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Investigators discovered Gayle Woodford’s body in a shallow grave. Pictured: Superintendent Des Bray. Picture: Simon Cross
A MAN has confessed to raping and killing beloved South Australian outback nurse Gayle Woodford.
Dudley Davey, 35, pleaded guilty in Port Augusta Magistrates Court on Thursday to murdering Ms Woodford in March last year.
Ms Woodford’s body was found in a shallow roadside grave three days after she went missing in Fregon, where the mother of two worked in a community health clinic.
“Dudley Davey ... at Fregon you murdered Gayle Woodford. How do you plead?” magistrate Simon Milazzo asked.
“Guilty,” replied Davey, who appeared by video link from Yatala Labour Prison. The Mimili man also admitted raping the 56-year-old nurse and stealing an ambulance she used in her work in the state’s remote Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands.
Around the time Ms Woodford went missing, the ambulance left her home and was tracked using its GPS data.
Police intercepted the vehicle hours later at Coober Pedy and arrested Davey inside.
He was later charged with Ms Woodford’s murder but the rape charge was not added until last month.
Gayle Woodford was discovered in a shallow grave. Picture: SA Police.Source:Supplied
Members of Ms Woodford’s family attended the hearing on Thursday, including her husband Keith Woodford.
The schoolteacher said he would speak about the tragedy in time, but not yet. “I won’t be making a statement just yet,” Mr Woodford said outside court. “I will be making a statement later on.” It can now be revealed that Davey has a history of crimes against women, including a public sex attack on a woman who was asleep in Adelaide’s CBD in 2012.
He was jailed for 20 months over that drunken assault before he was released on parole and returned to the dry zone of the APY Lands.
He raped and killed Ms Woodford only six months after his parole conditions had lapsed.
The murder sparked a major push to improve the safety of nurses working in remote communities with an online petition securing more than 132,000 signatures.
After Ms Woodford’s death a review of the risks facing remote health workers found they should be accompanied on call-outs to clients.
The report, by peak body CRANA plus, also recommended upgrades to alarm systems and better training.
Davey will be arraigned in the Supreme Court on March 20.
Dudley Davey admitted to killing Gayle Woodford, 36, on Thursday. Picture: Channel 7Source:Supplied