk.
00:11:55Go to the movies.
00:11:57We would cruise.
00:11:58We'd drive.
00:11:59Waste gas.
00:12:00What was on the radio?
00:12:03I think it was C&C Music Factory.
00:12:06Maybe.
00:12:07Pearl Jam.
00:12:09Pearl Jam.
00:12:10Motley Crue.
00:12:12Guns N' Roses.
00:12:16Guns N' Roses.
00:12:19103.7 KRZR.
00:12:22Dave Rogers here.
00:12:23Time for your concert update brought to you by Budweiser.
00:12:26She went to Fresno State and she studied economics.
00:12:29She was president of the Econ Club.
00:12:32She sounds like the golden girl.
00:12:34Yeah.
00:12:36There literally is not a day that goes by that I don't think about her.
00:12:42We tried to determine basically what her lifestyle was like.
00:12:45Whether or not she hung around with people who might cause or have some kind of dealings that would cause
00:12:52this to happen.
00:12:54We formed a timeline of Debbie's actions prior to her murder.
00:12:58Debbie was killed between roughly 12 and 4 o'clock in the afternoon on August the 20th, 1996.
00:13:07One of Debbie's neighbors did report that he had seen an individual approach Debbie's door and he noticed the individual
00:13:16because he didn't recognize him.
00:13:18He wasn't somebody that was normally in the area.
00:13:20There appeared to be a short conversation, something to the effect, oh hi, how are you?
00:13:25And that's all he saw.
00:13:27But nobody knew who it was.
00:13:28They only had a description of it being a white male, a certain age and height.
00:13:32With no obvious signs of forced entry, detectives quickly turned their attention to any white males that Debbie knows, including
00:13:40her boyfriend, John Thomas.
00:13:41I knew he would be a suspect.
00:13:44I mean, it's obvious the first people they look at are people that they care about and that they're close
00:13:48to.
00:13:49There's always that side of you that says, well, if he wasn't involved, he's going through some traumatic experiences right
00:13:56now.
00:13:57But as your job is, you have to interview him.
00:14:02My name is John Thomas.
00:14:03As of August 1996, we've been dating approximately two and a half years.
00:14:08Debbie was very outgoing, very extroverted, fun to be around.
00:14:11I was doing contract work for the U.S. Forest Service northeast of Fresno.
00:14:17I left town approximately a week before she was murdered.
00:14:22Since a sexual assault was involved in this murder, we had to ask John Thomas some tough sexually related questions.
00:14:31You actually get angry because, and I know why they're asking the questions, but it's almost like a character assassination.
00:14:39It's hard to hear things said about this person that you love that's been murdered.
00:14:44We were able to determine that John Thomas, at the time of Debbie's murder, was assigned to fighting a fire
00:14:50in Northern California.
00:14:52I asked for a DNA sample from John Thomas, and he voluntarily provided one.
00:14:57He was eliminated as being a donor of the DNA.
00:15:03The last time I saw her was 10 days before she was killed.
00:15:08It was John's graduation.
00:15:10She'd had her hair done and a new outfit, and she was beautiful.
00:15:14That would be the last videotape of her, and they'd be some of the last pictures taken of her.
00:15:21It's hard to look at him today still, so.
00:15:25John Thomas is fully cooperating and able to offer investigators critical information about Debbie in the weeks leading up to
00:15:33her murder.
00:15:33Turns out, Debbie had been looking for a roommate.
00:15:36That sent up a really big red flag.
00:15:38She put ads and flyers up, which was pretty typical.
00:15:43Make a couple of people and fall through.
00:15:45So, I don't think, you know, that can be stressful.
00:15:48I think she was getting desperate.
00:15:50She needed to get some finances so that she could pay her bills.
00:15:53She needed somebody soon.
00:15:55Could it be that someone who had come to visit her apartment did this?
00:15:58That became something that concerned us.
00:16:00She had some papers on her dining room table with names on it.
00:16:05A list of prospective roommates becomes a list of people of interest.
00:16:10She opened the door for somebody.
00:16:12So, who was on the other side of that door?
00:16:25A police spokesman says the department has two detectives working full time on the Debbie Dorian murder case.
00:16:32They had a tremendous amount of pressure because the police had very little to go on.
00:16:37It's not usually a one-time thing.
00:16:39Somebody doesn't commit a one-time horrendous crime.
00:16:43They commit it again.
00:16:46And one lead jumps right to the top of the pile.
00:16:49Her search for a roommate.
00:16:51She had put ads in the paper.
00:16:53She had posted flyers at Fresno State.
00:16:55And she had a list of people's names on her table.
00:17:03Any time you have a list of people that you believe have had recent contact with the victim,
00:17:09those people are going to be persons of interest.
00:17:13A few of the names I remember specifically, one was Alvin, one was Laura, and one was Nick or Rick.
00:17:23There 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,
00:17:33hey, you know, I was supposed to rent a room from the girl that was murdered.
00:17:36I was at the apartment.
00:17:38He had provided a deposit and signed an agreement with Debbie to take the room,
00:17:44but he hadn't received a key yet.
00:17:47Alvin doesn't fit the neighbor's description of the white man he saw outside Debbie's apartment.
00:17:53Alvin is black in his early 20s and over six feet tall.
00:18:10We 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.
00:18:21If you think about Alvin who's got a boyfriend, actually I thought it was kind of really weird.
00:18:28But the other hand I felt like, you know, it was a problem.
00:18:33That's her problem, not mine.
00:18:35A background was conducted and it was determined that he was a sex registrant in the state of California.
00:18:41That definitely sent some alarm bells going off an investigator's heads
00:18:45because of the circumstances around Debbie's death.
00:18:48That must have made you think, oh boy.
00:18:50Absolutely.
00:18:51And then he tells you something odd about going back to the apartment.
00:18:55He went back because he was concerned, since Debbie didn't answer the door,
00:19:00that maybe she was taking his money.
00:19:02He told me something about the door and I don't remember what that was.
00:19:05It was on Wednesday night. I knocked the door.
00:19:09Nobody answered. The blinds were open. The TV was on.
00:19:11I thought of what I could see on the wall.
00:19:13And then when I knocked the door, nobody answered.
00:19:15I tied the door.
00:19:16There's like 40 times during the lockdown.
00:19:19Of course, this raises big questions.
00:19:22He admits turning the door handle and finding it unlocked.
