Debbie Martinson
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Voices for Justice is a podcast that uses adult language and discusses sensitive and potentially triggering topics, including violence, abuse, and murder. This podcast may not be appropriate for younger audiences. All parties are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Some names have been changed or omitted per their request or for safety purposes. Listener discretion is advised. My name is Sarah Turney, and this is Voices for Justice.

Today, I'm discussing the murder of Debbie Martinson, also known as the Lipstick Murderer.

On March 31st, 1980, around 7pm, Don Martinson arrived home from jury duty and called out to his wife Debbie, but he didn't hear a reply. Don continued to walk through the house and made his way to their 15-month-old son's room. He was alone, crying in his crib. Don picked up his son and began walking to the adjoining primary bedroom. There, he discovered Debbie's body near the foot of their bed.

She had been strangled with a macrame cord that was still around her neck. Near Debbie's body was a message written in pale rose lipstick on a floor-to-ceiling mirror. Now we are even, Dawn. This is the case of Debbie Martinson. Deborah Elaine Debbie Woodson was born on June 12, 1951 in Texas.

We don't know much else about her background, except that she and her three sisters grew up in the suburbs of Houston. As a teenager, Debbie dated her next-door neighbor, Don Martinson, who was four years older.

The couple broke up for a while when Don was sent off to Vietnam, but after his return, the pair jumped back into the relationship, and in 1971, they got married. That same year, Debbie became a licensed vocational nurse. She worked to put Don through law school until he graduated in 1973.

Dawn then went on to work representing insurance companies in civil proceedings. In 1978, Debbie gave birth to their only son and became a homemaker. According to news reports, in early 1980, the Martinsons settled in a big, quote, fashionable home on Deer Park Drive in North Dallas. From the outside, it looked like Dawn and Debbie were basically the picture of the American dream in the 1980s. And then it all came crashing down.

According to Don, on March 31st, 1980, he left the house around 7 a.m. for jury duty. Around 5 p.m., he called home, but nobody answered. He called again 30 minutes later, but again, no answer. Don says he got home between 6.45 and 7 p.m. and found the doors locked. Now, it's important to note here that Debbie was actually known to be extremely cautious about her personal safety, so this was completely normal.

He unlocked the door, went inside, and called out for Debbie. Then he made his way to his son's room, but he found him all alone, crying in his crib. Luckily, he was unharmed. So, Don picks up his son and keeps looking for Debbie. Then he finds her. When he walks into their bedroom, he sees her naked body near the foot of their bed.

The Associated Press reported that Debbie had curlers in her hair with a few lying on the floor. She was also still wearing her wedding ring. Her clothes, including a blouse, bra, pantyhose, panties, and a skirt, were scattered on the floor in a, quote, neat pattern leading from the bedroom door to the body, end quote. There was also semen in Debbie's mouth.

And it seems that at some point, their son was possibly near Debbie around the time she was murdered, and then maybe moved back to his crib. Because there was also, quote, excretion next to the body, some form of human waste material, end quote, possibly from the baby's diaper. Though we can't say for sure if it was from their son or the perpetrator. It's obviously just a horrific scene, but it does get worse. Whoever did this left a message.

On a Florida ceiling mirror near her body, in pale rose lipstick, someone wrote, quote, "'Now we are even, Dawn.'" You can see a picture of the mirror on my social media, but for now, I'll try to describe it the best I can, because it does seem to me anyway that the way it was written could mean something.

So, the words are written in all capital letters. The word "now" is on a line by itself, and it's much bigger than the other words. The next line says "We're even," and "Dawn" is on the bottom line by itself. Now, this is important, because with the word "Dawn" being on the very last line, some wondered if this note was written to Debbie's husband, Dawn, or if it was signed by him.

After finding Debbie and this note, Don called the police and requested an ambulance. When they got there, police found no sign of forced entry. Everything in the house was clean, neat, and in its place. Nothing of value seemed to be missing. Like I mentioned, Debbie was actually still wearing her wedding ring when she was found.

