Fresno County, Calif. – Authorities have advanced the case against a man implicated in the 1996 murder of Debbie Dorian and the sexual assaults of four other women following a recent court ruling. Nickey Stane, the suspect, faces a Fresno County jury trial on a total of 12 charges, which now also encompass sexual assaults alleged to have happened in nearby Tulare County.
During the court session on Tuesday, Judge Arlan Harrell emphasized the prosecutorial burden, stating, “The bottom line is, the people still have to prove that Mr. Stane is responsible for Ms. Dorian’s death.” Stane was arrested in 2019 in the South Valley after DNA evidence linked him to a series of sexual assaults in Visalia occurring in the 1990s and 2000s.
Shortly after his apprehension, investigators tied Stane to the high-profile case of Dorian, a 22-year-old recent Fresno State graduate found deceased in her Northeast Fresno apartment by her father. She had been bound and gagged, and police state that DNA evidence from this crime scene matches that of the aforementioned assaults.
By consolidating the charges from Fresno and Tulare Counties, prosecutors aim to demonstrate a consistent pattern in Stane’s alleged offenses, bolstering the case that he raped and murdered Dorian. Defense attorney Jane Boulger advocated for separating the charges into distinct trials, expressing concerns over a potential bias: “I’m very concerned that the emotion of the cases, blended together, are going to be what stops Mr. Stane from getting a fair trial,” she said.
However, the judge disagreed with splitting the cases. In a dramatic courtroom moment just after the decision, Stane revealed a notepad to Boulger and requested the removal of his legal representation, prompting a closed-door session from which it was decided the attorneys would remain.
The issue of whether Stane should face a unified or separate trials had been previously addressed nearly a year ago by another judge who determined there was sufficient evidence to bring the consolidated charges before a jury. The date for the trial remains undetermined.
Stane has maintained his innocence, pleading not guilty to all charges. This stance persists even in light of a jailhouse phone call cited by prosecutors wherein Stane allegedly admitted his guilt to his mother. The District Attorney’s Office of Fresno County is pursuing the death penalty in this case.
The legal proceedings continue to draw significant attention due to the serious nature of the allegations and the long period over which the crimes were committed.
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