Special Assignments And Investigations

MODESTO (CBS13) ― A Modesto mother was savagely murdered in her own home as her young daughter slept just a few feet away, but the case went cold for years.

The victim's mother made it her mission to lead police to her killer, and after years went by, she finally did.

Jacque MacDonald describes her daughter, Debi Whitlock, as being "full of life," loving her family, friends and work. "She had hopes and dreams," Jacque said.

Debi's life came to a grisly end inside her Modesto home on March 25, 1988. Investigators called it a crime of passion carried out by a killer with a knife.

"She was dragged out of the bedroom," said Angela Dove, Debi's stepdaughter. "One detective used the word 'carved'" to describe her wounds, she added.

"It was a vicious, cold-blooded murder," Jacque said. "It was senseless."

Debi Whitlock's husband, Harold, says he came home from a bachelor party around 5:00 a.m. that morning and found his wife's naked body posed in the hallway. One of the first emergency responders found the biggest surprise of all: Somebody else was in the house, alive.

"The guy walks into my sister's bedroom and sees her. At that point, he said the entire scene changed for him," Angela said.

"She didn't wake up," Jacque said. "She would've found her mother laying there."

Angela says she was the last person to see her stepmother alive, and she was stunned to find out that the last person she expected became the first suspect: Her father, Harold.

"They had very good reason to suspect him," Angela said. "He had just showered… they found something that looked like blood on him."

It didn't look like Harold was playing the part of the grieving husband, and authorities say they soon found out Harold wasn't at the bachelor party at all. He had been having an affair, and had left the party to be with his mistress.

Police said they believed he had enough time to come home to kill Debi. Investigators found out that Debi had let her life insurance policy lapse, and divorce papers were found in her desk at Sears, where she worked.

"She had spoken to her father and sister recently about her wishes should she pass away," Angela said.

"In the court of public opinion, [Harold] was guilty," Jacque said.

Angela and Jacque never thought Harold had killed Debi, and there wasn't enough evidence to arrest him. Weeks would turn into months with no new leads, and for years, Jacque could only visit her daughter at her gravesite as her murderer walked free.

"It's a nightmare that never goes away," Jacque said. "Every Christmas, I would turn to my husband and say, 'I wonder if he goes to church. I wonder if they have Christmas dinner.'"

Jacque didn't sit and wait for the phone to ring. She picked it up and called around, telling Debi's story to anyone who would listen. The cold case wound up on national television and Debi's picture went up on billboards in Modesto.

"And anywhere else I could stick her face, really," Jacque said.

Debi's face was on buses, in shopping carts and even on pizza boxes.

"It was against all odds, and darned if she didn't pull it off," Angela said.

In November 1996, Modesto police got a tip from an ex-con, a guy who says he was haunted by seeing Debi's face all over town. He said he knew who the killer was because the suspect had confessed in his garage.

"There was a lot of excitement about this thing coming together," said Modesto Detective Jon Buehler.

Authorities hunted down Scott Fizzell in Arkansas and brought him back to California, nine years after the murder of Debi Whitlock.

"The man that gave the information said [Debi's] eyes followed me everywhere," Jacque said. "I knew I had done my job at that point."

"I can't even express how relieved we were," Angela said.

Angela's dad was innocent after all, but even with the prime suspect cleared, a cloud of doubt still lingers. "There are people in Modesto today who think my father is incarcerated for the crime," she said.

DNA evidence liked Fizzell to evidence at the scene of the crime. Investigators say he was a stranger trying to burglarize the house when something went wrong.

Fizzell killed Debi and committed another horrific crime Jacque never knew happened.

"Let's be honest: He raped her dead body and left her there," Jacque said.

Jacque savored the moment she came face-to-face with Fizzell in court. "I smirked. He was terrified," she said.

Fizzell took a plea deal and was sentenced to 42 years in prison.

"I didn't want him to see the light of day again," Jacque said. "In 2017 he's eligible for parole. But we're going to be there. Even if I'm on a gurney, ha, we're going to be there."

With Debi's cold case cleared, Jacque's passion hasn't faded. Her attention has shifted to families of other murder victims who may be losing hope.

"You have to remember: Where there's life, there's hope," Jacque said.

As Jacque MacDonald fights for families of other murder victims, her journey to justice for Debi isn't over. Prosecutors dropped the rape charges against Scott Fizzel because there's no law against raping a dead person in California.

Jacque has spent more than 10 years trying to change that, but "Debi's Law" has failed twice in the state legislature.

You can read more about the twists and turns of this case in the new book No Room For Doubt, written by Angela Dove.

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