Man says he saw suspect near Debbie Dorian's Fresno apartment before murder
Nickey Stane is due back in court on Friday as prosecutors convince the judge they have enough evidence to take the case to trial
FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Nickey Stane was identified in court on Thursday as the man Debbie Dorian's neighbor saw near her apartment nearly 30 years ago.
On the stand was Dorian's former neighbor, Pieter Bezemer.
Action News was not allowed to record Bezemer's face as he testified, but he recalled a day in late August 1996.
"I had seen a gentleman a couple of days earlier who did not look familiar, who was walking (the) opposite direction," said Bezemer.
Moments later, Bezemer said that a man with sandy brown hair walked up the stairs to Dorian's apartment and knocked on the door.
Dorian answered the door. Just a few days later, her body was found tied up and gagged on the floor.
Prosecutors say Nickey Stane raped and murdered the 22-year-old recent Fresno State grad and is responsible for a string of eight sexual assaults in Visalia a few years later.
The district attorney's office has relied on DNA linking Stane to Dorian's murder and one of the assaults.
More evidence came from former Fresno Police Department Detective Michael Garcia. He said he found a paper suggesting Dorian was looking for roommates.
On the note, a list of crossed-out names.
"By #6, it has the name 'Nick.' And then scratched out, 'or Rick.' And then it says, 'Will call Tuesday 12 o'clock," said former Fresno police detective Michael Garcia.
Prosecutors seem to argue that evidence could suggest how the young girl and Stane first met.
Stane has pleaded not guilty to all 11 felonies.
His defense attorney, Jane Boulger, seemed to argue that prosecutors don't have enough evidence to say Dorian didn't consent to having sex.
Stane is due back in court on Friday as prosecutors convince the judge they have enough evidence to take the case to trial.
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