AZ AZ - Debra Asbury, 27, Phoenix, 22 March 1985

[bessie]

Debra Faye Asbury was 27

Cold case: Free-spirited Debra Asbury suffered brutal murder in 1985, Phoenix police say
Megan Cassidy, The Republic 11:19 p.m. CST February 2, 2016

Debra Asbury’s body was blanketed with souvenirs from her killers by the time she was discovered March 22, 1985.

There was the bite mark on the 27-year-old's left breast, the distinct boot print between her thighs, a strand of dark-colored hair in her hand and a cigarette wrapper with marijuana beneath her sweater.
And a piece of barbed wire ringed her neck — a weapon of convenience borrowed from nearby farmland. It tied off in a neat twist just below her left ear.

[...]

The blood found on the barbed wire belonged to Asbury, said Dominick Roestenberg, a detective on Phoenix police’s cold case squad. Bite marks and shoe impressions are valuable only when accompanied by a comparable suspect.

[...]

“It was particularly gruesome,” Dominick Roestenberg, a Phoenix police cold case detective, said. “It was extremely violent.”

[...]

The daughter of the man Asbury lived with said two men picked up Asbury at her home near 71st Avenue and Indian School Road between 2 and 2:30 p.m. At least one of the men had picked up Asbury in the past, the daughter said.

[...]

An autopsy later revealed Asbury died not from the barbed wire but from a cylinder-shaped puncture wound to her chest, likely from a screwdriver or similar weapon.

[...]

The boot prints offered another clue. The impressions were traced back to a line of footwear sold only at Sears, known as the Sears Diehard work boots.

[...]

If you have any information regarding this case or any other cold cases, contact Silent Witness at 480-948-6377 or silentwitness.org, or the Phoenix Police Department at 602-262-6151.


Phoenix police searching for suspects in brutal 1985 murder
By Jayme West | February 1, 2016 @ 5:00 am

Roestenberg said someone walking to work found the body of a woman in a dirt alley on the south side of Trevor Browne High School near 75th Avenue and Thomas Road. It was 7 a.m. on Friday, March 22, 1985.

“Her name was Debra Faye Asbury, a 27-year-old white female,” Roestenberg said. “Ms. Asbury was strangled, stabbed and a piece of barbed wire was looped around her neck.”

Asbury was last seen the night before, either at Boomerang Bar or Mr. Lucky’s. Witnesses saw her leave one of the bars with two younger white men.

Their vehicle was pretty distinctive: A 1960s step-side pickup truck. It was faded red with primer spots.

[...]

“We’re hoping somebody recognizes the person in the picture or recognizes the description of the truck and calls police,” Roestenberg said. “We want to close the case. We owe that to [Asbury].”
http://ktar.com/story/879408/phoenix-police-searching-for-suspects-in-brutal-1985-murder/


ATM video was later discovered showing the victim using her boyfriend's credit card and standing with
the person of interest. Detectives would like to identify and speak with the person of interest
http://www.silentwitness.org/Pictures/85-2073 Flyer - Debra Asbury Homicide.pdf

 

[STANDREID]

The person in the picture doesn't seem to be particularly focused on Debra so I wonder if he or she was just some innocent person waiting to use the ATM. Of course, they should still be interviewed even if that was the case. Is there more than just that one frame? It looks a little odd that she had her boyfriend's credit card and his PIN yet she was not out with him.

 

[STANDREID]

To me, it looks like the second word on the other individual's shirt (preceeded by the last two letters of the first word that look like IS) says BUD'S. I wonder if that is the partial name of a bar or some other establishiment that could lend a clue.

 

[STANDREID]

Perhaps the shirt just says "THIS BUD'S FOR YOU" and that probably wouldn't help much.

I get the feeling that one photo is a mugshot so, if so, what was Debra arrested for?

 

[Owutatangledweb]

http://ecorp.azcc.gov/Search/Detail...est.EntityType=All&Request.PageDirection=Back

 

[folieadeuxnola]

Murder of woman found strangled with barbed wire in Phoenix unsolved for 33 years

Friends called Debra Asbury – the life of the party. She was outgoing and a sociable 27-year-old.

“She was very friendly and outgoing, so she made friends very quickly," Sgt. Mercedes Fortune with the Phoenix Police Department said.

Asbury's was found dead in March of 1985, strangled with barbed wire with a hole in her chest from something similar to a screwdriver just south of the football field at Trevor Browne High School. Police called the murder "barbaric."

Her murder has gone unsolved for 33 years.

 

[jaejae]

I may as well continue with my theories and give a possible name for the man in the CCTV. Ralph Leon Jackson with the shoulder length blond hair of his youth.

 

[jaejae]

This is a serious suggestion so other posters have a look and see what they think to me it is a very clear CCTV image from 1985.

 

[Owutatangledweb]

Do you have a picture of that guy in his youth. No article I found has that nor suggests he was ever in arizona

 

[jaejae]

Do you have a picture of that guy in his youth. No article I found has that nor suggests he was ever in arizona

I do not have a photo of him in in his youth but I feel it is him. To me this CCTV photo is him murderous 'pomp' in his very early thirties. Thanks for the reply.

 

[jaejae]

I just want to post the CCTV image of the suspect in this case:

Cold case: Free-spirited Debra Asbury suffered brutal murder in 1985, Phoenix police say

Compare it with the composite sketch of a suspect in the murder of Karen Taylor in California notice the similar shoulder length dirty blonde hair:

Patch.com - GDPR

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Police don’t know if he was involved in her death but they do want to talk to him. Even decades later, it’s possible someone will recognize him.

Roestenberg spoke to a close friend of Asbury who described her as a good person — free-spirited, fun-loving and enjoying being single.

“We’re hoping somebody recognizes the person in the picture or recognizes the description of the truck and calls police,” Roestenberg said. “We want to close the case. We owe that to [Asbury].”
Phoenix police searching for suspects in brutal 1985 murder