Dana Sue Gray

Case overview

Dana Sue Gray (born December 6, 1957) was an American serial killer who murdered three elderly women in 1994. She was caught after her fourth victim survived and identified her. Gray said she committed these murders to support her spending habits. She was imprisoned in the California Women's Prison in Chowchilla.

Timeline

• February 14, 1994 — Dana murdered Norma Davis.
• February 16, 1994 — Norma Davis had been dead for two days when she was found by her neighbor, Alice Williams.
• February 28, 1994 — Dana killed June Roberts.
• March 10, 1994 — Investigators considered the murders might be linked to the attack on Dorinda Hawkins.
• March 16, 1994 — Dana killed Dora Beebe.
• March 16, 1994 — Officers staked out the mobile home on Mission Trail in Wildomar, where Dana resided with her boyfriend, and arrested her after a warrant was approved.
• March 21 — An arraignment was scheduled but was postponed.
• April 8, 1994 — Gray pled innocent to the charges.
• March 10, 1995 — Dana entered an insanity plea in the Superior Court of Riverside, California.
• September 9, 1998 — Dana changed her plea and pled guilty to robbing and murdering two women and attempting to murder another.
• July 23 — A hearing occurred where Deputy DA Richard Bentley requested the death penalty.
• October 16, 1998 — Dana was sentenced to life without parole and incarcerated in the California Women's Prison in Chowchilla.

Background

Dana Sue Gray was born Dana Sue Armbrust on December 6, 1957, in southern California to Beverly (née Arnett) and Russell Armbrust. Russell worked as a hair dresser and had three previous marriages before marrying Beverly, who was a former beauty queen. They had several miscarriages before she was born.

Beverly was an aggressive, vain woman who frequently maxed out her husband’s credit cards. They divorced when Russell found Beverly grappling with an older woman who had angered her. Dana was two years old at the time. After that, Dana rarely saw her father. She began acting out to get attention. When Beverly disciplined Dana, Dana retaliated by stealing money to buy candy and would occasionally fly into fits of violence.

In school, Dana did not get along well with other students and did poorly in all her classes. She was suspended many times for forging notes to get out of class. When Dana was 14, her mother developed breast cancer. Dana decided to become a nurse after watching hospital nurses treat her mother. After her mother’s death, Dana moved in with her father but was forced to leave after her stepmother found drugs in her room.

Dana later became involved with a skydiving instructor, who got her pregnant twice. He convinced her to abort both pregnancies, which she resented.

Dana graduated from Newport Harbor High School in 1976. She lived with her sky-diving instructor, Rob, for the next several years and he helped her with nursing school. She became an expert skydiver.

In 1981, Dana graduated from nursing school. She had an on-again, off-again relationship with Chris Dodson, a windsurfer. Dana excelled in windsurfing and golf, and they took trips to Hawaii to participate in these activities.

In October 1987, Dana married William (Bill) L Gray at an upscale winery in the Temecula area. He was a fellow sports enthusiast who had known and admired her since high school. The marriage got into trouble when Dana dug them deeply into debt. At this point she was also estranged from her two half-brothers in a dispute over an aunt’s will.

Dana worked as a labor and delivery nurse at Inland Valley Regional Medical Center. She and William lived in the gated community of Canyon Lake. They had several business ventures under the name Graymatter.

Dana left her husband in early 1993 and moved in with their friend and her lover, Jim Wilkins, and his young son Jason. In June 1993, she filed for divorce from William Gray; it was not finalized until after Dana had been in jail for quite some time. In September 1993, Dana and William filed for bankruptcy to stave off foreclosure on their Canyon Lake house. Although the value of the house had increased since they purchased it, they owed much more on it than it was worth.

On November 24, 1993, Dana was fired from the hospital where she worked for misappropriating Demerol and other opiate painkillers. Before the killings, she was also involved with alcohol and stopped taking her medication as described in connection with the insanity plea.

The offence

Dana murdered elderly women in 1994 and also attacked a fourth victim, Dorinda Hawkins, who survived.

Victim: Norma Davis

Norma Davis was 86 years old. She was thought to be Dana’s first victim, though Dana was never convicted of killing her. Norma was the mother-in-law of Jeri Davis, who married Dana’s father in 1988. Jeri’s first husband, Bill Davis, was Norma’s son and died in the early 1980s. Jeri eventually married Russell Armbrust.

On February 16, 1994, Norma Davis had been dead for two days when she was found by her neighbor, Alice Williams. A wood handled utility knife was sticking out of Norma’s neck and a fillet knife was sticking out of her chest. Other than a broken fingernail, she had no other marks. A bloodied afghan lay at her feet.

Detectives learned there was no forced entry into the house. Norma always kept her door locked unless she was expecting a visitor. Alice Williams stated she could not remember Norma mentioning she was expecting company. Detectives found a Nike shoe print pointed toward the kitchen. They also found Norma Davis’s $148 Social Security check. On the first floor of Norma’s condo, a smear of blood was found on an armchair. Detectives also found a ripped out phone cord.

