The horrific crimes police continue to probe into 2019
Sarah Gatt was brutally murdered before her body was found in the bathtub of a Kensington house, while Comanchero Robert Ale was shot nine times at a Hampton Park tattoo parlour. Detectives are still hunting those responsible. And then there’s Jonathan Dick.
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They are crimes of horrific violence and, as we tick towards a new year, detectives are still hunting those responsible.
It is known that Jonathan Dick — already a fugitive wanted over the murder of his brother — is suspected of bashing an old mate at Keilor in August.
Dick remains at large, despite an avalanche of publicity. So, too, do those who shot Comanchero bikie Robert Ale at a Hampton Park tattoo parlour and those who brutally murdered Sarah Gatt before her body was found in the bathtub of a Kensington house in January. She is believed to have been killed the previous April.
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JONATHAN DICK
Police had been fruitlessly hunting Jonathan Dick over the horrific sword slaying of his brother David for 18 months when he finally broke cover to strike again.
Dick resurfaced in Keilor on August 23, attacking a former friend with a hammer, and was seen nearby on a bike.
But then, just as before, he melted away into the metropolis without a trace.
Investigators have stepped up the search for him: in October, they even announced the offer of a $100,000 reward for information leading to his capture. But all to no avail.
“The traditional methods of finding people — things like banks, phones, vehicles and family and friends — they don’t seem to be able to assist us with this guy,” the homicide squad’s Detective Senior Sergeant Julian Horan told the Herald Sun in October.
“He is very elusive. People we have spoken to say that … there would often be occasions where he would drop off the grid. He would do strange things, like go for a walk and not come back. For several days, if not weeks, he would disappear from work.
“This is not a usual person that follows usual norms of everyday society.
“He has shown an ability to live off the grid — to be elusive, and not leave any signs of his existence.”
David Dick was murdered with a sword in a Doncaster shopping centre on February 3, 2017. The crime was captured on CCTV, and prompted a manhunt for his brother.
Initially, detectives searching for Dick wondered whether he was even still alive, as checks of his bank and phone records turned up no trace of activity. They also wondered whether he had fled interstate.
But the trail remained cold — until the hammer attack this August, in which the victim suffered cuts to the head.
Police now suspect Dick is still likely to be living in Melbourne in plain sight, perhaps in a hostel or boarding house, and that somebody might unwittingly be helping him to evade justice.
They think the skilled plasterer might also have been using his trade to pick up cash-in-hand work.
Police hope that if he wears shorts this summer, people may notice distinctive tattoos of Wolverine v Sabretooth on his right thigh and one of the Incredible Hulk believed to be on his left lower leg.
Of Dick’s elusiveness, Det. Sen-Sgt Horan said: “It’s extraordinary, really. He is someone who has in the past shown he can do significant planning. His family and friends say when he puts his mind to something, he is a very deep thinker and planner.
“We are not sure whether he has put aside money … so that he could sustain himself.
“He has been very successful in avoiding those key things we look for to track … whereabouts,” he said.
“He seems to have sustained his weight. He is wearing clean clothing, which would indicate to us he has access to a steady food supply, potentially got access to washing facilities, and is likely to have access to shelter.
“We have got no evidence indicating that someone is harbouring him knowing what he is alleged to have done. It is quite likely someone is out there assisting him, not fully aware of who he is — unwittingly helping him with food, shelter, washing … assist(ing) him at a food van or a food kitchen … assisting him at a hostel or boarding house.”
Police are appealing to Dick to surrender, and urge anyone who sees him not to approach but to call triple-0.
He is described as fair, of medium build, 183cm tall, with brown eyes and brown hair.
ROBERT ALE
It is little short of astounding that Comanchero bikie Robert Ale is not the subject of a homicide squad investigation.
Ale, once regarded as the right-hand man of gang boss Mick Murray, was the target of an attempted hit in February.
Ale, who was free on $400,000 bail over 30 charges, clearly did not feel under threat as he relaxed at the Nitro Ink tattoo studio in Fordholm Rd, Hampton Park — a business that had previously been linked to Murray.
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But that all changed in an instant, when two masked men burst in.
Disregarding eyewitnesses, they shot Ale nine times; one bullet hit him in the head. Luckily, the flying lead did not strike anyone else.
Ale survived, but seven operations were required to patch him up.
CCTV images later released by Echo taskforce investigators showed a stolen silver Audi pull up outside the tattoo parlour. The driver stays at the wheel, and two hooded men get out and storm inside, as bystanders bolt.
Seconds later, the shooters emerge and jump back in the Audi and speed off.
The car was found incinerated in nearby Robjant St.
There are a number of theories as to why Ale might have been the target of a hit.
One is that there are powerful figures worried about what he knows of their criminal activities.
Another is that it was a strike directed against Murray, who was then in jail.
The attempted hit came during a period of major turbulence within the feared outlaw motorcycle gang, and police believe the shooting was motivated by those problems within the gang.
SARAH GATT
The disturbing murder of Sarah Gatt, whose decomposing remains were found in a bathtub nine months after she was killed, remains unsolved.
Forensic testing concluded the Kensington mother, 40, suffered a violent prolonged death some time between April 20 and 24, 2017.
But her body was not found until January 3 this year, leading police to believe her killer took deliberate steps to conceal her body and trick people into thinking she was alive.
SARAH GATT KILLER CONCEALED MURDER FOR 9 MONTHS
In April, homicide squad detectives questioned three men and two women, but all were freed without charge.
Police said they suspected just one person was responsible and that Ms Gatt knew her killer, as there were no signs of forced entry to the public housing property in Lambeth St where she was found.
Ms Gatt’s father, Victor, said he had lost contact with his daughter about 18 months before her decaying body was found. She had begun taking drugs in her mid-teens, and efforts to help her had failed.
“No one deserves to die like that,” stepmother Cheryl Gatt said.
Anyone with any other information is urged to contact police via Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at crimestoppersvic.com.au