00:19:25But he says he doesn't enter.
00:19:27That statement must have struck you as odd.
00:19:30Absolutely.
00:19:31So you're questioning Alvin about his alibi.
00:19:34And he gives you another name.
00:19:36Yes.
00:19:36And that is?
00:19:37Maurice.
00:19:39Alvin and Maurice Dixon worked at the same place, a business called Grocery Outlet.
00:19:44They were friends at that time.
00:19:46Dixon at that time was 28 years old.
00:19:48He was an army veteran.
00:19:49He didn't have any criminal record.
00:19:51He transported Alvin to Debbie Dorian's apartment on several occasions.
00:19:55And on some of those occasions, he accompanied Alvin to the front door of Debbie Dorian's apartment.
00:20:01However, he never entered.
00:20:03Never met Debbie Dorian.
00:20:05Never been inside her apartment.
00:20:06And as I recall, never really had a conversation with her.
00:20:10So you've never seen this girl?
00:20:12Don't know what she looks like?
00:20:13Never talked to her?
00:20:15No, not from all that started happening at first.
00:20:20You know, I never seen her.
00:20:21I just heard her voice on the phone.
00:20:23And then recently, like when we were talking, I've seen a picture on the news.
00:20:28During the interview, he stuck to the story that he'd never met Debbie.
00:20:33We started getting into some of his sexual background.
00:20:36You'd like to, you know, go over to her house and check your things. Is that okay?
00:20:42Yeah, it's fine.
00:20:43I think I have a receipt for it in which I bought two things and a duct tape to tie
00:20:48up the ends of the rope.
00:20:50He said that the only duct tape he ever had was for a punching bag that he had at his
00:20:56home.
00:20:57That was a little suspicious to us that he would volunteer that kind of information.
00:21:02He wasn't told we were looking specifically at duct tape, that we were only looking at bondage type of things.
00:21:11Dixon says he had been asked specifically about duct tape in an interview with another detective, which is why he
00:21:17brought it up.
00:21:18What made you mention that?
00:21:21Somebody mentioned duct tape or something like that.
00:21:25Do you have any duct tape or do you know anything about duct tape or something like that?
00:21:30When was that?
00:21:31That was when I first came to question.
00:21:33But investigators' eyebrows are officially raised.
00:21:37We were able to get consent to search his home, found the punching bag that he had used.
00:21:42It had duct tape around it.
00:21:45It didn't match up with the duct tape that was used on Debbie's body or that was located on Debbie's
00:21:51body.
00:21:52The DNA from Debbie's body was compared to Elvin and he was excluded as being the contributor to that DNA.
00:22:00Alvin was eliminated.
00:22:03Maury Stixson's sample was also submitted to see if we could exclude and he could not be excluded.
00:22:12It didn't add up because he said he'd never been in her apartment.
00:22:16So the fact that he said that and that the DNA at least had a preliminary match, I think everyone
00:22:22thought he wasn't telling the truth.
00:22:24Our investigation is that you were the one that did this.
00:22:27No, I am not the one who did this. I have nothing to do with this at all.
00:22:31How many times have I had to keep telling you I did not go inside this apartment?
00:22:35I do not know this person. I never met her.
00:22:38As a result of that test, Maury Stixson was arrested and charged with the murder of Debbie Dorian.
00:22:43When Dixon arrived home from work, undercover officers swooped in and he was arrested with his hands up right in
00:22:50the middle of the street.
00:22:51He pleaded not guilty. His bail was set at over a million dollars.
00:22:55I think the feeling was that the case had been solved. Most people thought it was over.
00:23:00I think it's great. I mean, hopefully it's the right person.
00:23:02But this case is far from over. As investigators keep digging, they're about to get a big surprise.
00:23:08It was a surprise to the police, to the media, to everyone you could think of.
00:23:20Maurice, you have to understand something. Okay, you're under arrest for murder.
00:23:28An arrest was made in the death of Deborah Dorian.
00:23:33Police, out of nowhere, you know, they made this arrest of a man named Maurice Dixon, who had gone to
00:23:40the apartment with his friend, who was responding to Debbie and her advertising for a roommate.
00:23:49Residents were shocked that he is charged with Dorian's murder.
00:23:53Yeah, very surprised. Yeah, this is a quiet neighborhood. You don't expect something like that. And like I said, especially
00:23:58coming from him.
00:23:59Now, Dixon's arrest comes just one year after the O.J. Simpson verdict, the so-called trial of the century.
00:24:06It was a vote of not guilty for O.J. Simpson and a vote of no confidence in the LAPD.
00:24:13LAPD guilty!
00:24:14At the time, the general public, especially in California, was more aware of DNA, but there was also more scrutiny
00:24:21of police investigations.
00:24:23Well, actually, I don't want to go into race, but just knowing the background of a black man in society
00:24:32being arrested and the scared feeling that our family had with Maurice actually being in the system, I mean, really
00:24:42brought a lot of anguish to our family.
00:24:45There was a lot of racialized tensions in the air at that time. O.J. Simpson's verdict had just come
00:24:52in. That came on the heels of Rodney King.
00:24:57But to the people of South Central L.A., that 30-hour rampage was more revolt than riot.
00:25:05There was a lot of pointing fingers, but the police had reason to be looking at Maurice.
00:25:11Oh, 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
00:25:21on the list.
00:25:24Maurice Dixon walked into court shackled at the hands and feet.
00:25:27After Maurice Dixon was arraigned, police continued to investigate. So one of the things they did was conduct a more
00:25:36sophisticated DNA test.
00:25:39You have to remember, at that time, DNA technology was changing rapidly. Investigators initially relied on one test that compared
00:25:47six markers, but were about to start using a more precise test, looking at 13 markers, similar to what labs
00:25:54use today.
00:25:55It was a matter of weeks between the first test and the second DNA test, the more discriminating one.
00:26:03That second, more powerful test reveals the DNA from the Debbie Dorian crime scene does not match Maurice Dixon. He
00:26:11is cleared and all charges are dropped.
00:26:14Maurice Dixon had been in custody for a little more than two weeks. Tonight, he is free. And the investigation
00:26:20into the Debbie Dorian murder case returns to square one.
00:26:25The fact that that DNA did not match, I think it was a surprise to the police, to Debbie's family,
00:26:31to the community, to everyone you could think of, except for Maurice Dixon, because he knew he didn't do it.
