Accused killer, rapist Nickey Stane makes first Fresno court appearance
Dressed in a yellow jumpsuit reserved for high-risk inmates, accused killer and sexual predator Nickey Stane made his first appearance in Fresno County Superior Court on Thursday.
Stane was scheduled to be arraigned on 11 felonies and one misdemeanor related to the 1996 murder of Debbie Dorian and a string of sexual attacks in Visalia, but his case was continued until Feb. 27.
Cameras were allowed in the courtroom, but getting photos of Stane’s face wasn’t allowed.
Jasen Sorensen, chief defense attorney for the Public Defender’s Office, told Judge Jon Kapetan he needed more time to review the complaint against Stane and to check for potential conflicts.
Stane, 52, will prosecuted in Fresno County after the district attorney’s for Fresno and Tulare counties decided it would make more sense and be more efficient to have one trial instead of two.
Prosecuting Stane will be Deborah Miller, senior deputy district attorney for Fresno County. Miller requested Stane be held at the county jail without the possibility of bail and Kapetan agreed.
Also in the courtroom Thursday were members of Dorian’s family, including her mother Sara Loven.
Loven said at a press conference last week that she was relieved her daughter’s alleged killer has finally been caught.
Police said DNA evidence is what finally connected Stane, a one-time manager of a fast food restaurant, to Dorian’s death more than two decades ago.
Dorian, a Fresno State economics student, was found dead inside her apartment near Cedar and Teague avenues in northeast Fresno by her father Peter Dorian on Aug. 22, 1996. Police said she had been bound, gagged and raped.
Stane is also accused of being the alleged predator who preyed on women in Visalia from 1999 to 2002. Visalia police allege Stane would approach his victims from behind, use a gun to force them to a secluded place and then fondle their breasts, force them to orally copulate him — or he would masturbate in from of them.
The victims ranged in age from 17 to 41, police said.
DNA collected at the scene of one of of the attacks led police to Stane.
If convicted, Stane could face life in prison without the possibility of parole, or the death penalty.
This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 12:05 PM.
