Inside room 112, authorities found the body of a woman clad only in underwear, stuffed into a sleeping bag under the bed. When the body of 52-year-old Debra Novacluse was discovered in a motel room at the end of August 2016, her family learned about her affair with a married man.
Murder in Room 112
Around 11:30 a.m. on August 27, 2016, the 911 dispatch received a call from the manager of a motel in Aberdeen, Kamloops, Canada. He informed the dispatcher that something horrific had been found in room 112. Though he was too frightened to enter, the housekeeper confirmed to him that a murder had occurred.
Police quickly arrived at the scene. Inside room 112, they immediately noticed one of the two beds was higher than the other. A sleeping bag was found under the bed. Inside the sleeping bag lay the body of a woman.
The housekeeper who discovered the incident also reported seeing a “Do Not Disturb” sign hanging outside the door. After failing to contact anyone inside, she notified a male front desk clerk, and both entered the room. The room and bed were relatively clean. They noticed a slightly elevated bed.
They lifted the mattress, and the front desk clerk was the first to see the woman lying beneath. “There’s someone, a dead body in here. Let’s get out,” the male employee told his colleague.
The victim showed signs of serious trauma. Her face, head, neck, and chest were bruised and swollen. She was only wearing underwear. There were traces of blood in the bathroom and on the mattress.
The autopsy results revealed that the victim had multiple injuries from blunt force, with the neck injury being the most severe. The cause of death was determined to be asphyxiation due to blunt force trauma. She also suffered injuries to her genitals.
Clues from Surveillance Cameras
The victim’s identity was quickly established. She was Debra Novacluse, 52 years old.
Debra was described as cheerful, lively, and always smiling. She and her boyfriend shared a passion for motorcycles. When he suddenly passed away from a heart attack in January 2016, Debra was devastated. Recently, she decided to take a trip to Kamloops, where the tragedy occurred.
Room 112 was registered to a man named David Albert. The manager described him as being around 40-50 years old and wearing a cowboy hat.
The motel had a surveillance camera system at the entrance, parking lot, and hallway. Upon checking the cameras, the police discovered that at midnight on August 26, David entered the motel wearing the cowboy hat described by the manager. He was wearing jeans, boots, and a button-up shirt.
At 12:28 a.m., the camera recorded David walking past the front desk. A couple of unidentified individuals followed him into the room. It was certainly not Debra because the woman had pink hair, while the victim had dark hair.
Just a few hours before David and his companions entered room 112, the camera showed him walking through the motel’s parking lot and approaching the driver’s side of a parked truck. After a brief conversation, a woman stepped out of the truck. This woman was petite and had dark hair similar to the victim’s. They held hands and walked towards the motel, entering room 112 together.
The Wife’s Call
At 7:45 p.m. on August 26, 2016, David left the room alone, calmly leaving. Police learned that he walked to a casino across the street.
Around 8:00 p.m., David was at the casino and appeared to be chatting with most people. Later, outside the casino, he met a woman with pink hair. They left together in a black Sunfire car with some pink details belonging to the woman.
At 12:28 a.m., the camera captured David walking past the front desk. Following him were the woman with pink hair and an unidentified man. They were in David’s room until 4:16 a.m.
Police traced the phone number David left in the motel registration book and obtained his driver’s license. The full name of this man is David Albert Miller.
Earlier, on August 25, police received a report from a woman claiming to be David’s wife. She said her husband was missing and mentioned Debra Novacluse’s name. The woman said Debra was an acquaintance of David’s, and she believed they were having an affair.
At this point, authorities learned that the black Sunfire car belonged to a woman named Jessica. She was staying with her boyfriend at a motel near the crime scene.
Party at the Motel
When the police notified Jessica of the investigation into the murder at the motel near the casino, she agreed to cooperate.
Jessica admitted to meeting David at the casino. “He wore a cowboy hat and threw money around. I picked up the $100 he threw,” Jessica said. She even live-streamed a 14-minute video showing David seeming to enjoy mingling and bragging about his considerable assets. The video also captured Jessica saying, “This guy gave me $100.”
As she left the casino, David approached and invited her to a party in his room at the motel across the street. At this point, Jessica was still live-streaming on her social media account. “Did you guys hear that? Free drinks in room 112,” Jessica continued.