00:26:39Right now, we don't want to comment anything at this time. We're just happy that he's being released.
00:26:47So after Maurice Dixon was released from jail, I interviewed him. He told us that he was living with a
00:26:54shadow over his life, that there was this air of suspicion around him. He was potentially facing the death penalty
00:27:01for a crime he didn't commit.
00:27:04People, you know, like accusing me, but not knowing, you know, the full details of what happened.
00:27:13I totally understand his feelings. I understand the family's feelings. But it was all part of my investigation.
00:27:20We know that there is someone out there that have committed this crime. And basically, the city is afraid again.
00:27:28We know it's hard on her family also, because they have to go through it again, waiting to see who
00:27:35they may arrest next.
00:27:38I just, OK, we're back to square one. We need to rethink this. I work with children and I didn't
00:27:44want to be emotionally upset when I'm working with children.
00:27:46So for my lunch breaks, I go and cry for 20 minutes and then I come back and we're OK
00:27:50for a while. You know, I just had to keep going. Yeah.
00:27:55Our future has been taken away. We will not see a wedding. We will not see grandchildren. She will not
00:28:01get to have a life.
00:28:02The one thing we can do and the one thing we strive to do is to get the person who
00:28:09did this.
00:28:09Every time something like this happens, it's like pulling the scab off a wound.
00:28:14Peter Dorian, her father, was very committed to keeping the case in the mind of the community, in the mind
00:28:23of media.
00:28:24I would hope that a person would have the morality to come forward if they know something just because they
00:28:32want 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 in all the businesses. The governor's
00:28:48reward was $50,000. Then our family reward was $10,000. It's quite a big reward.
00:28:57I 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
00:29:09going. 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
00:29:19it 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.
00:29:34I made a commitment to her. I would never quit. And she asked me, well, what about when you retire?
00:29:41I says, well, I won't retire.
00:29:43I won't retire until I solve it. I've been a law enforcement officer for a little over 40 years, and
00:29:52I farmed all those 40 years in addition to working.
00:29:57With a cold case, you pour your heart and your soul into it and all the time you have, and
00:30:01hopefully you solve the case.
00:30:04It entails a lot of patience, just like farming. No matter what you're doing, you have to continue to farm,
00:30:11or all the time will be for nothing. So if I had to come out at night and work on
00:30:18the case during the day, I'd come out at night.
00:30:22Vince Zavala is the man you want on your side. And when he gets a hold of something, he doesn't
00:30:27let it go.
00:30:28Sarah often said that solving Debbie's murder was like a million piece puzzle.
00:30:33If you keep putting one piece together, two pieces together, three pieces, you're eventually going to get a picture of
00:30:40who murdered her daughter.
00:30:42And some of those pieces are about to fall into place.
00:30:45Fresno police are looking for a Caucasian male in his late 20s, early 30s.
00:30:50Thanks to a string of terrifying attacks just an hour from Fresno.
00:30:54We feel he's a predator. He could strike at any time.
00:30:58This was a person who was repeating.
00:31:00And then the break investigators have been waiting for.
00:31:03This guy is still around. We've got a shot at getting this guy down.
00:31:24So this case became personal to Vince Zavala. He was determined to find Debbie's killer.
00:31:32Some 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.
00:31:40You know how frustrating it must be for them to just wake up every day and not know.
00:31:46Who did it? Why did they do it? How did they do it?
00:31:50Were there moments where you lost hope of solving the crime?
00:31:53I never lost hope. I always had faith. But there were many, many times I was frustrated.
00:32:00It stayed with the department. It stayed with me, even to this day.
00:32:03There was this desire to solve the case.
00:32:07But we needed evidence.
00:32:13Our investigation of the murder of Debbie Dorian focused basically on the Fresno area.
00:32:19Then 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.
00:33:13I believe these crimes were committed by the same suspect.
00:33:17In each of those cases, the suspect was described as a white male adult in his 30s generally,
00:33:22from five-six to maybe close to about six-foot, medium-sized build.
00:33:27So his M.O. would be that he'd find a young woman, late teens, early 20s,
00:33:32he'd find her alone, he'd produce the gun,
00:33:35and he told them that he'd shoot them if they didn't do what he said.
00:33:41He was described as either wearing a bandana over his face,
00:33:44or 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.
00:33:55Police aren't able to collect physical evidence from every assault,
00:33:58but in one case, they get lucky,
00:34:00collecting DNA from the suspect that will become the critical puzzle piece
00:34:05linking these assaults to Debbie Dorian's murder.
00:34:10Jane Doe, number one, was riding her bike home from work.
00:34:18A man approached her with a gun.
00:34:22Tells her to get on her knees, fondles her under her clothing.
00:34:27She 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 is also the person who murdered Debbie Dorian.
00:34:41They just don't know who it is.
00:34:46It brought it to a whole new level,
00:34:47because now we've got a guy that is running around in the Visalia area that is killed before.
00:34:53It gets everybody's attention.
00:34:57Once I heard of the case-to-case hit, I was so excited I jumped in my car and immediately
00:35:02went to Visalia.
00:35:04This guy is still around. We've got a shot at getting this guy now.
00:35:10Working together, the team in Fresno and Visalia conduct background checks, interviews.
00:35:15They collect and test well over 100 DNA samples, but they just can't seem to hit their mark.
00:35:22They were chasing what seemed like a ghost, and the clock was ticking.
00:35:26Once we had exhausted our leads in Visalia, we 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 if he's going to go back to something else.
00:35:38He could strike at any time.
00:35:41There were times I couldn't sleep at night, because what can we do?
00:35:46So as the years go by, I said, you know what, we have to preserve the cases that we have.
00:35:52The statute of limitations on sex rights was 10 years in California,
00:35:55and we were approaching the 10-year mark.
00:35:57So the clock is running out. The prosecutors decide, well, we have the DNA.
00:36:01We have a commonality. We can identify this DNA profile.
00:36:07We just don't have a name.
00:36:08We just don't have a name.
00:36:10Lieutenant Pewter wrote a John Doe warrant for the DNA profile,
00:36:15and that was very instrumental because 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, say authorities,
00:36:26buying the team more time to find their John Doe.
00:36:32We knew that if we could find this person, that we really had him,
00:36:35which, you know, is a big part of the puzzle.
00:36:38A puzzle that's about to get some help from an unlikely source, a serial killer.
