David James Gates

Case overview

David James Gates was charged in connection with the murder of Gavin Edward Dash and with burglary offences relating to Dash’s flat. The jury returned a verdict on September 3, 2001.

Gavin Edward Dash, aged 24, later was found dead as a result of dismemberment. His decaying and dismembered body was found in two separate graves in the Makara Hills, Wellington, nine months after his disappearance.

Timeline

• 27 September 1999 — Gavin Dash visited the Wellington Law Library opposite Parliament buildings and, at 6.31pm, the computer network recorded him logging on to check his emails; he then went to his previous flat in Karori to pick up mail.
• 27 September 1999 — At 7.30pm, Gavin Dash failed to keep an appointment with his former landlord to get his bond back.
• 24 July 1999 — Gavin left without notice to the landlord and without saying goodbye to David Gates.
• May — Patterson rang the police at 2am and reported that David Gates had threatened her; Gates told her that after putting $500 into a bank account to take care of bills, he would do away with her and Gavin.
• 9 months later — Gavin Edward Dash’s decaying and dismembered body was found in two separate graves in the Makara Hills, Wellington.
• 18 investigators allocated — The investigation was beefed-up after police spoke to Gates on two separate occasions in February and March 2000.
• April 2000 — Police seized David Gates Bedford van and his Ford Laser.
• June 2000 — Police charged David Gates with the murder of missing student Gavin Dash; Gates was also charged with the burglary of Dash’s flat.
• August 2001 — Gates was held in hospital up to his trial date; on 6 August he admitted the murder and the burglary but pleaded not guilty on the grounds that he was legally insane at the time.
• September 3, 2001 — After 8 hours of deliberation, the jury returned verdicts: Gates was found not guilty of the murder due to insanity; the jury found him guilty of the burglary of Gavin Dash’s flat.

Background

Gavin Dash was described as a good-natured, reliable young man who seemed to vanish without a trace, prompting police to upgrade the “missing person” investigation to include the possibility of foul play by persons as yet unidentified. He was considered a high-achiever with a very successful life ahead of him. He had gained a Master of Arts degree (MA) with honours from Auckland University and had come to Wellington to pursue a law degree from Victoria University. Working part time for Parliament writing select committee notes, his passions included chess, toastmasters’ and table tennis. His family and friends considered him a stable and likeable young man.

David Gates responded to an ad in the paper for a flatmate about seven months earlier. He visited the flat in Wavell St, Karori, met the other housemates including Gavin Dash and a young girl with learning difficulties named Patterson, and convinced them that he would be the ideal flatmate. David moved into the flat.

Cracks appeared in the flatting harmony. Gavin would send emails to his mother in Auckland full of frustration about David Gates. In one email, Gavin described David as “one of the most moody, immature and self-absorbed people I have met. We don’t get along at all”. The situation became increasingly volatile until Patterson rang the police at 2am in May to report that David Gates had threatened her. Gates told Patterson that after putting $500 into a bank account to take care of bills, he would do away with her and Gavin.

Patterson moved out soon afterward. Gavin found himself alone with David. David became increasingly unstable. When Gavin would walk away from arguments or ignore him completely, David became infuriated. He referred to Gavin as the “evil fornicator” and was obsessed by the belief that he masturbated incessantly in his room.

As the hostility reached fever pitch, Gavin left on July 24 without notice to the landlord and without saying goodbye to David Gates. Even though Gavin left no forwarding address, David located his number at his new flat. David made nine calls from his parents’ phone to Gavin’s new flat in Pembroke Road, Northland, including three calls the day before Gavin Dash disappeared.

The offence

Confrontation and killing

On Monday 27 September 1999, Gavin Dash attended a lecture, checked his emails on the law faculty at Victoria University, and then set off to get some mail from the previous flat. He arrived around 5.30pm at the Wavell St flat where David Gates now lived alone. David and Gavin had another confrontation. David punched Gavin and knocked him to the ground. David continued to kick Gavin in the head, sending spots of blood behind the door. David Gates then manually strangled the life out of Gavin Dash.

After his last breath, Gates removed Gavin’s upper clothing. He wrapped Gavin’s head in a cut up grey blanket, stuffed Gavin’s body headfirst into a sleeping bag, and zipped it up. Gates left the body in a spare bedroom. Several days later, Gates placed it in his Bedford van and drove it to a nearby summit of Makara Hill. Gates dragged the body 400m along a path and 22m off the walking track and into heavy bush, then dumped it and returned to his van.

Disposal and concealment

Gavin’s flatmates began to worry the day after his disappearance because they hadn’t seen him the previous evening and his bed had not been slept in. They also noted the sudden disappearance of most of Gavin’s belongings a couple of days later. The police were convinced at this time that they were dealing with a missing persons report.

