Debbie Dorian's father testifies, describes finding her body 27 years ago
has pleaded not guilty to a slew of eleven felony charges ranging from murder to rape and kidnapping.
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- An emotional Fresno father took to the stand on Tuesday and relived the worst moments of his life 27 years later.
In often precise detail, Peter Dorian described the scene where he found his daughter's body, something he later told reporters he has tried to forget all these years later.
"She was lying face up," Dorian said of his daughter, Debbie. "Her mouth and nose had been taped shut."
It was August 1996 as he and 22-year-old Debbie were getting ready to tour a grad school in Sacramento. The father and daughter had been planning the visit for some time, but when Peter called Debbie to confirm, there was no answer.
"She was always on time," Dorian said. "She was very punctual, so I became concerned that something was wrong."
On the stand, Dorian told the judge how he went to Debbie's Northeast Fresno apartment after several missed phone calls.
When he arrived, the door was ajar. Peter called out for Debbie, but there was no answer, so he went in and searched.
"She was lying on the floor," Dorian said. "Was she moving?" the prosecutor asked.
"No," Dorian said, adding that his daughter could not speak and was not fully clothed.
Nearly 30 years after Debbie's death, prosecutors say 56-year-old Nickey Stane is the man who killed, bound, and gagged her.
On Tuesday, Stane sat in a red prison jumpsuit and appeared to take notes as prosecutors argued they have enough evidence to proceed with their case.
Police arrested Stane in 2019 after a breakthrough in DNA technology allowed investigators to tie him to Debbie's death.
Prosecutors also say Stane is behind a series of eight sexual assaults that rocked Visalia beginning in 1999.
He has pleaded not guilty to a slew of eleven felony charges ranging from murder to rape and kidnapping.
Stane's defense attorney, Jane Boulger, questioned Dorian on how he found his daughter and what he did in the apartment before police arrived.
If convicted, Boulger's client could face the death penalty.