00:36:43I'm sure the detectives back then couldn't imagine this. It's crazy.
00:36:50I really felt this was going to crack the case.
00:36:54A killer with decades-old secrets is in their sights.
00:36:57I'm sorry, but we got to check all the boxes off.
00:37:00And the victim, the survivor, who promised to take her attacker down.
00:37:05All I remember saying is, I'm going to get you.
00:37:08You're not going to get away with it.
00:37:18What went through your head when you realized the man who assaulted you is also charged with murdering somebody?
00:37:23Why didn't you murder me?
00:37:26Debbie's dad found her body in her bedroom early this morning.
00:37:29If 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.
00:37:40Trace evidence, fibers, fingerprints.
00:37:44We have to find this monster out there.
00:37:47Have you ever seen that girl?
00:37:49No.
00:37:49You don't know her?
00:37:50On the surface, he did seem like, you know, your next-door neighbor.
00:37:55His alter-ego, Nick Steele, online.
00:37:58More of a fantasy.
00:37:58He 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 boogeyman of your nightmares,
00:38:09and yet everyone described him as the guy who could be your neighbor.
00:38:14Who was your neighbor?
00:38:16Yeah, I hope you find him.
00:38:17I hope we do catch the guy.
00:38:25Here 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.
00:38:44One tries to escape the predator by cutting through a field.
00:38:48And another, just a high school student at the time,
00:38:51attacked as she was walking home from school.
00:38:54Another is assaulted here while waiting for a bus.
00:38:59All of these women's identities have been shielded from the public
00:39:02by law enforcement, each of them referred to simply as Jane Doe.
00:39:08But tonight, for the first time,
00:39:11one of these brave survivors is stepping out of the shadows.
00:39:15We're rolling.
00:39:17You were Jane Doe number one for many years.
00:39:20Yeah.
00:39:23But you're comfortable now with saying at least your first name.
00:39:27At least my first name, yeah.
00:39:28And you're comfortable going on camera.
00:39:31I wasn't for a long time.
00:39:33And when we sat down for her first interview,
00:39:36she 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
00:39:43when she moved to the Central Valley of California.
00:39:48It was your love of horses that drew you here.
00:39:51Yes.
00:39:52You kind of had your future mapped out in your head.
00:39:55I wanted to be a horse trainer.
00:39:57And you are an independent young woman.
00:40:00Yes.
00:40:01That's what I thought.
00:40:04And then you're riding your bike home from work one day.
00:40:09I was about 3 blocks away from my house.
00:40:11And I saw a gentleman pull out of a street.
00:40:14It was 1030 at night.
00:40:16There was nobody on the road.
00:40:18He grabbed my handlebars and had a gun.
00:40:21And you saw the gun?
00:40:23Yeah.
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.
00:40:31You have a gun to your head and you do what you're told.
00:40:33And the whole time, all I remember saying is,
00:40:36I'm going to get you.
00:40:38You're not going to get away with it.
00:40:40That's feisty.
00:40:41Yeah.
00:40:42With a gun pointed at you.
00:40:45I didn't know what else to do.
00:40:47Beth 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.
00:40:58He told me to stay where I am, count to 10, and turn around and go home.
00:41:08If I turned around or try to come and find him, he knew where I lived and he would kill
00:41:12me.
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, I threw my bike on the grass, called my sister.
00:41:23About a minute later, four detectives and police and everybody was in my apartment.
00:41:30Jane Doe had the presence of mind to quickly report.
00:41:34Reporting patrol officers were able to quickly locate the crime scene and collect the DNA evidence.
00:41:42And then, over the course of the next three years, we had another three different crimes, all of similar MO.
00:41:49And really, it wasn't until maybe the third or the fourth crime that we realized we had the same suspect
00:41:53and we had a pattern.
00:41:55The DNA collected in Beth's case is compared to other crimes in the National Criminal Database, called CODIS.
00:42:02And that's when things take an unexpected turn.
00:42:05That case-to-case hit.
00:42:08Whoever left the DNA at Debbie Dorian's crime scene committed that sexual assault.
00:42:14Knowing he was in the Visalia area was the first big boost we had since the murder of Debbie Dorian.
00:42:24What went through your head when you realized the man who assaulted you is 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.
00:42:37Because I asked when the murder was.
00:42:40It was 96.
00:42:41And mine was 99.
00:42:45Why do you think you survived?
00:42:48God only knows.
00:42:50I don't know.
00:42:51And as the years clicked by.
00:42:53I would get a phone call every five years or so saying my case is still open and they're like,
00:43:00oh, okay, well, thanks for the call. And that was it.
00:43:05The thought that we would never catch this guy was not something I wanted to live with, you know, for
00:43:12the victims in Visalia and then for Dorian family.
00:43:16It's something that I wanted to do everything in my power to find this guy.
00:43:24Sorry, I'm getting emotional.
00:43:25The string of attacks on women seems to suddenly end.
00:43:30But even though the perpetrator appears to have stopped, Vince Savala won't.
00:43:34In the Debbie Dorian case, we had over 286 pieces of evidence submitted for analyzation.
00:43:46Delia moved up the ranks and eventually became the director for the entire Fresno Regional Laboratory.
00:43:53Whenever I needed help pushing evidence through, I would call Delia.
00:43:57He was very persistent.
00:43:59He would bring additional references, maybe registered sex offender cases that sort of look similar.
00:44:06We collected DNA from over 146 individuals and compared to evidence left at Debbie Dorian's crime scene.
00:44:17146 DNA tests.
00:44:18And that's on top of the mountain of evidence Vince has collected throughout the years and shared with new detectives
00:44:25who would join the case.
00:44:26This 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, this 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 as the sole suspect in the Visalia Ransacker crime series.
00:44:56The Visalia Ransacker case was really kind of criminal lore throughout 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, and then a thought came to my mind.
00:45:15Why couldn't we use the same DNA technology used to capture the Golden State Killer on Debbie Dorian's homicide case?
00:45:24Visalia Police Department worked on that task force, and I knew a lot of those detectives, and that started the
00:45:30ball rolling.
00:45:34A very dear friend of mine who's the retired Sacramento County DA, Anne-Marie Schubert, who was just an essential
00:45:41part of solving the Golden State Killer case.
00:45:44We found the needle in the haystack, and it was right here in Sacramento.
