Ashley Gaddie: Dating app murder accused is found dead in his prison cell more than a year after allegedly  killing Dannielle Finlay-Jones

A tradie accused of murdering a young female teacher he had met through a dating app has been found dead in his cell.

Ashley Gaddie, 35, was found unresponsive in his cell at Clarence Correctional Centre at on Saturday afternoon.

His death comes 16 months after police alleged he strangled Dannielle Finlay-Jones at her friend's home in Cranebrook, in Sydney’s far west, on December 18, 2022. 

'A 35-year-old man has died at Clarence Correctional Centre on Saturday, 6 April 2024,' a spokesperson for Serco, the operator of the maximum security prison, said. 

'The man was found unresponsive in his room by staff and was pronounced deceased at 16.04pm.

'Serco, Corrective Services NSW, and NSW Police are investigating the incident. All deaths in custody are subject to a coronial inquest.'

Gaddie and Ms Finlay-Jones, 31, had met on a dating app and had been on two dates prior to the evening of December 17 last year, according to police allegations.

Police claim the couple attended a social event that night at a pub in Marsden Park where Ms Finlay-Jones introduced Gaddie as her new partner.

They left before midnight to stay with a friend of Ms Finlay-Jones at her home in Cranebrook.

The teacher was last seen alive when she entered a spare bedroom with Gaddie shortly after midnight, police allege.

One of the residents was woken at 3am by what they described as 'loud violent sex' between Ms Finlay-Jones and Gaddie, according to police.

At 2.30pm, her friends realised it was strange they hadn't heard from the new couple since the previous night.

One of her friends allegedly found Ms Finlay-Jones' lifeless body lying on her back on the bedroom floor.

Court documents revealed that police alleged Ms Finlay-Jones suffered bruising to her face and that officers found finger impressions on her throat. 

Police alleged the teacher was murdered either during or after the 'loud violent sex' heard by the witness.

Gladdie fled the property by cutting a hole in the flyscreen of the window.

Two days after Ms Finlay-Jones was killed, court documents show Gaddie called his mother.

'We slept in separate beds,' he allegedly told her.

'I didn't do it, I f****** panicked … I woke up at 9.30 and there's a f****** body in the next room.'

After three days on the run, police found Gladdie standing on a cliff edge at Fletcher's Lookout in the NSW Blue Mountains.

After a 12-hour stand-off he was arrested and later charged with murder. 

More to come.