Young woman tragically killed by man she met on dating app | 60 Minutes Australia

she was a Powerhouse of a person she was energy everyone's friend she had a smile she could walk into a room and light it up Danielle wanted love it was the first boyfriend we had ever met they just seemed to click but after meeting on a dating app this coward took her life was this a murder waiting to happen I believe so tonight on 60 Minutes Ashley Gaddy was a serious domestic violence offender five women had taken out apprehended violence orders against him the shameful issue gripping Australia if he had been not out in Bale Danny would be alive today that's next on 60 Minutes Danielle Finlay Jones should be alive today during the week she should be teaching students at the school where she worked and on weekends she should be playing Sport and hanging out with her friends instead she's dead another victim of domestic violence her family though don't want their precious Danny to be a statistic they want the system that failed her to be fixed you see her murderer who she'd met looking for love on a dating app had a long history of violence against women but Dany didn't know about his past or that he was out on bail at the time and with no warning she stood no chance get a seat and watch their first game at home I hope they win it' be good yeah we'll be if they start sucking shush it's a gorgeous autumn day in southern Sydney where the Ramsgate Rams Women's Football Club are hoping for a win Jackie Finlay Jones and her son Blake have come to cheer the girls on yes ball go go so what better way than to come meet some new people um kick a ball around enjoy your weekends their girl Danny played for the club for 25 years and was team captain she had a smile she could walk into a room and light it up she was always willing to go out of way to help people she'd find friends she'd talk to anyone wherever she was she'd bring them into the group and she just had beautiful soul come on let's watch the Danny's presence is everywhere here in the black armbands warn by players and their passionate team chant daddy who are we daddy who are we dad all the [Music] way but their beloved Captain will never score another goal or fall in love or raise of family her absence keenly felt by all who loved her what's it like for now Jackie going back to watch the girls play um I found it very hard God yeah she's not there on the [ __ ] take your time okay um it was very hard watching them uh I went a few times but she's not there um yeah it was just difficult until now this family has been silenced by the court process tonight they can finally speak out about what really happened to their beautiful Danny and the shocking twist that makes their loss even harder to Bear she was such a light to a lot of people she could just walk in a room and it'd be automatically 10 times brighter she was just a Powerhouse of a person she was energy she was everything that you find good in a person Taylor Joseph and Danny Finlay Jones were inseparable the best friends regularly hung out here at Ramsgate [Music] RSL she was definitely a dancer especially after after a few drinks um her favorite song was Whitney Houston I want to dance with somebody sounds like she was the the life of the party yeah she was definitely a ball of energy but things changed just before Christmas 2022 when Dany met a new man on the dating app Bumble 33-year-old trady Ashley Gaddy where was she at in her life when she met Ashley Gaddy was she looking for fun or a partner at that point she was looking for a partner I think one of her big things was I'm 30 now my to my clock's ticking I you know want to have kids want to have this want to have that and this was a step for her the pair went on two dates and quickly became a couple on the morning of their third and final date Jackie briefly met Ashley Gaddy and what were your impressions of him when you met him that day I don't know he's a bit different I don't know I I don't know what I was looking for he seemed okay they just seemed to click he had I think told her everything she wanted to hear um he was only interested in a serious relationship he wanted to settle down he really wanted children what did she like about Ashley Getty probably that he was Dom dominant I think she met a challenge definitely I think she liked that it was something a bit exciting something a bit different to the people that she had previously been talking to just how different none of them could have imagined on December 17 Danny took Ashley along to an annual Christmas drinks get together with friends and was that a big deal for her to be introducing yes the new boyfriend it was the first boyfriend that we had ever met would I seeming having a good time together for majority she was like cuddled up next to him which to me was really lovely to see um she looked happy she seemed happy and like I wanted that for Danny but as the night progressed there was an argument over a drinking game which the group would later see as a red flag the question was have you ever had a one night stand she said said yes and he just said you never told me that you said that you didn't have a one night stand he sort of exited from the table and then was just messaging her about it saying comments like you [ __ ] lied and etc etc so he was sitting opposite her text messaging her yes so she just pulled him aside and they spoke for about 20 minutes a few more