Gem City Style: An Interview with Justin Dombrowski

Jessica Hunter

Justin Dombrowski, author of a number of books about local true crime, has just published his latest, The Murder of Debbie Gama: Justice and Absolution in Erie. He sat down with Jessica Hunter to talk about his process, Erie's dark histories, and the "tension between fact and empathy" that comes with writing true crime stories.

On a summer morning in Aug. 1975, 16-year-old Debbie Gama left her home in Erie and never returned. Days later, her body was discovered in a creek nearly 30 miles away. What unfolded in the aftermath was a case that shook Erie, led to the arrest of her English teacher Raymond Payne, and tested the limits of justice, grief, and forgiveness.

Half a century later, local author and historian Justin Dombrowski revisits the case in his new book The Murder of Debbie Gama: Justice and Absolution in Erie. Drawing from newspaper archives, court files, and investigative records that had never been made public, Dombrowski reconstructs the tragedy that scarred Erie while exploring the resilience of a mother who turned unimaginable loss into advocacy.

For our October issue, I sat down with Dombrowski to talk about Erie's dark history, the delicate art of writing true crime, and why stories like Debbie's still matter today.

Born and raised in Erie, Dombrowski is a Central High and Mercyhurst University graduate with a degree in criminal justice. He's published several books that dig into Erie's true crime underbelly, including Murder & Mayhem in Erie, Pennsylvania, Reed's Backyard Strangler, and Wicked Erie, among them. But Debbie's story, he says, felt different.

"This is one of those cases that, if you ask anyone in Erie for their top five most memorable crimes, Debbie's name always comes up," he explains. "What really intrigued me wasn't just the crime itself, but her mother's involvement afterward. Before she passed, Betty Ferguson was a huge advocate for families who had lost children to homicide. And then there was Dan Barber, a local investigator who essentially helped solve the case – and nobody had really focused on his role before."

True crime comes with its challenges: how to tell a gripping story without sensationalizing a victim's life and death, or retraumatizing those still living.

"It can be tricky," Dombrowski admits. "With a case like this, even 50 years later, there are still a lot of open wounds. There's also a lot of rumor and misinformation, especially about Debbie's character. A big part of my work was setting the record straight – showing that she was just a typical teenager who loved life, friends, and family. She didn't 'contribute to her own murder,' as some people falsely suggest. She was simply a victim of someone who took advantage."

The tension between fact and empathy is a thread throughout the book. "You have to walk a fine line," he says. "You want to include what's relevant to the story but leave out details that don't move it forward. You can't lose sight of the human side."

The book's subtitle references two heavy concepts: justice and absolution. Dombrowski sees them as intertwined in the Gama case.

"Justice, in this context, was Raymond Payne's conviction," he explains, "but there are still lingering questions – things DNA testing today could possibly clarify. The absolution side comes from Debbie's mother. Betty famously forgave her daughter's killer. For most of us, that's unthinkable, but it was powerful. It turned her grief into something positive that still resonates."

Photo: Jessica Hunter

It's not lost on Dombrowski – or anyone living here – that Erie carries its share of haunting stories. From the Pizza Bomber case to whispered legends of the Gudgeonville Bridge, true crime and folklore mix freely in local lore.

"When I did my first book, someone told me, 'If you ever want to hide a body, you go to Erie,'" he says with a wry laugh. "Of course, that's not true – but it reflects how deeply crime stories have always been part of our history. Even in old newspapers, you'd see graphic photos on the front page. Violence has always been there – the way it's reported just changes."

For October, as readers dive into their usual mix of horror movies and haunted tales, Dombrowski says true crime scratches a different itch. "People are drawn to the mystery, the whodunit element. There's always that fascination with murder and mayhem. And in the spooky season, it fits right in."

For Dombrowski, writing the book wasn't just research, it was personal. "You have to take breaks," he says. "Step outside, do something unrelated. Otherwise, it stays with you. But it's also important work because these stories give perspective to families dealing with loss. They show how people navigate grief, justice, and sometimes forgiveness."

So what does he hope readers take away? "That Debbie was a real person – not just a headline. She was a normal teenager in the 1970s who should have had her whole life ahead of her. If there's one thing to remember, it's that her story deserves to be told accurately."

And Dombrowski isn't done digging through Erie's archives. He's currently researching Erie County's death penalty cases – a project 15 years in the making – and another book on a 1946 unsolved golf course murder.

"I could talk about this stuff all day," he says with a grin. "Erie has no shortage of haunting stories."

For those looking to pair The Murder of Debbie Gama with another chilling read this fall, he recommends James Badal's work on the Cleveland Torso Murders. "It's creepy, it's unsolved, and it's close to home," he says.

Nearly 50 years later, Debbie Gama's story still echoes through Erie. In telling it anew, Justin Dombrowski offers both a record of a crime and a meditation on how justice and forgiveness can shape a community's memory.

His book joins Erie's long line of haunting stories, but it also insists we remember Debbie herself, not just the darkness that took her.

The Murder of Debbie Gama: Justice and Absolution in Erie is available now in local bookstores and online. Visit Dombrowski's Facebook page, Shadows From the Boulevard at facebook.com/ErieTrueCrime

Gem City Style is a monthly column featuring an intimate Q&A with someone making a creative impact in Erie. If you or someone you know would make a good fit for a future Gem City Style, email jessica@eriereader.com