Jessica then agreed to join under the condition that her boyfriend would come along. She even displayed David’s driver’s license in the video and said, “Just in case something happens to me.”
On their way to the motel, Jessica and David picked up Jessica’s boyfriend. Jessica said when they entered room 112, she met a woman named Debra.
Jessica saw “a bunch of liquor on the dresser,” and Debra was on the bed, looking like she had been crying.
The Tense Party
At this point, David helped Debra up to join the party. All four of them drank together. Jessica said they were there for about 5 hours. During that time, she noticed that Debra sometimes became emotional and seemed agitated. Jessica also alleged that “there was some form of abuse between David and Debra.”
Around 4 a.m. on August 27, 2016, Jessica and her boyfriend decided to leave due to the tension between David and Debra for several hours and the obscene language exchanged. Jessica even suggested Debra come with them, but despite this, Debra refused.
According to Jessica, David and Debra were the only two in the room when she and her boyfriend left. Debra was still alive at this time.
Continuing to check the motel’s surveillance cameras, police discovered at 8:42 a.m. on August 27, David leaving the room. He walked to Debra’s truck, took out a sleeping bag, and returned to the room. This was the bag that authorities found containing Debra’s body inside.
About 1.5 hours later, David emerged from the room again, went to the back door, and left in Debra’s truck. He disappeared from then on.
The Intense Pursuit
On August 29, 2016, police traced David’s phone data to Ontario. They then obtained surveillance footage from the airport showing this man purchasing a ticket on August 27.
The information was immediately broadcast widely. A police team in Ontario located David. While tracking him to a car dealership, they found him discarding a bag containing belongings.
The bag was later seized. Upon examination, investigators found David’s plane ticket and the clothes he wore on the night of the murder. The shirt contained DNA from both him and the victim.
At this point, the police had enough evidence for David’s arrest warrant. However, he fled, ditching his phone and ceasing bank card usage.
Shortly after, David was spotted on a busy Ontario highway hitchhiking. However, once again, the investigative team lost track of David. Police feared he had boarded a vehicle to the U.S.-Canada border.
Finally, after extensive search efforts, authorities located David asleep in a culvert.
David was arrested on September 1, four days after Debra’s body was found in the motel.
The Truth Revealed
During police questioning, David claimed that everything was blurry to him and he couldn’t have answers to everything. Initially, he denied killing Debra but later admitted to knowing the victim. That night, David drank heavily and had sexual relations with Debra before strangling her.
He also stated that he saw “Debra starting to bleed” and tried to “clean up” as much as possible before fleeing the scene. However, David insisted it was just an accidental mishap.
Nevertheless, evidence proved that Debra’s death was not accidental. The autopsy results showed bruising and swelling on the victim’s face, head, neck, and chest, along with injuries to her genital area. Among them, the throat injury was the most severe. The cause of death was determined to be asphyxiation and trauma from significant force.
David admitted to attempting to tie the victim up 2-3 times and wanting to remove her body from the room, but she was too heavy, so he ended up stuffing her under the bed. He then drove away in the victim’s truck, disposing of a bag containing items taken from the motel, including Debra’s clothes and a blood-stained pillow. The bag was later found on the highway.
Controversial Verdict
During interrogation, David revealed turmoil in his marriage in the weeks leading up to the incident, from arguments with his wife on a camping trip in early August 2016 to him leaving his wife at the campsite when she threatened to call the police. David then hit the highway and hitchhiked to Kamloops, the site of the murder. David admitted to staying at the motel for 2-3 nights.
Investigators believed that David and Debra argued after witnesses Jessica and her boyfriend left at 4 a.m. David killed Debra and wrapped her in a sleeping bag. He then fled and discarded evidence along the way.
The prosecution charged David with first-degree murder, and sexual assault. Meanwhile, the defense attorney argued that his client acted out of extreme drunkenness and had no intent to kill Debra.
Ultimately, in July 2020, the jury concluded that David committed second-degree murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 15 years. This verdict did not receive the consent of Debra’s family.
Meanwhile, Jessica and her boyfriend felt lucky to have survived and escaped from room 112.