00:45:49She called me and said, hey, we need to come down to Fresno because this technology is amazing. I'll bring
00:45:54my staff.
00:45:55And so then we started to work together with them.
00:45:57Sacramento County, their DA's office, gave us a blueprint how to move forward with this new investigative technique.
00:46:06They are able to come up with family members who are likely to be related to this suspect.
00:46:17You can build out essentially a family tree and then start investigating backwards to see who are the relatives that
00:46:24could potentially
00:46:25be a suspect.
00:46:26Within maybe a week, we got a lead.
00:46:29And bells start to go off.
00:46:31Exactly.
00:46:32A witness had seen a suspicious male outside of Debbie's apartment on the day in question.
00:46:38And as I read that description, and I'm looking at the photograph of the suspect, I'm like, this is our
00:46:44guy. This really is.
00:46:45The picture matched up to the descriptions. I'm like, Mark, it was like, this is him.
00:47:06This is a pomegranate orchard. This is what I farm.
00:47:15I've been farming probably a good majority of my life.
00:47:21Farming is much like investigating cold cases because there's a lot of unknown.
00:47:27There's a lot of hard work, and you don't know what you're going to end up with.
00:47:31You got to be very patient, watch it grow, and hopefully you get fruit.
00:47:38After nearly 40 years of being a detective and a farmer, the time finally comes for Vince Zavala to retire
00:47:44from his day job.
00:47:46But there is one unsolved case he can't let go of.
00:47:53It was tearing at your heart.
00:47:54Absolutely, but I made a promise to Sarah.
00:48:02When I retired, I talked to Chief Dyer because we were friends.
00:48:06I realized, as a police chief, there's more than I can do, and it's bring Vince back.
00:48:13He allowed me to come back as a reserve police officer, which gave me police officer powers when I was
00:48:19on duty, and that was important.
00:48:20But no police officer pay.
00:48:22I told him I didn't want to be paid.
00:48:26With that genetic genealogy DNA match in hand, Vince was more hopeful than ever that his years of investigative work
00:48:34were about to bear fruit.
00:48:35Probably the best lead we've had in over 23 years. This could very well be our guy.
00:48:42They are able to take this genealogical DNA, and ultimately, they came up with a name.
00:48:51Nicky Dwayne Stain.
00:48:54He married, had a couple of kids. His work history was very solid.
00:49:00No criminal past that we could see. This is a normal guy, but then you think,
00:49:05well, a normal guy could have committed this. That's why we haven't been able to find him.
00:49:14He was living in Visalia, in the city.
00:49:16He raised his kids, was at the PTA. His focus was the family, and he did work for charity organizations.
00:49:26Now that detectives have a name, they want to talk to this guy.
00:49:30They discover that he's been divorced and working at a food court in the local mall.
00:49:34Turns out that early hunch that their suspect may work in the restaurant business was spot on.
00:49:43We were all hands on deck. Let's do what we got to do. Let's get a DNA sample from him.
00:49:49Our primary mission was to look for anything that he would publicly discard that we could obtain a DNA profile
00:49:58from.
00:49:58So we thought a trash run might be the best opportunity.
00:50:06My partner and I dressed down in plain clothes, put on a vest as if we were part of solid
00:50:12waste.
00:50:14We removed the trash cans from the street and replaced them with the empty trash cans.
00:50:20It's called a surreptitious trash dump because once he throws it away outside on the street, it's free game.
00:50:29We found male razor blades that appeared used and were discarded.
00:50:33And so we sent that up to be tested to see if it had any DNA on it.
00:50:38I was excited, but I'd been excited before.
00:50:42So that kept me from totally jumping in.
00:50:45But two weeks later, his phone rings.
00:50:49I was at home. It was the middle of the day.
00:50:52I put it on speakerphone.
00:50:54I said, hey, Vince, you got to sit down because I have news.
00:50:59We got the guy. It's him.
00:51:05My wife was close to me.
00:51:08Once she heard it, she cried.
00:51:13So did I.
00:51:20As I've gotten older, I've gotten more emotional.
00:51:25I'm pretty old now.
00:51:30I was happy.
00:51:34It was good.
00:51:36It was a lot of years of work.
00:51:40Nicky Stain was our 147th individual who we obtained a DNA sample from for comparison.
00:51:50And he was the match.
00:51:55Okay, you're good.
00:51:58We're out of the car.
00:51:59Their next stop is that shopping mall in Visalia to surprise Nicky Stain with a visit.
00:52:05There's a couple of customers, Chris.
00:52:07You don't feel comfortable with the.
00:52:09We'll just wait, hang back.
00:52:11They're off.
00:52:14I don't see how we're going to be able to talk to more of the county.
00:52:17We went to his workplace asking for him.
00:52:20Hi, is Mr. Stain in?
00:52:23Mr. Stain in?
00:52:24Yes.
00:52:25Hi.
00:52:25Hi, Mr. Stain.
00:52:27My name is Vince Savala.
00:52:28Hi, Vince.
00:52:29This is Bob Sotis.
00:52:30Hi, Bob.
00:52:30We're doing some grunt work here.
00:52:32We're looking into a matter that happened a while ago.
00:52:35Take five minutes.
00:52:36Okay.
00:52:39That's fine.
00:52:39We begin to ask him some questions.
00:52:42Have you ever seen that girl?
00:52:43No.
00:52:44You've never committed any violence against her.
00:52:46No, I haven't made anything.
00:52:47Oh, I don't.
00:52:48I 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 and come this far to take no for an answer.
00:53:00Her name was Debbie Dorian.
00:53:02She was found murdered.
00:53:03You didn't kill her, did you?
00:53:04No.
00:53:05No.
00:53:05I don't know.
00:53:06Nikki Stain denied knowing Debbie.
00:53:08During our conversation with Nikki Stain, I told him, I said, look.
00:53:12We've been asking everybody we talked to if they would voluntarily give us an oral swab
00:53:17to compare to evidence that's at the scene.
00:53:21But if you haven't been there, I mean, you know, it's just kind of a mundane thing.
00:53:26It sounds like, I don't know, that sounds like, I don't know if I want to do that.
00:53:32Stain refuses to turn over his DNA, and the interview seems to come to an end.
00:53:37We thanked him for his time.
00:53:40As we were walking, Nikki Stain stops.
00:53:44He looks me in the eye, and he says,
00:53:47Yeah, I hope you find him.
