A Zanesville, Ohio woman who needed to look up how to load a gun before shooting herself and faking a home invasion to cover up a murder in August 2023, has pleaded guilty to several crimes.
The Muskingum County Prosecutor’s Office said in a press release on Monday that 36-year-old Deborah L. Frazier pleaded guilty to murder with a firearm, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse.
Police responded to a call from Frazier on Aug. 10, 2023, claiming that she had been shot in the leg by two burglars as they were leaving her boyfriend’s apartment.
The body of her boyfriend, Thomas Waddell, was discovered by responding officers in a back room of his apartment, wrapped in a blanket and garbage bag that was secured with duct tape.
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Deborah Frazier of Zanesville, Ohio pleaded guilty on Monday to murder with a firearm, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse. (Muskingum County Prosecutors Office)
Frazier initially claimed she entered the apartment and found intruders inside, though nothing of Waddell’s was missing, including his firearms.
Police were also unable to find video footage from doorbell and surveillance cameras in the area, of alleged intruders entering or fleeing the scene.
When an autopsy was conducted on Waddell’s body, it was discovered he was killed more than 12 hours before Frazier called 911, and forensic searches of the suspect’s internet browsing history revealed several searches for information on loading and firing guns.
According to the Statement of Facts provided by the prosecutor’s office, Frazier stood behind Waddell as he sat in his recliner, raised his .22 caliber pistol, aimed it at the back of his head and executed him in his living room.
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Zanesville Police Department officials responded to Thomas Waddell’s apartment on April 10, 2023, where they found his body wrapped in a blanket and bag, secured with duct tape. (Google Maps)
Frazier and Waddell had been in an on-again, off-again relationship for years, and he was significantly older than she was, but known for reaching out and helping those in need.
When Frazier called police to report the made-up shooting, she claimed her place had been ransacked and the door was left open. While on the phone, she screamed that men were inside the house before the sound of a gunshot could be heard.
Frazier then cried that she had been shot, and every officer with the Zanesville Police Department who was working responded to the scene.
When officers arrived, they found Frazier in the entryway of the apartment and bleeding from a gunshot wound to her leg. She told officers masked white men came out of her apartment and shot her as they left. One officer provided a tourniquet to Frazier’s leg, and she was transported to the hospital. Next to her on the ground was a .22 caliber revolver.
Inside a courtroom with gavel in view. (iStock)
During the investigation, detectives conducted a forensic software search to look into Frazier’s phone. The detective found searches between Aug. 5 and Aug. 9 for, “How to load a gun,” “How to load a revolver pistol,” “how to know what ammo your gun uses,” “How to uncock the hammer on a revolver,” “what does 22 ammo look like,” and “worst place to get hit in the head.”
When detectives investigated the duct tape used to wrap Waddell’s body, they found Frazier’s hair.
The investigation discovered a litany of evidence suggesting Frazier acted alone, and that other people were duped by her manipulation and lies, according to the prosecutor’s office.
The statement of facts also said the totality of the circumstances and results of the searches, court orders and more point to Frazier’s “purposeful killing” of Waddell with a firearm, as well as her attempt to conceal the crime by creating false evidence and shooting herself.
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“Frazier deserves and will serve a life sentence for her crime,” Assistant Prosecuting Attorney John Litle said. “This plea allows her to accept responsibility and eliminates the risks associated with a trial on the horrific and tabloid-esque facts of this case.”
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