Dana had taken out an insurance policy on William Gray, which would have paid off the Canyon Lake house in the event of Gray’s death.

Victim: June Roberts

June Roberts was 66 years old and lived in Canyon Lake. On February 28, 1994, Dana visited Roberts claiming she wanted to borrow a book about controlling a drinking problem. Roberts let Dana into her house. While Roberts searched for the book, Dana unplugged Roberts’s phone, including the straight cord and the curly cord. Dana then used the curly cord to strangle Roberts. After Roberts was dead, Dana rifled through her credit cards, stealing two.

After that, Dana went on a massive shopping spree at an upscale shopping center in Temecula.

Gray attacked Dorinda Hawkins at her job at an antique store. Gray came in to buy a picture frame for a photo of her deceased mother. Gray strangled Hawkins with a telephone cord. Gray took $5 from Hawkins’s purse and $20 from the cash register.

Hawkins survived and gave detectives a description of Gray. The next day the story was in the newspaper.

Victim: Dorinda Hawkins (survived)

Dorinda Hawkins was 57 years old. She worked at an antique store. During the attack, Dana strangled her with a telephone cord and took money from her purse and the cash register. Hawkins survived, gave a description of Gray, and later positively identified Gray through a photo line-up.

In additional details of Hawkins’s account, Hawkins described an attack in which she was choked with a knotted yellow nylon rope. Hawkins said the attacker had her eyes described as “penetrating, cold-blooded steel.” Hawkins struggled and asked what she was doing, and she described her attacker urging her to “Relax. Just relax.” Hawkins later stated the attacker was “not there to rob the store” and that the attacker “did not elaborate on her specific purpose.” Hawkins said she was alive after being treated in a hospital, and she survived an attack she understood was intended to be fatal. Hawkins reported missing petty cash and money taken from her purse, and that the rope used to choke her was taken from the scene.

After being treated, Hawkins gave police a description of her attacker and a composite sketch. Hawkins said: “I don’t think she was that much stronger than me,” and that “she had done this before.” Hawkins also said: “She came here to kill somebody. I have no doubt in my mind that she left me for dead.” Hawkins further said: “I could tell she had killed before.”

Victim: Dora Beebe

On March 16, 1994, Dana killed Dora Beebe, who was 87 years old. A few minutes after Beebe came home from a doctor’s appointment, Dana pulled up in front of Beebe’s house. Dana knocked on Beebe’s door and asked for directions. Beebe invited Dana inside to look at a map. Once inside, Dana attacked and killed Beebe. Beebe was found later that day by her boyfriend of eight years, Louis Dormand.

After Beebe was dead, Dana used Beebe’s credit card to go on a shopping spree.

Additional details describe Beebe’s death on March 16: Dora’s blood-covered, battered body was found on a bathroom floor with a telephone found beneath her. Detectives determined from blood patterns that Beebe had been hit while in several positions, including when she was on the floor. She had received five separate blows from an iron.

Investigation

Detectives experienced problems finding suspects early. At one point, a supervisor recommended using a psychic because it was so hard to find a lead.

Lead generated from credit card use and survivor identification

Dana was caught after a bank clerk notified June Roberts’s relatives that her credit cards had been used after her death. The relatives told police.

Detectives visited merchants where Dana used June Roberts’s credit cards and interviewed cashiers to obtain a physical description of Dana. They also learned the killer had dyed her hair recently and had a little boy named Jason.

Detectives issued a description based on the attack on Dorinda Hawkins. After Hawkins was attacked, police circulated an artist’s sketch depicting an attractive woman with wavy, shoulder-length blonde hair. Hawkins later identified Dana in a photo line-up.

Dana’s home search revealed information belonging to Roberts, Beebe, and a surprise third victim, Dorinda Hawkins, who survived her attack and later positively identified Gray through a photo line-up.

Officer and roles

Detective Joseph Greco of the Perris Police Department led the murder investigations of Norma Davis and June Roberts. Greco graduated from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Academy as a pre-service student and ranked among the top ten (#7) of his graduating class. He was hired out of the academy by the Perris Police Department in 1988. Greco received numerous awards including the Medal of Valor for running into a burning plane to save victims of an accident at Perris Valley Airport on April 22, 1992. He was promoted to the rank of Corporal in 1992 and was assigned as an investigator working all major crimes against persons.

Greco suspected the Roberts and Davis case were connected and identified Dana Sue Gray as a potential suspect. Greco wrote a search warrant for Gray’s residence in Lake Elsinore, California. On the day she was out killing her last victim, Dora Beebe, Greco arrested Dana at her front porch and took her into custody for the murder of June Roberts.

The search of Gray’s home revealed vital information belonging not only to Roberts, but also to Beebe and Dorinda Hawkins.

Detective Chris Antoniadas was the lead detective on the Dora Beebe case. Antoniadas interviewed Gray after Greco finished interviewing her. Antoniadas attempted to obtain a confession after Greco’s interview but was unsuccessful.