00:53:48I hope we do catch the guy, and thank you.
00:53:50Have a good day.
00:53:50We had the arrest team standing by the exterior door.
00:53:54267 to the arrest team, standby.
00:53:56Where he was going to have to reenter the mall, back to his place of work.
00:54:00Now, I'm fine.
00:54:03Nikki Stain.
00:54:04Hi.
00:54:04Hands behind your back.
00:54:05Turn around, man.
00:54:07Five seconds later, he's arrested.
00:54:10He was ultimately arrested at that time on the sexual assaults from the Visalia cases.
00:54:19Shortly after Nikki Stain was handcuffed, I made a telephone call to Sarah.
00:54:24He called me, and he says, we actually have him.
00:54:27We have him in custody.
00:54:28And I said, really?
00:54:30Really?
00:54:30This is really something.
00:54:32Yeah, called all my friends, called everybody.
00:54:34Guess what?
00:54:34Guess what?
00:54:34Guess what?
00:54:35Yeah, it's really happening.
00:54:39As police begin talking to Nikki Stain, they're about to discover that he is anything but the guy next door.
00:54:46If you have my phone, you'll be able to see that because it has like 400 videos on it.
00:55:05Turn around, man.
00:55:07After Nikki Stain is arrested for the sexual assaults in Visalia, he's brought into the police department to be questioned.
00:55:19And to the surprise of detectives, he seems to have a lot to say.
00:55:22Nick, do you know why you're here today?
00:55:25Yeah, I do know why I'm here.
00:55:27From the beginning of the interview, he knew why he was there for the Visalia cases, and we just let
00:55:32him talk.
00:55:32I know I've done a couple things here in Visalia that I shouldn't have done.
00:55:37So when you say a couple things in Visalia, what are the couple things that you're talking about?
00:55:44Oh, there's a couple times that I approach women out in the street that they know and step in and
00:55:48cohorce them into having some final oral.
00:55:50And so those are things I shouldn't have done.
00:55:53Against their will?
00:55:55Yes.
00:55:57Detectives then walk Nikki Stain through each of the sexual assaults he's accused of.
00:56:03Suspect pulled sweatshirt over his face and then placed a handgun in her side.
00:56:08He escorted the victim and concealed their location behind some bushes.
00:56:12Request the victim unbutton her shirt.
00:56:15That might have happened. I think that might have happened.
00:56:19She was standing alone waiting to catch a bus.
00:56:22Suspect approached Victor.
00:56:26Suspect told the victim not to run or he would kill her.
00:56:29I 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 when 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.
00:56:47With my demeanor, I think really brought some comfort to him to really open up about our sexual assault cases.
00:56:54So, you know, I kind of like had some bad things that go on in my life and I can
00:56:59say 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 because it has like 400 videos on it of
00:57:12probably 100 different women.
00:57:15During my interview, he did mention that he began sleeping with prostitutes starting in high school all the way up
00:57:22until his arrest.
00:57:23I've had so many encounters with women.
00:57:28You know, I'm talking about like paid for encounters or this or that or like start chatting with them and
00:57:33then 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 really the only women that pay me
00:57:49any attention are the younger ones.
00:57:51He was happy to talk about himself and all the sexual things that he had done in his past. It
00:57:58was crazy. It was crazy.
00:58:01I'll tell you the truth, I don't really think that hiring an escort or having a sugar babe or anything
00:58:06like that, I personally don't think that that's a wrong thing.
00:58:16He talked about his bedroom looking similar to Fifty Shades of Grey.
00:58:32Oh my God.
00:58:35I had saw pictures of those types of rooms, dark rooms on the internet. I said I wanted to paint
00:58:41it that way. Now everybody who sees it says it's great.
00:58:44When they did the search and he had these silk robes in his closet and sex toys.
00:58:51During our investigation, we learned that Nicky Stain was operating an Airbnb operation out of his home.
00:58:58He would also rent rooms out to younger females. He talked about providing for these young females.
00:59:06Investigators also find what appears to be a fake Facebook profile where Nicky Stain calls himself Nick Steele and claims
00:59:14to be chairman of a Fortune 500 company.
00:59:17His alter ego, Nick Steele, online, pointed in a different direction.
00:59:24I think more of a fantasy.
00:59:26He also posted videos of himself on that Facebook page, going 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. I think it was more about, this is me. I'm capable of this. I'm so
00:59:42attractive. I'm so, you know, my proudness is such that, you know, these things happen in my life.
00:59:50During our search warrant at his residence, we located that he had a wall plug camera in one of the
00:59:56roommate's bathrooms that was associated to a younger female.
01:00:00There were also allegations of peeping Tom.
01:00:04Yes. It's kind of a voyeurism, obviously, and then it steps into inappropriate actions.
01:00:13Inappropriate actions that land Nicky Stain with a misdemeanor peeping charge.
01:00:17Stain pleads not guilty to the charge, which is eventually dropped.
01:00:21He definitely had some sexual deviances.
01:00:25But as Nicky Stain's defense attorney points out, sexual 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.
01:00:45But 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, when the conversation turns to Debbie Dorian's murder, Nicky Stain's not done talking yet.
01:01:02The detectives there today before you guys arrested me.
01:01:05You brought up an interesting case.
01:01:07One that, you know, it does shock me.
01:01:17The detectives show up at the mall to confront Nicky Stain at his workplace, they ask him about Debbie Dorian.
01:01:24He claims he's never seen her before.
01:01:26Have you ever seen that girl?
01:01:28Nope.
01:01:28You don't know her?
01:01:29You don't know her?
01:01:30Okay.
01:01:30But when they get him into the interrogation room, he has a different story.
01:01:34The detectives there today before you guys arrested me.
01:01:37You brought up an interesting case.
01:01:39I was with that girl, you know, several times and stuff like that.
01:01:42You were?
01:01:42Yes, I was.
01:01:44Yes, I was.
01:01:45So, you know, to be honest with you, she was, I picked her up on, in, present there on the
01:01:50street there at one time.
01:01:52You know, after I dropped her off, I thought that was going to be the last time I seen of
01:01:55her.
01:01:56Okay.
01:01:56And then, and then she, you know, found her way to my workplace, you know, on other occasions and, and
01:02:04asked me if I, you know, would want to again.
01:02:07He acknowledged that he did know Debbie and that he had been to her apartment multiple times for sex.
