Boarder knew of property owner’s death and likely used his identity, coroner rules

The remains of a man found in 2020 under a house he had once owned in Auckland have been identified – and it is likely a boarder knew of the death and had used his identity, a Coroner has found.

The remains, dated to around 2004, were discovered during renovations at a Mount Eden home on January 31, 2020.

In a Coroner's finding dated July 17, 2020, Coroner Morag McDowell determined the remains were that of 62-year-old David Stanley Hart, born on March 12, 1941. At the time, McDowell noted there had previously been "significant efforts" to locate him, which were "unsuccessful".

Today, findings were released which showed Hart's cause of death could not be determined. Coroner Alexander Ho noted the remains were found “in a concrete mound under the house” by builders and “someone else must have been involved in concealing his body”.

With the remains being identified as Hart, Coroner Ho then investigated whether a finding could be made on third party involvement in Hart’s death, which required "a brief traversing" of Hart's background and of the people he was associated with in his life.

Gabriel Ormsby, a now deceased boarder at the property, was the focus of investigations after Hart's disappearance was discovered years later.

In the findings, released today, a post-mortem examination by forensic pathologist Dr Rexson Tse on the remains identified a fracture on the back of Hart’s skull along with a rib fracture on his left side. But he was unable to determine whether the skull fracture occurred during life or shortly after life, due to skeletonisation.

However, Tse did note the force required to cause the fracture would be “substantial”.

In the findings, Coroner Ho said Hart had first purchased the Mount Eden property, located on Marlborough Street, in 1982. He paid off his debt for the property in 1992, but the mortgage was never discharged, meaning his bank, ASB, remained on the title.

From the early 1990s Hart then operated the property as a “type of unlicensed boarding house”. He also owned a property in Blackball, a small town on the West Coast, where he would often travel to prospect for gold.

Coroner Ho noted Hart’s neighbours at the time had “differing views” on his boarding house operation, and said he was “generally unlikeable” and had “odd opinions on certain topics” such as “politics and aliens”, though some long-term boarders had also described him as civil.

The neighbours also said he would have frequent arguments with boarders and he would often evict them for “various reasons”.

Sometime in the early 2000s, but before 2004, Gabriel Ormsby began boarding at the property. Coroner Ho said Ormsby had previous criminal convictions, which included aggravated robbery, kidnapping, burglary and aggravated wounding.

Ormsby did not however come under police attention while living at Hart’s address. He was also described by neighbours as “likeable” and “easygoing”.

Sometime around 2004, a boarder had come across a situation at the property which had indicated Hart and Ormsby had been involved in a “physical altercation”.

Hart had reportedly suffered an injury which caused “visible blood loss to his head”.

There was also evidence of another argument between the pair, but the date was unknown.

On April 30, 2004, at Ormsby’s instigation, the name on the power account of the property was changed from Hart’s to Orsmby’s.

Coroner Ho said there had been accounts from boarders at the time in which Ormsby told them he had taken over management of the house, and they were to pay cash rent to him which he would then forward to the owner.

“The boarders duly complied, and no issue was ever raised with them about this arrangement or their security of tenancy,” Coroner Ho said.

No boarder had recalled seeing Hart after this time. One had recalled a vague suggestion Hart was planning to travel to Ballarat in Australia, however immigration records showed Hart had last used his passport on October 2, 2003 for a brief trip to the country.

Other records did not shed further light on Hart’s movement after this time. Coroner Ho noted Hart last attended a medical appointment on November 24, 2003, but failed to attend his next scheduled appointment in June 2004.

“The last transaction in his banking accounts occurred on March 5, 2004.”

In 2005, a Blackball resident, Donna Newman, wondered if Hart would be interested in selling his West Coast property in the area.

After making inquiries, Newman found an Auckland phone number which she understood to be Hart’s.

She rang the number and spoke to a man she believed was Hart. There followed three or four conversations the man, who identified himself as Hart, to discuss the possibility of buying the property.

Newman was then told by the man he was open to the prospect, but would have to discuss it with a business partner first.

Newman had also corresponded with the individual by mail, and provided police with two typed letters with the header of “David S Hart”.

Letters with the same heading had also been sent to the council, and referenced men named “Abe” and “Jackson Rowles”, seemingly as business partners.

Correspondence also referred to Hart’s plan to leave New Zealand after the property had been sold.

A police investigator noted the similarity of “Abe” to “Gabriel”, and suggested Orsmby could have deliberately chosen a name close to his to preserve the future option to act as himself if the circumstances required it.

Accompanying letters were in an envelope addressed to Newman, and were dated August 15, 2005. The sender’s details were listed as “D S Hart”, but a handwriting expert confirmed the handwriting on the courier package matched Ormsby’s.

Coroner Ho said the presence of Ormsby’s handwriting on the package gave rise to two possibilities.

The first was Ormsby had been assisting Hart in the matter with his full knowledge of the correspondence.

The second was Ormsby had been masquerading as Hart in relation to the Blackball property, and Ormsby knew Hart was not in a position to object to the charade.

Coroner Ho said he had considered the possibility Hart “simply went away”, but there was nothing to suggest Hart was the type of person who wanted to “withdraw completely” from society and live in a way which would not require him to call on his cash or other assets.

In his view, Coroner Ho said the most likely interpretation of the evidence was Hart had died in or around March or April 2004, and Ormsby was aware of this.

This would be consistent with both when Orsmby took over the property’s power account and with the interactions about the Blackball property.

He also said the person who most likely wrote the letters and spoke to Newman was the same person as “Abe” and Orsmby, for the same reasons.

In 2011, the property went into arrears with rate payments. Coroner Ho said it did not appear Auckland Council had taken immediate action to pursue those arrears.

In 2017, neighbours reported the property had fallen into disrepair, and was overgrown and attracting vermin.

ASB paid the rates arrears, and engaged a private investigator to find Hart. The investigation was unsuccessful and investigators reported they could not locate Hart in either Australia or New Zealand.

The bank then applied to the High Court to sell the property to defray the outstanding rates and other costs and the property was then duly auctioned.

The new owner took over the property in January 2019, and started renovations late that year. During these renovations, Hart’s skeleton was found inside a hollow concrete mound, which was itself protruding from a pile of dirt inside the house’s basement.

Police completed an investigation and reported to Coroner Ho in 2025. This included gathering Hart’s medical, banking and passport records. They had also interviewed neighbours and boarders and conducted other inquiries.

The police investigator said evidence suggested Hart’s body was “disposed of by a person who had ongoing access to the scene”.

“Ormsby told numerous lies about the reason for Hart being absent at the time of his disappearance, and continued years later attempting to sell the Blackball property. This indicates he knew Hart was not alive to contest his actions,” the investigator said.

“These actions of Ormsby around the time of Hart’s death and subsequently indicate he at least knew of the death.”

The investigator said disposing of the body did not in itself “prove criminal culpability in the death” and said there would be “insufficient evidence” to support a charge against Ormsby in respect of Hart’s death, and there were no other suspects.

Coroner Ho said Ormsby died of natural causes in September 2016.

He accepted the evidence supports a conclusion Ormsby knew of Hart’s death, but also accepted this did not follow any further conclusion beyond this.

“In particular, the absence of any evidence about how Mr Hart died means that it is not possible to determine whether Mr Hart was unlawfully killed.”

Coroner Ho found the cause of Hart’s death remained undetermined, and so was the manner of death.

“The evidence does not allow me to make any finding, even on the balance of probabilities, about whether Gabriel Ormsby was involved in the circumstances of Mr Hart’s death.”