drinks in you could see them starting to get closer together so I imagine that it was all resolved at the end of the night they went back to Taylor's house to stay over it was the last time she would see her best friend alive did you see or hear anything unusual during the night and we went to bed I think it was about 1:30 1 130 um and then at some point of the night my partner had W woken me up and just said can you hear that and it did sound like sexual noises so I just sort of laughed it off and rolled over and went back to sleep by midaf afternoon the next day Danny and Ashley hadn't surfaced so Taylor went to check on them so I've opened the door walked in and she's on the other side of the bed covered with a blanket she was bleeding from her face um that was probably the only indication I needed to tell me that things were bad did you think straight away she's de yeah but I was just saying her name I that's all I could think at that point was just repeating her name in my head over and over again was there any doubt in your mind as to what it happened in that room I at first I didn't even think about it but then as soon as like I had a second I just started looking for him I started opening every other door in the house to sort of see what like what is going on I couldn't understand what was happening so her cause of death was one fors trauma manual strangulation and Suffocation with straddling as well I believe yeah from what they can tell he straddled her down yeah so sat on top of her um held her neck covered her mouth as he beat her to death so there was nothing there was nothing she could have done completely overpowered it's an unthinkable image a reality Danny's family has struggled to accept you just couldn't believe it no believe he could have done this to your Danny no no no I actually don't understand how anyone could do anything like that to anyone um he'd um certainly not held back on the uh damage he did to her um I've got to hope it was I don't know quick she felt no pain I guess we'll never know Ashley Gaddy was arrested and charged 2 days later after a standoff with police but as reality and grief set in there was another stunning blow in store for dany's family it turns out the man who killed her Was a Serial domestic violence offender you lost a child a sibling and then you learn that this wasn't the first woman he' heard M no the system had failed by letting him out in bail if he had been not out in Bale Danny would be alive today coming up we reveal why a man with a list of serious charges was free to hurt another woman it should be preventable we should be able to stop this happening oh it's lovely yes for Jackie and BL Finlay Jones this Memorial Garden is a quiet place to reflect and remember their daughter and sister Danny lots of Rosemary this beautiful tree the football's a nice touch oh it's look it's gorgeous and she would have been so happy with that yeah it's on the grounds of Bates Drive special school in Sydney South where 31-year-old Dany was a popular teacher in 2022 she was Str strangled to death by Ashley Gaddy a man she had met online on top of the trauma of losing a child and sibling within days of gadd's arrest Danny's Family discovered he had been harboring a Sinister secret Dany was not the first woman he'd harmed Ashley Gaddy had been before the courts before in fact he was a serious domestic violence offender five women had taken out apprehended violence orders against him in 2021 he was found guilty of assaulting an ex-girlfriend choking and stalking her but a magistrate decided Gaddy was a low risk of reoffending and sentenced him to community service the following year he was charged with assaulting another woman and just 6 months after that attack while he was out on he murdered Danny I mean Danny's not the only victim here right there was many other victims um and some of them did come forward to try and do something about him um so in that sense maybe the justice system did fa Danny but not just Danny but also the other victims as well and was this a murder waiting to happen I believe so Danny's best friend Taylor Joseph is furious that Gaddy wasn't behind IND bars considering his violent criminal past and she's adamant New South Wales bail laws aren't Tough Enough what are we ticking off to say yeah he's a low risk what are we looking at do we go through each single case that it has already come before him to say oh maybe there's something wrong here if there is why do they just get to go on bail why can't is there some sort of Reform program that they can be put into instead isn't there something else that can be done rather than just sending them back out to reent we have a real problem in this country we do I think it's getting a bit ridiculous now how many other people have to suffer before something happens it's a question New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb he's all the time how much of your resources do you devote to domestic violence general duty staff it's about 60% of their time minimum uh some places I go it's more than that 70 to 75% of their time between 60 and 75% is an extraordinary figure that highlights the extent of the crisis Karen web has spent nearly four decades in the police force working with victims of domestic and Family Violence as commissioner she's now the Forefront of what she describes as an epidemic how frustrating is it for you in cases where police do their job they