Now, let's talk about the autopsy. An autopsy showed that Debbie's face had been beaten, and she was strangled with a short length of knitted yarn macrame that came from a planter. They also found marks on her wrists and ankles that made investigators believe that she was likely tied up using some type of adhesive tape.

There were also a few scratches and scrapes and a bruise on the back of her left wrist. According to the Associated Press, there was semen in Debbie's mouth, but no sign of further sexual assault. The medical examiner estimated that Debbie had likely been dead for 4-8 hours, placing the time of death between 11am and 3pm.

However, I do think it's important to note that Dawn's own attorney later told the media that the medical examiner said Debbie's death could have occurred as early as 6 a.m. That means it is possible Debbie was killed before Dawn left for work around 7. The day after Debbie's murder, investigators told the Associated Press, "...this is one of the strangest cases I've ever seen. We don't know what the implication of the note is, but we have several theories."

Investigators wouldn't really elaborate on the theories, but I saw in at least one article that they were considering the possibility that the note was left to throw them off track.

Of course, many people initially thought Debbie's murder could be linked to Don's work as an attorney. But that theory was pretty much quashed after Don's partner told the Associated Press that he just couldn't see any possible link because Don mostly represented insurance companies in civil proceedings. He said, "...it just couldn't have had anything to do with his law practice. No way. It's just not the kind of practice that sparks that kind of feeling with people. It's just the most conservative kind of practice you have."

On April 3rd, another theory had come out. This one involved Don as a possible suspect. At this point, he hadn't spoken to investigators. He basically holed up at his law partner's house, saying he was just too distraught for an interview. He apparently got so upset every time he talked about Debbie that he had to be sedated. In addition, Don also hired one of the most prominent criminal defense attorneys in Texas, who of course told Don not to speak with the police.

Now, let's be real. We know what the statistics are, you guys. It's likely that Debbie was killed by someone she knew. But with Don being an attorney himself, I have to assume he knew it was in his best interest to get a lawyer before speaking with the police. And I feel like I have to remind you that that's not an indication of guilt. But he apparently also had another reason for immediately hiring a lawyer.

When Don's attorney caught wind of the rumor that Don was involved, he explained to the media that Don hired him to conduct his own investigation, not to defend him. The attorney explained why he told Don not to speak to the police. Quote, End quote.

investigators said there was no evidence linking Don to the crime. An assistant district attorney was interviewed and vouched that they saw Don at the courthouse from 9.30 a.m. to 12.15 p.m. when they broke for lunch, then again at 1 p.m. when they returned. Don was also marked present at the 3.30 p.m. roll call, so his alibi for that afternoon was solid. And despite the possibility that Debbie may have been killed earlier in the morning, he was not considered a suspect.

Investigators also say they ruled out robbery as a motive since nothing was missing from the house. Pretty soon, Debbie's friends and family came forward with information. Remember how I told you that Debbie took a lot of precautions when it came to safety? Well, those who knew her were adamant that Debbie would never open the door for a stranger.

The Associated Press reported, quote, End quote. Not only that, when Dawn was away from the house at night, Debbie would push furniture against the doors and sleep under the bed.

One friend thought it was suspicious that Debbie was found nude. The friend said that Debbie, quote, wouldn't have taken her clothes off for God. The attacker would have had to tear her clothes off piece by piece. He would have had to kill her to remove her clothes, end quote.

Some of Debbie's friends painted her relationship with Don as less than perfect, specifically pointing to her feeling isolated and the grip Don had on their finances. According to D Magazine, Debbie lived a lonely life. She did confide in her friends, but she only saw them occasionally. D Magazine reported that sometimes Debbie would drive to Medical City to eat lunch with her former co-workers, but she wouldn't go out to eat with them because she didn't have enough money.

Her friends thought this was kind of weird because she lived in this huge, beautiful $200,000 house, but couldn't afford to pay $3 for lunch. One friend explained that Dawn was in charge of the finances. Debbie was given $200 a month to buy food and essentials. She didn't have any credit cards. For every penny she spent over the $200, she had to ask for the money then provide receipts.

