Margaret Ann Otto now eligible for parole after murder conviction thrown out by appeal court

A woman whose husband was killed by his close friend has had her lengthy jail sentence significantly slashed after her murder conviction was unanimously overturned on appeal. SEE NEW SENTENCE>>

Margaret Ann Otto was expected to languish in jail for another three to ten years, but a new sentence following her successful appeal means she is now eligible for parole.

Otto’s husband Dwayne “Doc” Davies was shot and killed in 2017 by his mate Bradley Scott Purkiss.

Purkiss murdered Mr Davies following a period of financial and emotional suffering for Otto.

She had a conversation with Purkiss in May 2017 and told him she had wished her husband was dead.

Purkiss, who is currently serving his murder sentence in Risdon Prison, invited Mr Davies to meet him later that day.

This was where Mr Davies met his death, with Purkiss telling Otto hours after the crime she was “free” of her husband.

Margaret Anne Otto has had her murder conviction overturned, and has been re-sentenced for the substituted conviction of accessory after the fact of the murder of Dwayne Davies. Picture: Supplied.

Otto had been sentenced for murder alongside Purkiss in October 2019 after the pair were both found guilty by jury verdict.

The woman has been serving 15 years at Mary Hutchinson Women’s Prison, with a non-parole period of seven-and-a-half years backdated to May 2017.

But on Thursday, the Supreme Court of Criminal Appeal in Hobart found Otto had only become aware of the murder after it was committed.

Justice Michael Brett, Acting Justice David Porter and Justice Gregory Geason overturned the murder conviction and substituted it to being guilty as an accessory after the fact of murder.

Otto reappeared at court on Friday to be re-sentenced.

Dwayne Davies, who was murdered on May 27, 2017. Picture: Supplied.

Justice Brett said Otto had committed acts which helped conceal the murder for days.

“It is clear that the appellant must have realised that Mr Purkiss had murdered Mr Davies relatively soon after he arrived at her house (that night),” Justice Brett said.

“Thereafter she lied to family members, a friend and the police.”

Justice Brett said Otto lied to her son, who although wasn’t Mr Davies’ biological son, had regarded him as a father since he was two.

Justice Brett said the “sustained and complex course of deception” delayed the police investigation, allowing time for Purkiss to dispose of the body and evidence.

He said Otto would have been motivated to hide the crimes to protect Purkiss and protect herself.

Lawyers of Margaret Otto, Greg Melick SC and Caroline Graves leave the Supreme Court of Tasmania in Hobart. Picture: Zak Simmonds

“She must have realised immediately or very soon after learning what he’d done that his motivation was at least in part to help her,” Justice Brett said.

Justice Brett considered the crime as a “relatively serious example” of accessory after the fact to murder.

“The appellant engaged in this conduct promptly and without any apparent hesitation,” he said.

Justice Brett said Otto’s eventual confessions and assistance with police in interviews mitigated the sentence.

The three Judges sentenced her to six years imprisonment, with a non-parole period of three years, backdated to May 2017.

Otto is now eligible to apply for parole, and the longest she can stay behind bars is until May 2023.

Her previous sentence could have seen her imprisoned until anywhere between November 2024 and May 2032.

Margaret Ann Otto’s murder conviction overturned

Thursday, December 16, 2021

A woman whose husband was killed by his close friend has had her murder sentence unanimously overturned on appeal.

Margaret Ann Otto appeared in the Supreme Court of Criminal Appeal on Thursday morning having been transported to Hobart from the Mary Hutchinson Women’s Prison.

Otto had appealed the conviction as well as the severity of the jail sentence of 15 years with seven years non-parole imposed on her in October 2019.

The court previously found her husband, tattoo artist Dwayne “Doc” Davies, had been murdered by Otto and the victim’s former friend, Bradley Scott Purkiss.

Margaret Anne Otto has had her murder conviction downgraded to accessory after the fact of murder in the case of the death of her former husband Dwayne Davies. Picture: Supplied.

Otto and Purkiss had been found guilty by jury.

Purkiss was found to have shot Mr Davies and dumped his body on a remote property in May, 2017.

Otto was found to have colluded with Purkiss, saying to him she would be better off if her Risdon Vale husband was dead.

But during the appeal process, Otto’s defence counsel claimed there was no hard evidence that she was guilty of murder.

“Even if Ms Otto says ‘I wish my husband were dead’ … she’s still not guilty of murder,” her defence counsel said at an earlier court appearance during the appeal.

The ground of the appeal was that the jury’s verdict was “unsafe and unsatisfactory”.

Justice David Porter granted leave to allow Otto’s appeal.

“I would set aside the verdict of guilty of murder and substitute the verdict of being an accessory after the fact of murder,” he said.

Justice Michael Brett and Justice Gregory Geason agreed with the decision.

Dwayne Davies, who was murdered on May 27, 2017. Picture: Supplied.

Another appeal from the Director of Public Prosecutions argued Otto’s murder sentence should have been longer. This appeal was dismissed by Justices Brett, Porter and Geason.

According to the written court judgment, Justice Porter said it was improbable that Otto could have planned the “complex” murder during the phone calls she had made from her workplace with Purkiss the day of the murder.

The Justice further added it was unlikely the woman would have chosen to murder her husband the day before their grandson’s first birthday – an event which both Purkiss and Mr Davies were expected to attend.

“It is not inconceivable that she felt some relief at Mr Davies’ death and was guilt ridden over that emotion,” Justice Porter said.

“I have reached the view that although there was evidence upon which the jury could convict, there being a rational inference consistent with guilt, it was not the only rational inference to be drawn from the whole of the circumstances.

“The jury ought to have acquitted the appellant of murder.”

Justice Brett made orders to re-sentence the woman on Friday morning.

Originally published as Margaret Ann Otto now eligible for parole after murder conviction thrown out by appeal court