The Dash family were not satisfied with the missing persons theory. They hired a private investigator and travelled to Wellington to conduct their own investigation. The family had no belief that Gavin may have committed suicide; Gavin had sent an upbeat email to his sister who was soon to return to New Zealand from Australia a couple of days before his disappearance, requesting a wombat as a gift.

David Gates removed two pieces of bloodstained carpet in the flat and disposed of them in such a manner that they still had not been recovered. At least one month after Gates dragged the body to its resting place, Gates returned to Gavin’s decomposing body with scissors, a sharp axe, and Wellington City Council rubbish bags. Gates cut the sleeping bag off, exposed Gavin’s neck, and used the axe to remove the head. Gates placed the head still wrapped in the grey blanket into one of the rubbish bags and stuffed it in the hollow of an upturned tree. Gates stripped the rest of the body and removed all identifying items, including glasses, watch and wallet. All items were double bagged and placed in the hollow of the tree.

Visiting an acquaintance in Plimmerton, David Gates went through Gavin’s property, cutting most of it into bits. He put some pieces outside for rubbish collection that day and placed Gavin’s license in the vacuum cleaner bag. Leaving Gavin’s suitcase behind the couch, Gates returned to the Wavell St flat until Patterson asked him to leave so it could be readied for sale.

Before long, the graves containing Gavin Dash’s body parts were located in the Makara Hills, Wellington.

Investigation and arrest-related events

Gavin’s family’s private investigation proceeded while the police continued under a missing persons approach. The police did not become interested in Gates until December 1999.

After his departure from the Wavell St flat, Gates had stayed in Rowena’s Lodge in Mt Victoria, travelled south, stopped in Dunedin and Queenstown, and was in Nelson by Christmas. He returned to Wellington in January to re-enlist in the Territorial Army and passed all the tests with extremely high marks.

In the aftermath of being re-involved with the case scene, Gates took a yellow spade from his mother’s house, buried the remains, and then hid the spade behind his parents’ woodpile.

In February and March 2000, the police spoke to Gates on two separate occasions and the investigation was beefed-up. Eighteen investigators were allocated to the case. Gates denied any involvement in the killing, but errors made in statements to police started to gather against him. Gates’s blood had been found in Dash’s new room on the curtains and wardrobe, and Gates had sold or given away some of Gavin’s belongings to family and friends.

By April 2000, police seized David Gates Bedford van and his Ford Laser.

After talking to the police Gates was committed in accordance with the Mental Health Act.

Trial

Gates was held in hospital right up to his trial date in August 2001. On 6 August David Gates admitted to the murder and the burglary but pleaded not guilty on the grounds that he was legally insane at the time.

Many people appeared as witnesses for the defence, including Gates family.

David’s father John Gates, 61, said his son attacked him for his Freemasonry, stating it had harmed the family's spirituality, and called his father a sidekick of the devil. John Gates said he considered having David committed in 1999, just before he answered the “flatmate wanted” ad, but was worried that the focus of David’s anger would change to his mother and sister.

John Gates also revealed that after his son had been committed and charged with Dash’s murder, David had rung and told him that he had killed Gavin Dash because he was evil and may hurt his new flatmates.

Psychiatrists from both sides agreed that David Gates had schizophrenia, which had developed over several years. It was described that as more people spoke about Gates, it became clearer that he was not functioning in a normal manner.

When Gates’s mother and brother Stuart spoke, they mentioned that David Gates had lived with Mark Middleton, the stepfather of murdered schoolgirl Karla Cardno. Gates’s mother and brother said Middleton had been a bad influence on David and introduced him to smoking, religious, and racist ideas. David Gates had also suffered delusion, including one where he was a prophet and another that his father and siblings were having incestuous relationships.

Sentencing

The jury returned verdicts on September 3, 2001 after 8 hours of deliberation. David Gates was found not guilty of the murder of Gavin Dash due to insanity. Of the burglary of Gavin Dash’s flat, the jury found him guilty.

Outcome

• Gates was found not guilty of the murder of Gavin Dash due to insanity on September 3, 2001.
• The jury found Gates guilty of the burglary of Gavin Dash’s flat.

Other details

Gavin Dash’s body was described as found in two separate graves in the Makara Hills, Wellington.

Gavin Dash’s belongings disappearance and the early police belief that it was a missing persons report occurred after his disappearance.

Gates had stayed in Rowena’s Lodge in Mt Victoria and travelled south to Dunedin and Queenstown, arriving in Nelson by Christmas before returning to Wellington in January to re-enlist in the Territorial Army.

Patterson’s report to police in May was made at 2am and followed Gates’s threat to “do away with” her and Gavin after putting $500 into a bank account to take care of bills.

Gavin Dash requested a wombat as a gift in an upbeat email to his sister sent a couple of days before his disappearance.