Now, I wanted to include this because these were genuine concerns from her friends, and I don't want to invalidate that. Money is absolutely a way that one partner can control the other. We know this happens. If a friend came to me and told me that, I would be concerned.

But I would like to remind you that we don't know what their relationship or finances looked like. It's entirely possible that that fancy house everyone talks about was stretching them too thin, to the point that Don felt like he had to keep them on a very strict budget. They could have been saving for something. It's not unheard of for people to spend every dime they can just to keep up with appearances. We just don't know.

But about a week after Debbie's murder, Don is ready to speak with the police. On April 7th, Don gave background information about their relationship, adding that he and Debbie had no known enemies. We really don't have a ton more information than that. But before leaving this interview, Don handed over information about service workers who had been in the house recently. He basically gave them this huge packet that included receipts and orders for work done at the home in the last month.

According to Don's attorney, he also passed a polygraph test with, quote, flying colors. He showed no deception, no knowledge of the crime. With this being a polygraph test, we will, of course, as always, take this with a grain of salt. So, of course, after this interview with Don, investigators started looking into the repairman, and they found one that had been at the Martinson home twice in early March. The repairman was 30-year-old Donald Wayne Hemphill.

Since we now have two Dons in this episode, I will refer to him as Hemphill. So, Hemphill worked for JCPenney. He went to the house for the first time on March 10th to install a television antenna, but he didn't have all the parts that he needed, so he came back on March 14th. He made an appointment to return again on the 22nd, but he never showed up.

and Debbie had actually told her father about this repairman. He later told a Dallas newspaper that around two weeks before Debbie died, she told him, "...she said a young man had been in several times to work on the television. She said he had to come back a second time and crawled into the attic to install the aerial and had done such a good job. He told her his mother-in-law had terminal cancer, and she felt sorry for him."

My daughter also told me he came from Arkansas, and that he had to work hard all his life. I told her that she should be careful of this man. A man shouldn't talk so freely about his personal life when she didn't even know him." Debbie's father said it was possible that Debbie let Hemphill in the house because she liked him, trusted him in the house, and felt compassion for him. It seemed to be shaping up that Hemphill was a pretty solid lead, so investigators looked into him further.

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In 1969, Hemphill was arrested for assaulting a relative with a sharp and dangerous weapon. The case was later dismissed. That same year, Hemphill joined the Marines in order to avoid jail time for assaulting a young woman that we'll call Claire. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Hemphill and Claire went to high school together.

One night, Hemphill went to Claire's house and asked her to drive him to a friend's. But during the ride, Hemphill pulled a knife on Claire. He forced her to stop the car and threatened to rape her. Now, at some point, Claire told Hemphill that her dad would kill him if he did that. And he got down on the floorboard and started crying. Luckily, she was able to get away at this point, and her parents took her to the local police. But now, this next part is so upsetting.

According to Claire's family, authorities told them to drop the matter and leave Hemphill alone because he was sick. Now, I don't really know how this happened, but in the end, Hemphill was given a choice of going to trial or joining the Marines. He chose going to the Marines. Hemphill was later discharged in 1972 for psychiatric reasons.

According to D Magazine, following his release, Hemphill settled in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was unemployed for about three to four months, and he eventually enrolled at Tulsa Junior College. But he got back into trouble pretty soon after that. In 1973, Hemphill was convicted of sexual assault, although the charge was technically classified as indecent exposure.

He was sentenced to serve time in a state prison. A year later, he was arrested and convicted for the same charge, and he went back to prison. In 1976, Hemphill was free again, but not for long.

The details here are a bit murky. But according to authorities, he told a used car dealer that he was an FBI agent who was investigating the dealer for auto smuggling between Mexico and Dallas. Hemphill later told the dealer that he could quash the investigation if the dealer paid him hush money.

