Cranebrook, Ashley Gaddie: Man wanted for alleged murder of Dannielle Finlay-Jones faced five AVOs

A tattooed man wanted for the alleged murder of a teacher he met on a dating app had a series of restraining orders taken out against him by several women over the past five years. 

Police have launched a manhunt for Ashley Gaddie, 33, after his new date Dannielle Finlay-Jones, 31, was found dead with severe head injuries at a friend’s Cranebrook home in western Sydney on Sunday afternoon. 

Daily Mail Australia can reveal that Gaddie has been the subject of five apprehended violence orders, which had been taken out by police on behalf of five different women between 2017 to 2022. 

Before he disappeared, Gaddie was also currently under a court imposed supervision order for choking one of the woman on the NSW south coast in 2020, Milton Local Court records said.

He was convicted of assault, destroying or damaging property, stalking or intimidating and common assault December 2 last year and slapped with a two-year Community Corrections Order plus ordered to complete 200 hours of community service.  

It is understood Ms Finlay-Jones and Gaddie, who first connected online earlier this month, met at a pub in nearby Marsden Park on Saturday evening before returning to the Cranebrook home in the early hours of the morning.

Her body was found by distraught friends eight hours later.

Police have so far been unable to find Gaddie, with a picture released of the heavily tattooed suspect on Tuesday morning.

Gaddie is described as being of Caucasian appearance, about 180cm tall, of muscular build, with blue eyes and a bald head and tattoos covering both of his arms.

He is known to frequent Five Dock, Penrith and Mt Druitt.

Police believe Ms Finlay-Jones spent Saturday night with Gaddie at The Marsden Brewhouse, in Marsden Park, in Sydeny’s north-west, where she introduced him to her friends. 

During the early hours of Sunday, she is believed to have returned to the property with the man. 

Police believe she died between that time and the mid morning from a severe head injury.

She was later discovered by friends who went to check on when the pair were planning to wake up, about 2.30pm on Sunday.

According to social media, Ms Finlay-Jones was a support officer at the NSW Department of Education and was the Director of Female Football.

She was also a coordinator for Ramsgate RSL Football Club and spoke on behalf of the club in videos on their social media pages promoting women’s sports. 

A friend said Ms Finlay-Jones was an ‘incredible person inside and out’.

‘She is cherished by everyone who knew her and words cannot describe the shock that this has happened,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.

‘She did not deserve this and will be dearly missed.’

Gaddie is believed to have been working as a tradesmen. In October last year, he wrote in a mining Facebook group seeking employment in oil exploration. 

Records also show he previously operated a personal training business from 2012 to 2015. 

A long term resident of the apartment block in north-western Sydney where Gaddie lived until sometime over a month ago, said he had lived there for about six months with a blonde woman and another man.

‘I recognise him because of the tattoos,’ she said, ‘I didn’t have anything to do with him, just saw him come and go.’

The murder scene was sealed off from prying eyes by police who stood guard over the home on Tuesday. 

Neighbours revealed forensic experts had scoured the area in the hunt for clues on Monday, with the search including the neighbouring properties where vehicles were painstakingly checked for fingerprints.

A neighbour across the road from the grisly crime scene revealed the owner of the home had only recently moved in within the last few months but had been holding regular Saturday night parties with small groups of friends.

‘We often him saw holding parties with maybe two or three cars and about 10 people,’ said the neighbour who declined to give her name. 

‘They weren’t rowdy parties, just gatherings of friends but he seemed a quiet type whenever we said hi to him in the street.

‘We were at a family gathering at the weekend so we weren’t here when it happened but it has sent a chill through us. We’re going to get CCTV now, to at least watch over the front of the house.’

Detective are also believed to be looking through video footage from a nearby Shell service station at Cranebrook Crossroads to see if it picked up prime suspect Ashley Geddie on the night of the murder.

Homicide Squad detectives and forensics teams were seen scouring the home for evidence on Monday and taking evidence away in brown paper bags. 

A forensics team paid special attention to a ripped fly screen at the front of the home. 

One neighbour told Daily Mail Australia she was shocked by the incident as the area is typically quiet.

‘It’s devastating. Just really sad,’ she said.  

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