What happened to Debbie Gama?
THE LAKE ERIE MURDERS is a documentary-style series with dramatized retellings of deadly crimes committed throughout the Midwest.
On January 6, 2019, Debbie Gama’s murder investigation was highlighted in an episode of the show.
What happened to Debbie Gama?
In August of 1975, Debbie Gama reportedly left her house in the morning to head to the beach.
She was never heard from again.
The 16-year-old and her mother had argued around the time Debbie left, leaving her parents to think she had run away.
Days later, Debbie’s body was found in the Cussewago Creek in Crawford County, Pennsylvania.
Her hands and feet were bound by copper wire, her neck also entrapped.
At the time, Debbie’s cause of death was determined to be “acute asphyxiation due to ligature.”
Following her autopsy, investigators discovered Debbie had been drugged prior to her murder.
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Who killed Debbie Gama?
After months of the police having no leads, Debbie’s mother hired a private investigator.
In early 1976, the PI – Daniel Barber – found a connection between Debbie’s murder and her former high school English teacher, Raymond Payne.
Police later tested the wires from Debbie’s murder and matched them to those found in Payne’s possession.
He was arrested and charged in September of the same year.
In 1977, Payne testified that he had only tied Debbie up after she had allegedly agreed to allow him to do so.
He then reported she died accidentally while he stepped away from the scene.
Payne later pleaded guilty, and in August of 1977 he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Is Raymond Payne still alive?
On November 25, 2020, Raymond Payne died at the age of 83 from complications with Covid-19.
While undergoing treatment for the coronavirus and an accompanying case of pneumonia, Payne succumbed to cardiorespiratory arrest.
Payne was being treated at the UPMC Somerset Emergency Department at the time of his death.
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