Now, this person obviously knew something was super fishy about this, so they went to the police. When Hemphill showed up to collect the money, he was arrested. He was later sentenced to serve time in federal prison. But by June 1978, he was free again. He moved to Dallas, and soon began dating a woman we'll call Jane. Hemphill then enrolled in East Texas Junior College, where he was called an outstanding student who was well-versed in the repair of small engines. The

This is how he later started working at JCPenney as a repairman. He did not mention his criminal history on the application. On March 31st, 1979, Hemphill and Jane got married. By the end of the year, Jane was pregnant. Her supervisor later told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Hemphill and Jane didn't have the best relationship. He apparently constantly went to her work and upset her, so much so that the supervisor had to ask him to stop coming in.

Now, it seems that people who knew Hemphill had mixed opinions on him. Several neighbors at the apartment complex where he lived told a Dallas newspaper that he was hot-tempered, prone to violent outbursts, and he often cursed at children. But the office manager for the apartment complex says something totally different. She said, quote,

End quote.

After finding out Hemphill's criminal history, investigators looked further into the possibility that he was responsible for Debbie's murder. And it seems like there is evidence to suggest that he was. Hemphill was off work on the day of the murder. It was actually the first day of a planned vacation and his wedding anniversary with Jane. Police also got a handwriting expert to weigh in. They allegedly told them that Hemphill's writing and the writing on the mirror were a match. And they were able to find out that Debbie was responsible for Debbie's murder.

And most damning of all, in my opinion, is according to the Associated Press, Hemphill's blood type matched the semen found in Debbie's mouth. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything about further testing if whether or not this semen sample was kept to be able to retest as technology progressed throughout the years. Now, in addition to that evidence, two eyewitnesses helped corroborate the theory that Hemphill was involved.

A 12-year-old neighbor, who we'll just call Sue, told the police that she and a friend were sitting out front of her home on the morning of March 31st. They were on break from school that day, and they saw Hemphill four times between 8.45 and noon. He was outside the Martinson home, but he never went inside. The second witness, a co-worker, told police that he thought he'd seen Hemphill wear a white patch over his eye on occasion. This will be important to remember.

The evidence seemed to be piling up against Hemphill, but many investigators were still on the fence about his guilt. Some felt like the murder wasn't his M.O., and since it didn't seem that Debbie's husband Don did anything to Hemphill that would provoke him to kill Debbie out of revenge, they had to reanalyze the note on the mirror.

Now they were wondering if instead of it being a note to Don, now we are even Don, if it was signed from Hemphill, now we are even signed Don. But this just raised more questions. Why would he sign his own name on the mirror? It didn't make any sense. But in the end, a warrant was issued for Hemphill's arrest.

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On April 13th, Hemphill was taken into custody and he was charged with Debbie's murder. According to police, he told a few different stories about where he'd been on the day of the murder. He was out having his car inspected, he was paying rent, he was eating breakfast at a restaurant.

After hearing about the arrest, Debbie's father told the media, quote, I want to see exactly what kind of animal he is. I would like to talk to him and let him see what grief this has caused us. If I can't see him earlier, I will see him in court, end quote.

After this, there was basically a hearing to see if there was enough evidence to keep the charges against Hemphill. Twelve-year-old Sue testified about seeing a man outside of the Martinson home four times on March 31st. She described the man as having brown hair, no mustache or sideburns, brown eyes, and he was wearing a white patch over one eye.

But on cross-examination, the defense pointed out that Hemphill didn't look like Sue's description. Hemphill had green eyes and a thick mustache. At one point, the defense pointed to Hemphill and asked Sue if this was the man she'd seen. She answered no.

At this point, apparently Hemphill's wife immediately jumped to her feet and clapped her hands once while the other family members made sounds of excitement. The judge called for order and said, quote, End quote. After a recess, Sue was put back on the stand, and the prosecution asked if Hemphill was the man she saw on March 31st. She testified there was no question in her mind it was Hemphill.

But it seemed like the prosecution's strategy began to fall apart. Hemphill's co-worker testified that he couldn't swear to seeing Hemphill wearing an eyepatch. And as far as the handwriting expert goes, they testified that they couldn't be certain that Hemphill's handwriting matched the note on the mirror. He even testified that he never told investigators that there had been a match.