Potential suspect: Jeri Armbrust

In the Norma Davis case, detectives suspected Jeri Armbrust might be the killer because she had been married to Davis’s son and continued to care for Norma Davis after her son died. When Jeri remarried, it was to Russell Armbrust, Dana’s father, creating the connection to Norma Davis.

Detectives found it strange that Jeri Armbrust took care of someone who was not a blood relative and wore Nikes. Detectives speculated she had been in Davis’s house the Sunday before the murder. Jeri claimed she only stopped by Davis’s house to drop off groceries, heard Davis’s TV on upstairs, but did not go up to say hello.

After weeks of talking with Armbrust and building rapport, Detective Greco realized she was not the person they were looking for. Greco and Jeri Armbrust became friends and helped each other during the investigation, which was described as pivotal in solving the case.

Arrest and custody

Greco wrote a search warrant for Dana Sue Gray’s residence in Lake Elsinore, California. Greco arrested Dana at her front porch and took her into custody for the murder of June Roberts while she was out killing her last victim, Dora Beebe.

During interrogation, Dana claimed she never took credit cards. When confronted with evidence, Dana said she found both Roberts’s and Beebe’s cards. Dana claimed she kept the cards because she had an overwhelming need to shop. Dana appeared to have no sympathy for the victims.

Dana was booked and detained without bail in the Riverside County Jail. A press conference was held to announce her arrest and alleged involvement.

Detectives described that her arrest came after her description was obtained from various merchants in the Temecula area where she had used June Roberts’s credit cards. In one account, detectives followed Dana’s use of the cards after a police task force watched her unloading shopping bags from the trunk of her Cadillac.

Trial and pleas

Gray initially pleaded insanity on all counts and entered an insanity plea in the Superior Court of Riverside, California on March 10, 1995. During this stage, she was described as having abused alcohol and stopped taking medication before the crime spree.

At a hearing on July 23, Deputy DA Richard Bentley requested the death penalty, including request for a gas chamber sentence if convicted. Gray pleaded guilty to robbing and murdering two women and attempting to murder another on September 9, 1998, before Judge Patrick F. Magers, and dropped all pretense to insanity.

Gray’s plea involved a condition that the State would not prosecute her for the murder of Norma Davis. By accepting a life sentence for murder, she avoided the death sentence and waived all appellate rights.

Sentencing

On October 16, 1998, Dana Sue Gray was sentenced to life without parole and was incarcerated in the California Women’s Prison in Chowchilla.

Dana addressed the court for the first time at sentencing and said: “My life and my career have been focused on healing. It has strayed so far from that goal it was so out of character. I'm sorry and I know that these words will never be enough. I will live with this the rest of my life.” She expressed regret to the judge and said she accepted responsibility, despite believing her judgment had been clouded at the time of the offenses. She also repeated her belief that her acts could be attributed to a doctor’s failure to monitor her medication.

Judge Magers said: “It's hard to find words to describe the atrocity in this case,” and: “The crime were horrendous, callous, and despicable.”

After the sentencing, Deputy DA Richard Bentley said: “I felt a lack of sincerity on her part.”

Dorinda Hawkins told reporters: “A medical doctor I went to said, 'God let you live to identify her.' I'm sure that's why I survived it.”

Other details

William (Bill) L Gray and family

Dana married William (Bill) L Gray in 1987. She left him in early 1993. In June 1993, she filed for divorce, and it was not finalized until after she had been in jail for some time. In September 1993, Dana and William filed for bankruptcy to stave off foreclosure.

Dana’s father was Russell Armbrust, and her mother was Beverly (née Arnett). Her stepmother was described as finding drugs in Dana’s room, and Russell worked as a hairdresser and had three previous marriages.

Job and medication

Dana worked at Inland Valley Regional Medical Center and was fired on November 24, 1993, for misappropriating Demerol and other opiate painkillers.

Before the murders, the materials described that she was prescribed antidepressants after expressing suicidal thoughts and that she stopped taking her medication leading up to the crime spree.

Items found at her home and during arrest

In her home at the time of arrest, detectives found jewelry, food, liquor, a ski mask, a purse with nearly $2,000 stuck in the washing machine, and many items of clothing purchased with the dead women’s credit cards. Dana possessed June Roberts’s bank book, using it to withdraw about $2,000, and she had a key to Roberts’s mobile home.

A set of keys found in Gray’s home matched those taken from the antiques store where Dorinda Hawkins was attacked. At a bank’s drive-in window, Dana tried to withdraw another $2,000 from Beebe’s account about two hours after an earlier withdrawal, but bank officials refused to allow it.

When Dana was arrested, police found Beebe’s credit cards in her lingerie drawer; a closetful of new clothes with tags still attached; boxes of Nike Air athletic shoes; a purple boogie board; a $1,000 Trek mountain bike; and unopened bottles of Opium perfume.