The night Debra Donohue was slain, her father's life ended in a way, too.
Donohue was a 31-year-old doctoral student at the University of Arizona who worked part time at the Tucson Museum of Art. On the evening of Aug. 15, 1985, a friend went to Donohue's condominium in the 2800 block of West Sheryl Drive to visit and found her dead. Investigators estimated she had been strangled between 11 the previous night and 4 a.m. Aug. 15.
Donohue and her husband had moved to Tucson from Colorado in the late 1970s. After they divorced, her parents bought her the west-side condo.
Bob and Ruth Stonebraker were living in Kansas at the time. When they were notified of their daughter's slaying, they chartered a plane and flew to Tucson to bring her body back to Kansas.
Bob Stonebraker was a successful businessman, but after the death of his only child, he burned through the couple's savings repeatedly flying to Tucson, staying for up to five weeks at a time to investigate his daughter's murder.
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Tucson police investigators had a suspect in the case, but the Pima County Attorney's Office declined to prosecute, citing insufficient evidence, according to a 1987 Arizona Daily Star article.
Undaunted, Stonebraker harassed the suspect with phone calls and letters. During his multiple visits to Tucson, Stonebraker followed the suspect, taunted him with shouts, threatened to kill him and kept watch outside the suspect's home and workplace to no avail, said the Star article.
STATUS
At the time of Donohue's homicide, investigators "were looking at various possibilities and who would have had motive to kill her, but none of those theories were ever confirmed to the point of being able to make an arrest," said Sgt. Judy Allen of the Tucson Police Department.
Although Donohue's case is considered cold, it is not forgotten by investigators. Tucson police currently have a laboratory conducting forensic tests on evidence, Allen said. Samples were tested in 2010 and 2011, and the department is still awaiting results on some of those tests.
ABOUT THE SERIES
The Star will feature some of the Tucson-area violent crimes that remain unsolved - sometimes many years later.
Anyone with information is urged to call 88-CRIME. Tips also can be submitted online at www.88crime.org; or by text message at 274637, then enter tip259 plus your text message.
Contact reporter Kimberly Matas at kmatas@azstarnet.com or at 573-4191 if you have been a victim of an unsolved crime or if you are related to a victim.
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