Nickey Stane pleads guilty to killing Debbie Dorian, assaulting women in stunning reversal
Nickey Stane is now convicted of killing Debbie Dorian and assaulting several other women in the South Valley.
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- After years of denials, there was a stunning reversal in court Thursday as Nickey Stane pleaded guilty to all the charges against him.
"Mr. Stane, how do you plead to a felony violation of Penal Code 187, that is, first-degree murder?" Judge Arlan Harrell asked.
"Guilty," Stane said.
Stane is now convicted of killing Debbie Dorian at her Fresno apartment nearly 30 years ago.
REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: Terrifying courtroom testimony doesn't faze Nickey Stane
She was 22. Her father found her body bound and gagged.
"Do you admit or deny that allegation?" the judge asked.
"I admit," Stane said.
The case went cold for decades until a breakthrough in 2019 when investigators tied him to a string of sexual assaults in Visalia decades earlier.
On Thursday, he admitted to each of them as one of his victims sat in the courtroom.
The guilty pleas were part of a deal. Prosecutors agreed to drop their request for the death penalty.
"He's facing life without the possibility of parole, which means he is not eligible for parole," Chief Deputy District Attorney Deborah Miller said.
RELATED: Chilling comments caught on tape seem to surprise Nickey Stane's defense team
"He will spend the rest of his life in prison."
Stane's conviction seals troves of evidence that would have come out at trial next year.
"He pleaded guilty not just to avoid the death penalty but to be accountable," defense attorney Jane Boulger said.
"Also, for the families not to have to go through a trial."
Outside the court, Dorian's mother, Sara Loven, spoke with Stane's family.
She is relieved this is behind her.
"After all this time, he admitted to what he did, and we don't have to prove it, or argue it, or debate it," Loven said. "It's done."
Action News asked what Dorian would think.
"She's going, 'Yahoo, mom!'"
You can learn more about the case by watching ABC30's documentary "Evil in the Archives: The Murder of Debbie Dorian."
It's available wherever you stream.
For news updates, follow Gabe Ferris on Facebook, X and Instagram.
