Margaret Anne Otto and Bradley Scott Purkiss sentenced over murder of Dwayne ‘Doc’ Davies

UPDATED: There were a number of motives behind the killing of tattoo artist Dwayne “Doc” Davies, a judge has said, as he handed down sentences to Mr Davies’ wife and best mate for the murder.

RISDON Vale tattoo artist Dwayne “Doc” Davies was murdered by his wife and his best mate because of grievances about his behaviour and his wife’s desire to be free of him, a Supreme Court judge has found.

Chief Justice Alan Blow today sentenced Bradley Scott Purkiss, 43, of Elderslie, to 24 years jail, and Margaret Anne Otto, 47, of Risdon Vale, to 15 years jail for murdering Mr Davies on May 26, 2017.

Chief Justice Blow said Purkiss and Otto planned the murder together and Purkiss shot Mr Davies and dumped his body on a remote property. He said there were a number of motives for the murder.

WIFE MAKING BIRTHDAY CAKE WHILE PLOTTING MURDER

“It is clear that Ms Otto had a very difficult relationship with her husband … It seems she reasoned that if he was killed, she would be free of him, and he would never trouble her again.”

Margaret Anne Otto has been sentenced to 15 years in jail.

Chief Justice Blow said it appeared that Mr Davies was financially and emotionally very dependent upon Otto and that “she was frightened as to how he would behave, towards her and others, if she ended their relationship”.

He said Purkiss was Mr Davies’ “best mate”, but was also close to Otto.

“[Purkiss] understood that her relationship with Mr Davies was an extremely difficult one, and wished to free her from that relationship.”

Chief Justice Blow said Purkiss also felt Mr Davies had been using him by smoking “substantial quantities” of his cannabis without paying for it, and was annoyed at Mr Davies for a debt that had been outstanding “for a long time”.

Bradley Scott Purkiss will spend at least 14 years behind bars after being handed a 24-year sentence.

He said it seemed Mr Davies was “an unstable and demanding individual”, and some of the evidence during the trial had cast Mr Davies “in a very bad light”.

But he said when determining the appropriate sentences for the crime of murder, a victim’s qualities or shortcomings were not of great significance.

“By contrast, the fact of the taking of a human life has enormous significance,” he said.

Mr Davies’ father Glen Davies and sister Kelly Goss spoke positively of Mr Davies in their victim impact statements to the court.

Chief Justice Blow said Mr Davies’ parents had lost their son Corey to a heart condition at age 45, six months before Mr Davies was murdered.

“The outrageous killing of another son has had a terrible impact on his parents. They had very high opinions of both Mr Davies and Ms Otto.

“Their lives will never be the same. Other members of the family are also feeling devastated and destroyed.”

Dwayne Davies’ sister Kelly Goss, left, father Glen Davies and step-mother Karen Davies speak outside the Supreme Court in Hobart after the sentencing. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

Chief Justice Blow said the crime was aggravated by the intentional and planned nature of the killing, the betrayal it involved, Purkiss’ treatment of Mr Davies’ body, the lies told by both Purkiss and Otto to conceal their guilt, and one of Purkiss’ motives being related to his unlawful selling of cannabis to Mr Davies.

“The killing was planned for at least about eight hours before the firing of the fatal shot,” Chief Justice Blow said.

“During that time Mr Purkiss could have changed his mind, and Ms Otto could have intervened to save her husband’s life.”

He said while Otto was guilty of murder as instigator, she did not pull the trigger or bury the body.

“She made some limited admissions to the police, did not have a motive related to the sale of illicit drugs, and has no prior convictions.”

Chief Justice Blow said Purkiss had prior convictions but none for crimes of violence. His most serious convictions were for dishonesty and firearms matters.

Chief Justice Blow said he was unable to find any Tasmanian murder cases involving the sentencing of an instigator.

He said Purkiss had been working as a gardener at the prison and planned to further his education while serving his sentence.

Chief Justice Blow said Otto had been “an exemplary prisoner, attending educational courses and helping fellow prisoners”.

Tattoo artist Dwayne Davies who was murdered on May 27, 2017.

About 50 people — including family and friends of Mr Davies, police officers, and supporters of Ms Otto — were seated in the back of the court for the sentencing.

Purkiss was sitting forward in the dock listening closely to Chief Justice Blow’s comments, while Otto was shaking and appeared to be crying.

Speaking outside the court, Glen Davies thanked the prosecution team.

“Nothing is going to bring our boy back to us,” Mr Davies senior said.

“I’m a little upset on hers [Otto’s sentence], I thought hers would have been a little longer but there you go, what it is is what it is.”

Purkiss and Otto’s trial took five weeks. A jury found them both guilty of murder on Monday.

The pair’s first trial was aborted in March after additional CCTV footage from Mr Davies’ and Otto’s home was discovered and needed to be analysed by the defence teams.

Chief Justice Blow imposed a non-parole period of 14 years for Purkiss and 7½ years for Otto. He backdated both sentences to take into account time they have already spent in prison since being charged. Otto’s crime was recorded as a family violence offence.

Mr Purkiss today pleaded guilty to trafficking in cannabis. He was sentenced to four months’ jail to be served concurrently with his murder sentence.

HOW THE PLAN UNFOLDED

THE CHIEF JUSTICE’S FINDINGS

On the morning of Friday, May 26, 2017, Bradley Scott Purkiss invited Dwayne Davies to his home at Elderslie that night to give him advice about buying a Harley-Davidson. The reason given for the invitation was a trick.

Margaret Anne Otto phoned Purkiss the same morning and spoke to him for half an hour, and Purkiss visited her at her workplace for about 40 minutes.

That afternoon Purkiss unexpectedly visited his father at New Norfolk and asked him to organise a shooting trip to a Levendale property for the evening of the following day.

About 6pm, Mr Davies drove Otto’s car to Purkiss’s home.

Purkiss was home alone. In a shed on the property, he shot Mr Davies twice with a shotgun, then went to his father’s house, again unexpectedly, and suggested they go shooting at Tynwald Park, which they did.

Purkiss later drove Otto’s car back to Otto’s home. His arrival was captured by a security camera at the house, which was disconnected almost immediately after Purkiss arrived.

Otto drove Purkiss back to Elderslie and at some stage Purkiss wrapped the body in a tarpaulin, secured it with twine and tape, loaded it onto the tray of his utility vehicle and covered it with green waste.

Purkiss and Otto both went to Otto and Mr Davies’ grandson’s first birthday party on May 27 and agreed to say as little as possible about Mr Davies.

That evening, while Mr Davies’ sister and a friend were at Otto’s home and she was speculating about what could have happened to her husband, Purkiss buried the body at the Levendale property.

Otto persuaded her visitors not to report Mr Davies missing to police until after Purkiss returned and could talk to them about Mr Davies’ visit to him the previous evening. They waited five hours for him.

Police were contacted shortly before midnight.