01:02:14The stunning allegation that Stain and Debbie had met for consensual sex is something prosecutors dispute.
01:02:21But his new defense team will now try to prove.
01:02:25Brian Pinto is the defense's lead investigator.
01:02:28I spent a lot of hours in the jail with Nicky Stain.
01:02:31He was probably one of the most intelligent clients I've ever had.
01:02:34But he's also one of the most complicated and mysterious.
01:02:41Brian attempted to track down coworkers 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
01:03:01with that he only remembered first names.
01:03:03There was some evidence that she may have gone into his place of work.
01:03:11But, you know, we weren't able to really chase those folks down because it was so long ago.
01:03:17There was nothing to support that she had come into contact with him in any other way.
01:03:23It was completely concocted.
01:03:24After his police interview, Nicky Stain is booked, fingerprinted, and now that he's under arrest, has no choice but to
01:03:32turn over his DNA.
01:03:34The authorities reach out to Beth, who spent years as Jane Doe number one, with the news she never expected
01:03:41to get.
01:03:41They told me that they got him. Say that again. It took me a couple times for them to tell
01:03:47me that they got him and 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.
01:04:10I locked myself in my room, and I watched it. And I bawled my eyes out. And all those emotions
01:04:18that came back hard.
01:04:21Nicky Stain is every woman's nightmare.
01:04:24And what did you mean by that?
01:04:26Nicky Stain looks like an average guy. He looks like a normal person.
01:04:29He blends into the background.
01:04:31Yeah, he blends in.
01:04:33Almost 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 and for the murder of Debbie
01:04:53Dorian.
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.
01:05:05I'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
01:05:15college.
01:05:15Live at 5, clear to proceed.
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.
01:05:32And on the other side, you had Jane Bulger, somebody who really believes in defending her client
01:05:36and protecting the process that everybody in this country is entitled to.
01:05:41Jane was the defense attorney of the very first court case I ever covered.
01:05:46And at one point, Jane had asked me how old I was.
01:05:50And when I told her, she said,
01:05:52Gabe, I have pants older than you.
01:05:54It was the fall of 2023 when this preliminary hearing started,
01:05:58but in so many ways that courtroom went back to 1996.
01:06:00The judge orders that no civilian witnesses can be shown on camera.
01:06:05I put on the neighbor who had seen the white male at Debbie's doorstep on that Tuesday.
01:06:14He basically knocked on the door and it wasn't a confrontational kind of encounter,
01:06:22but she let him in.
01:06:26Nikki Stain matches the description,
01:06:29but makes you wonder whether or not the person that was seen in her apartment was Nikki Stain.
01:06:35One of the items of evidence that I presented was the list that was located at Debbie's apartment on her
01:06:41kitchen table,
01:06:42which appeared to be a list of potential roommates.
01:06:44And what does it say by number six?
01:06:47By number six, it has the name Nick and then scratched out or Rick,
01:06:53you 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 Nikki Stain called Debbie on Tuesday,
01:07:06said, I would like to come by and look at the apartment.
01:07:08She said, sure, gave 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.
01:07:30What did you see when you entered Debbie's bedroom?
01:07:34She was lying on the floor.
01:07:38Was she moving?
01:07:40No.
01:07:41Is there anything else about Debbie that you noticed that were?
01:07:45Well, she was lying face up.
01:07:49Her mouth and nose had been taped shut with some gray colored tape,
01:07:56so it prevented her from breathing.
01:07:58We had two of the sexual assault victims from Visalia testify at the preliminary hearing.
01:08:04When you saw him in the courtroom, did 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?
01:08:18That's him.
01:08:21Holy 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.
01:08:32How dare you be able to go on living knowing what you did?
01:08:37That you have destroyed who knows how many people's lives.
01:08:41And you can continue your life like nothing happened.
01:08:47How dare you?
01:08:48When prosecutors and the defense said that she was free to go, she just sat there and she wept.
01:08:54You could tell that she has never walked away from this, that it has been with her every single day.
01:09:01And prosecutors have one more piece of evidence up their sleeve.
01:09:05Hello? This call is from a corrections facility.
01:09:08Recordings of Nikki Stain's phone calls from jail.
01:09:11Hello? Hello, Mom.
01:09:13And Nikki Stain just keeps talking.
01:09:23This call is from a corrections facility and is subject to monitoring and recording.
01:09:28Can you hear me, Nick?
01:09:30During the preliminary hearing, prosecutors introduced calls that Nikki Stain made to family members
01:09:36while he was being held in the Tulare County Jail.
01:09:39And on those calls, he doesn't hold back.
01:09:41Yeah, I can hear you.
01:09:43You know what?
01:09:45Those hurting people and things like that that was in my past, I know I need to be punished for
01:09:49it.
01:09:49I just know that I'll be here the rest of my life.
01:09:52One could say that the jailhouse phone calls were a sense of admission because there was no denials.
01:09:58But you're innocent until you're proven guilty, my book.
01:10:01You know what you did, we don't.
01:10:03I'm going to say that you're innocent until they proved otherwise, in my opinion.
01:10:08That's the way that America works.
01:10:09I'm guilty.
01:10:11I'm guilty.
01:10:13You know, I did some bad things.
01:10:16I'm not trying to kind of, like, hide them.
01:10:18You know, I mean, I'm ashamed of them, but, but, you know, they're there now.
01:10:23So it's just like, you know, quit running from it and just take it.
01:10:27Are you innocent of any of those crimes?
01:10:31No, not really, Mom. I was kind of, like, involved in all of them.
01:10:34To us, that's an admission that he committed all of these crimes, including Debbie Dorian.
01:10:40Those revealing phone calls could be key evidence if the case proceeds to trial.
01:10:45But the defense insists that Nikki Stain never admitted to killing Debbie Dorian, including in that police interrogation.
01:10:53I did wrong, okay?
01:10:55And even the things that I did back, you know, in here in Visalia, that, that those things were haunting
01:11:03me forever.
01:11:04But the thing in Fresno there, I didn't know that that went down.
01:11:09I didn't know that happened.
01:11:10I didn't feel remorse for that or anything like that or anything because I didn't know that it happened.
01:11:15During the preliminary hearing, the defense was trying to attack the investigation,
01:11:21specifically with the arrest of Maurice Dixon initially and the DNA testing originally.