For the defense, a ton of witnesses testified about Hemphill's whereabouts that day. He was at the auto shop, and he had paid rent. In the end, the judge ruled that a grand jury would need to hear the case. On May 12th, the grand jury declined to indict Hemphill on any charges related to Debbie's death due to insufficient evidence. Authorities announced that they were going to continue the investigation into Debbie's murder.

but they didn't have any other suspects besides Hemphill, and that he would remain a suspect. After his release from jail, Hemphill told the media that at the time of Debbie's murder, he had been trying to live a better life, but just because he had a bad past didn't mean he's guilty. Hemphill told the Star-Telegram, quote, I've done a number of bad things in the past, but murder is out of my ballpark, end quote.

Hemphill believed police should have done a more thorough investigation before arresting him. He claimed they never even questioned him prior to his arrest. He says they called him on April 9th and asked if he would talk to them. He said yes, but added that he wanted an attorney present. He says he didn't hear from them again until he got arrested.

Now, while Hemphill and Jane tried to move on with their lives, Debbie's husband, Don Martinson, was doing the same. By the early summer of 1980, he was engaged to marry a former receptionist for his law firm. And Don and his son never returned to the home they shared with Debbie. Soon after the murder, Don sold the house. For a few months, he didn't work. But he eventually went back and poured himself into his work. His law partner told the Dallas Morning News, quote,

According to D Magazine, Don referred all questions about the case to his attorneys. By the end of 1980, Debbie's murder remained unsolved.

In March 1981, Debbie's father gave an interview to the Dallas Morning News. He spoke about how the family was handling their massive loss. John said that prior to Debbie's murder, the family had gone to church every Sunday and ate dinner together every Friday. Both traditions had been cancelled because they were just too painful.

John also said that just before her death, Debbie had actually been writing a letter to one of her sisters. It was found at the murder scene. The sister was haunted by the thought that Debbie was writing the letter when she was murdered. She was so affected that she didn't return to work for nearly a year, and Debbie's mother had only been able to work sporadically. John said, quote,

End quote.

John also dealt with his grief by working to catch Debbie's killer. He kept meticulous files on every violent murder he read about in the paper. His hope was that he would find some similarity between another case and Debbie's. He spent all his vacation days in Dallas searching for clues. He told the Dallas Morning News, "...it torments the mind."

John later announced that he was offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of Debbie's killer. He says he'd just taken out of his retirement savings. Meanwhile, Hemphill was arrested again.

On June 2nd, 1981, a little over a year after the grand jury declined to indict him, he was charged with the aggravated rape, kidnapping, and sexual assault of a 27-year-old woman in Fort Worth. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the victim told police that she was coming home in the pre-dawn hours on May 23rd when a man approached her in her driveway.

The man pulled out a knife, forced her into his car, raped her, then drove around the neighborhood for a few minutes. He stopped the car, made her take off all her clothes, and told her to lie face down on the street. After he drove away, she ran to a nearby house and got help. On February 3rd, 1982, Hemphill took a plea deal and pleaded guilty to aggravated rape. All the other charges were dropped.

He was sentenced to 35 years in prison, with the condition that he wouldn't be eligible for parole for around 12 years. Following his conviction, investigators announced Hemphill remained a suspect in Debbie's murder. One said, quote, the facts and evidence still points to him, end quote.

Hemphill was released in June 1993, after serving 11 years. He then moved to Abilene, Texas, where he was soon arrested again. On March 7th, 1994, Hemphill approached a 30-year-old woman as she got out of her car near her apartment's laundromat. He forced her at knife point into a wooded area. There, Hemphill made her perform oral sex, during which the woman bit Hemphill's penis.

He then tried to remove her pants, but she didn't let him. Hemphill then led her back to his car and forced her inside. But by chance, just at that moment, someone was walking by, and the woman screamed. Hemphill threw her out of the car, and he sped off. Then she called police. Within a few minutes of her statement, police asked her to look at a photo of Hemphill. She said she was positive that was the guy.

