Woman’s 911 Call About ‘Burglars’ Quickly Falls Apart Under Police Scrutiny

A woman from Zanesville, Ohio, Deborah L. Frazier, 36, admitted to shooting herself in the leg in an attempt to stage a home invasion and cover up the murder of her boyfriend, Thomas Waddell, according to court records.

Frazier pleaded guilty in Muskingum County Common Pleas Court on March 18, 2024. She appeared before Judge Mark C. Fleegle and admitted to charges of murder with a firearm specification, tampering with evidence, and gross abuse of a corpse, Fox 8 reported.

Prosecutors said the plan quickly unraveled when investigators began questioning the timeline of events and the suspicious circumstances inside the apartment.

On August 10, 2023, law enforcement officers responded to a 911 call from Frazier, who claimed that two burglars had shot her in the leg while leaving Waddell’s apartment.

When officers arrived, they discovered Waddell’s body in a back room of the apartment. His remains had been wrapped in a blanket and placed inside a garbage bag that had been secured with duct tape.

Investigators said Frazier initially told authorities she had walked into the apartment and encountered intruders. However, officials found that nothing of value had been taken from the residence, and no suspects were captured on security cameras in the surrounding neighborhood.

An autopsy later determined that Waddell had been killed about 12 hours before the 911 call.

According to investigators, Frazier had conducted internet searches on how to load and fire a gun before the incident. Detectives also learned that she had another boyfriend, John Anderson, who had called Waddell while posing as a bank employee.

Based on the evidence gathered during the investigation, authorities concluded that the killing was motivated by financial gain.

A 911 call obtained by Law&Crime captured Frazier telling a dispatcher that she had been shot, repeating the story she allegedly created about a home invasion.

Following the call, all officers on duty with the Zanesville Police Department responded to the scene.

However, the investigation soon uncovered a different sequence of events. Authorities determined that Frazier had shot Waddell in the back of the head with a .22-caliber pistol in the living room of the apartment 12 hours earlier.

Authorities also interviewed Anderson, who told detectives that Frazier had claimed Waddell was suffering from dementia and that she was acting as his caretaker — a claim authorities later determined was false.

Frazier was later sentenced to life in prison.