Episode 18: Gay Oakes

Ayla tells Andi about Gay Oakes and her partner, Doug Gardner. They had four children together (six total) and over the course of their relationship Doug would boss Gay around and physically, emotionally, and sexually abuse her. Gay and the children moved into women’s refuge as Gay separated from Doug, she also found a property to move into. However, Doug always knew where they were and eventually moved back in, with family court putting him through anger management. Gay tried to make Doug leave multiple times, but this only made him angrier. One night Gay threatened to leave and go to the police, which caused Doug to spiral out of control. He yelled at her to make a coffee, which she did to avoid being sexually abused. As she was making it, she found a mix of pills, so she mixed these into his coffee before giving it to him. Doug did not notice and eventually he fell asleep on the couch. Gay dragged him to the bedroom and then went out the next morning, and when she came home, he was dead. Gay had help to bury his body in the garden shed, and Doug was reported as missing until Gay was convicted 2 years later in 1994. She was released in 2002 under her plea for battered women syndrome.