Hemphill was ultimately convicted by a jury for the attack and was sentenced to 50 years for sexual assault and 25 years for aggravated kidnapping. Hemphill remains in prison to this day. He was eligible for parole as of 2019. His projected release date is 2044. At that point, he'll be in his mid-90s.

Sadly, Debbie's father passed away in 1991. He never got to see justice for Debbie, but he continued to fight for her up until his death. Which is exactly why I wanted to talk about Debbie's case today. There really isn't a lot of new coverage at all. It seems like it's just one of those super sensational cases that popped up, stirred up a lot of media attention, and then kind of just went away. But Debbie still needs justice.

and it's still possible for her. So please share her story. Share her picture. Share the case. Share the facts. There is still hope for justice for Debbie. As a reminder,

Debbie Martinson was killed inside her northern Dallas, Texas home on March 31st, 1980. Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 877-373-8477. But as always, thank you, I love you, and I'll talk to you next time.

Voices for Justice is hosted and produced by me, Sarah Turney, and is a Voices for Justice media original. This episode contains writing and research assistance by Haley Gray. If you love what we do here, please don't forget to follow, rate, and review the show in your podcast player. It's an easy and free way to help us and help more people find these cases in need of justice. And for even more content, check out my other podcast, Disappearances, only on Spotify.

Welcome to the secret after show. First, sorry for my voice. My throat really hurts, but I'm trying to power through the best I can with hot water. So I might be a little more soft-spoken here in the after show, but...

Yeah, this case, this case was, I can't even remember how I found it, you guys, but once I started looking into it, and you guys know how I am, I saw Debbie's dad fighting for her until the day he died, and I had to jump in and do what I could. I know it's an older case, but there is still hope.

Now, I really want to know if they still have a sample, some type of semen sample that was found in Debbie's mouth to be able to compare today. I'm not an expert on the technology over the years, but I have to imagine that from the 1980s or even 90s to now, that technology has to have changed. You know, I have to believe that if they had some viable sample to be able to at least test against hemp hill, they would have been able to compare it to today.

they could at least rule him out. But I don't know, there's not a lot of coverage on this one. Like I said, it seems like it was one of those cases that was really sensational and then just kind of went away.

Now, let's move on to updates. I did have to rerecord this one, you guys, because I was crying. So, of course, the day after I released part two, my interview with Kelsey German, who is the sister of Liberty German from the Delphi murders, the very next day they announced that an arrest was made in the case.

His name is Richard Allen, and we don't know a lot right now. So that's really where I want to keep it. I don't want to say much else. It's still very, very new. There's a lot of speculation on the internet. And so I'm just going to keep it short and simple. There is an arrest and we are waiting for more information.

Now I do have another update. Um, this is in the case of Lucian Munguia and you guys, I'm going to have to go modify the episode. I need to, I think, make a separate update for this because it's huge. I don't want to hide it here in the after show. I don't want to throw it in Debbie's episode and take away the spotlight, at least in the main episode. You guys know what I mean? Um, so yeah, look out for a longer update on this, but I, I was stunned. I, uh, I

I got, I believe it was a comment on Facebook and thank you to whoever you are. I feel so bad. I always forget to write down your guys's names. I promise I'll try to do that in the future, but, um,

yeah, I got tagged in something and I saw this video. And of course, I'm sorry, Lucian Munguia went missing from Yakima, Washington. He's five now. I covered his case a few weeks ago, right when he went missing. But the whole thing with the case was, you know, he was seen on video leaving this park alone. That was the whole thing. You know, everybody had a lot of feelings and a lot of thoughts about that. And all of a sudden, you

police come out with this video that the Yakima chief of police actually made a video and said he wanted to clarify something. And that was that the video of Lucian leaving the park by himself doesn't exist.

Yeah, I have a lot of thoughts and a lot of feelings on that one that I'm trying to reserve before we learn more. But yeah, so look out for an update on that. I want to play you guys the full audio on that. And again, I'm going to go modify the episode because in my opinion, that changes everything. But as always, thank you for tolerating me here in this after show. I love you and I'll talk to you next time.