arrest charge people with domestic violence offenses and then the courts let them out and they harm or kill someone it's heartbreaking every time uh we hear about a victim that has died is at the hands of um an offender uh it breaks all their hearts we put uh victims first and then we we hope to put perpetrators before the courts and the rest is up to the courts would you like to see the bail laws strengthened in this state for domestic violence well certainly even uh earlier today I was talking with um members of uh government about that and I I'm welcoming any changes or improvements that can be made Danny's Family know that if Ashley Gaddy hadn't been able to hide his prior offenses things would have been very different there's several things I think need to change um uh one of them would be the dating apps now so police checks need to start being brought in for that um and then both sides need to come to party so the police also need to make it more uh easily available for the apps be nice if you had five avos out against you for that to be flagged on absolutely absolutely would you support the introduction of police checks on dating apps so that if I'm matching with someone I can actually see if they've got previous convictions or avos against them well I don't think it applies just to dating apps it applies more broadly than that um it could be in any circumstance where a a person has concerns about the person that they're potentially dating or a family member may even have concerns if it's on the table for a national U Forum a national agenda then certainly I think could' be worth looking at through their grief Danny's Family were comforted by the promise of Ashley Gaddy facing Justice what were you hoping for from the court process what were you expecting either he would be found guilty of murder and or he would have plad guilty to murder and we would also hope that we would be able to say our peace in court uh through the victim impact statements but last month Ashley Gaddy decided to take the law into his own hands killing himself in a jail cell where he was awaiting trial it meant another call from police that Jackie will never forget he just said I got some bad news um just that Ashley gad's presumed dead I think I just crouched down and nearly screamed and said no do you think it's a cop out I think it is in a way I think it's really awful to take someone else out out and then take yourself out like you've got to face the consequences for what you've [Music] done but there is some relief too Ashley Gaddy can't hurt any more women and he no longer holds any power over Danny's family and friends little did we know less than a month later our lives would be torn apart with the tragic passing of my daughter Blake sister Judy DV they're now putting their energy into speaking out against domestic violence and remembering Danny domestic violence does not discriminate it does not care who you are to be able to be part of this walk is to show our solidarity to past victims and trying to keep our loved ones alive and safe do you think we have a cultural problem in this country I mean is it the way that we're raising our men or is it I'm seeing a growing disrespect towards women now in uh our culture uh definitely um one of the one of the big ones might be those um Alpha Man sort of um influences or podcasts that are online as well kind of uh normalizing a bit of disrespect towards women at the football club where Danny was team captain Jackie often takes red roses her daughter's favorite to sit on this special bench and chat about their girl she um absolutely adored Beauty and the Beast yeah um yeah and she had a tattoo she had the tattoo that said uh until the last pedal Falls yeah and that was to three roses on her arm so this is why I get these and the last pedal fell what do you miss the most Jackie you wait for the her to come home the keys to turn in the door um looking forward to what her what was coming for her future and then just the the chats we would we would have um it's all gone and you just have to move forward with her memory how do you do that just remembering all she did knowing um she's there and in a way watching us in a way hoping that it wasn't for nothing for nothing right hoping that there is something that that comes out of this where there is change where where less women are killed in the future like my sister was if this story has raised issues and you need to speak to someone there is help available call 1800 respect which is 1800 737 732 hello I'm Amelia Adams thanks for watching 60 Minutes Australia subscribe to our Channel now for brand new stories and exclusive Clips every week and don't miss out on our extra minute segments and full episodes of 60 Minutes on .com. and the N Now app

Channel: 60 Minutes Australia

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Keywords: 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes Australia, Liz Hayes, Tara Brown, 60Mins, Amelia Adams, news, world news, news australia, investigative journalism, 60 minutes australia youtube, 60 minutes youtube, 60 minutes episodes, 60 minutes australia episodes, 60 minutes australia, 60 minutes, Adam Hegarty, Dimity Clancey, Nick McKenzie, domestic violence, abuse, tinder, bumble, hinge, dating app, dating, online dating, relationships, domestic abuse, dv, crisis, murder, true crime

Id: aRtS9ZcS0Qg

Length: 21min 39sec (1299 seconds)

Published: Sun May 05 2024