01:11:29So that's a mistake.
01:11:32I'm not going to say it's a mistake, no.
01:11:37You refuse to say that arresting the wrong man on faulty lab work is a mistake?
01:11:50Did you get the right guy?
01:11:51He was eventually cleared.
01:11:52Yeah, so he was the wrong guy.
01:11:55But prosecutors maintain that the DNA evidence in this case tells the whole story.
01:12:01There was no other foreign DNA on Debbie's body.
01:12:04The only DNA located was Debbie Dorian's DNA and Nikki Dwayne Stain's DNA.
01:12:10When the preliminary hearing wraps up, the judge decides there is enough evidence for the case to proceed to trial.
01:12:16The defendant is held to answer on all counts and charges.
01:12:21Prosecutors announced they're going to seek the death penalty.
01:12:24But ultimately, Nikki Stain is ready to make a deal.
01:12:30Nikki Stain's case was heading toward a jury trial early next year.
01:12:33But now a possible deal with prosecutors.
01:12:36Just five weeks after the judge had set a trial date, we got word that Nikki Stain would be entering
01:12:42a change of plea.
01:12:43Stain's defense team had asked prosecutors if they would allow him to plead guilty to just the murder charge and
01:12:49dismiss the sexual assault charges.
01:12:51I contacted the parents.
01:12:54I contacted the parents.
01:12:55Peter was on board because Nikki Stain would receive life without 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.
01:13:07And she wanted him to admit and plead guilty to everything that he did.
01:13:16And she wasn't the only one who felt that way.
01:13:18Why did you feel so strongly that you wanted those sexual assaults?
01:13:22Because those victims deserved to have him say, I 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, but for the crimes I committed against
01:13:35you.
01:13:35Ultimately, Nikki Stain was willing to do that.
01:13:40He didn't want to go forward to trial.
01:13:43The district attorney's office also agrees to forego the death penalty.
01:13:47He would serve life without the possibility of parole.
01:13:51Unlawfully and with balance of forethought, committed 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, it would easily have been a death penalty verdict.
01:14:11I just knew that because we're emotion driven, it's almost impossible to be unbiased.
01:14:18We all have our biases.
01:14:19She was an attractive young woman.
01:14:21She was doing positive things in her life, going to school.
01:14:25Her 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.
01:14:41Court Department 6 is now session.
01:14:43You're going to watch out for help residing.
01:14:45Jane Doe, number one, steps up to the podium and delivers her impact statement with cameras carefully trained on her
01:14:52hands.
01:14:54My life changed forever that day.
01:14:56I tried moving on.
01:14:59I have tried to forget.
01:15:02To me, every man was him.
01:15:04I was always scared.
01:15:05I wish I was dead.
01:15:08I 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.
01:15:29I hope that he knows that I got him.
01:15:35That's it.
01:15:36Thank you, Jane Doe.
01:15:38And you also said you wanted to speak on behalf of other survivors.
01:15:43Yes.
01:15:43And give voice to them.
01:15:45If anything comes of this, I would just hope that people will come forward.
01:15:51And people will get the help that they need.
01:15:54Because it took me a long time.
01:15:57But the final words spoken in that courtroom would stun everyone.
01:16:02It was a raw moment.
01:16:04I screamed and screamed.
01:16:05Everything went dark.
01:16:07I knew my life was over.
01:16:21I wanted people to know that Deb was a real person.
01:16:26She was a beautiful baby.
01:16:28A darling little girl.
01:16:30She went through all the things that children go through.
01:16:35These are her ballet slippers when she was five.
01:16:39And these are her riding gloves.
01:16:41I just want people to know she had these little hands.
01:16:46They felt things.
01:16:47And they were sweet.
01:16:51We have waited and searched for this murderer for 28 years and 10 months.
01:16:5729 Christmases and almost 29 birthdays.
01:17:03Sarah Loven was the last to deliver an impact statement.
01:17:07She shared what she thought Debbie would have wanted to say.
01:17:11Speaking in her daughter's voice.
01:17:13Adrenaline flooded my body.
01:17:15I screamed and screamed.
01:17:17But he didn't stop.
01:17:19He wrapped my head in duct tape covering my mouth.
01:17:22I couldn't breathe.
01:17:24Everything went dark.
01:17:28I would never take a hike with John, the love of my life.
01:17:33Spend time with my mom.
01:17:37I wouldn't have a wedding.
01:17:38I wouldn't be a beautiful bride.
01:17:41My dad wouldn't walk me down the aisle.
01:17:46I knew my death would break my mom's heart and change my dad forever.
01:17:50The pain that they suffer is deeper than anyone can know.
01:17:55Though he took my precious death, he did not take my soul.
01:18:00I am wiser and stronger than ever from having to go through this ordeal.
01:18:05He has the rest of his life to pay for what he did.
01:18:09And he will pay for his evil actions.
01:18:14It was a powerful statement.
01:18:15It was a powerful and emotional moment for everyone in the courtroom.
01:18:21At this point, sir, you are a man in the custody of Frederick County Sheriff to begin serving your child.
01:18:28He no longer has the power.
01:18:30Whatever he wants for power, it's behind bars.
01:18:38To my dear Vince, you know how much this case has meant to us.
01:18:43You know how many years it has taken.
01:18:45And you've carried us all through this.
01:18:47And I love you.
01:18:49You're about to harvest pomegranates.
01:18:51What's that moment like?
01:18:52How fulfilling it must be.
01:18:54It's exciting to see all the hard work come to fruition.
01:18:59You saw a dry, leafless bush get leaves, and 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, and we'll see if there's a rainbow at the end of it.
01:19:13Finally having him behind bars must have been a real capstone to your career.
01:19:19There were many capstones, but this is the one at the top.
01:19:24She was a precious person.
01:19:27Sweet and loving and smart.
01:19:30And a wonderful young lady.
01:19:38A mother's never-ending love, Debbie's mother, Sarah, did get to meet and hug that brave survivor, Beth, in court.
01:19:44As for Nikki Stain, David, his plea agreement included a provision that he forfeits his right to appeal his conviction.
01:19:52That's our program for tonight.
01:19:53Thanks for watching.
01:19:54I'm Deborah Roberts.
01:19:55And I'm David Muir from all of us here at 2020 and ABC News.
01:19:59Good night.
01:20:25You're welcome.
01:20:27I like theina of the world.
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