Dana Sue Gray - Personal Life

Personal Life

Dana graduated from Newport Harbor High School in 1976. She lived with her sky-diving instructor, Rob, for the next several years and he helped her with nursing school. She became an expert skydiver. In 1981 she graduated from nursing school, and for the next few years had an on-again, off-again relationship with Chris Dodson, a windsurfer. Dana excelled in windsurfing and golf, and they took trips to Hawaii to participate in these activities. In October 1987, Gray married a man named William (Bill) L Gray at an upscale winery in the Temecula area. He was a fellow sports enthusiast who had known and admired her since high school. Dana was a serious athlete, very fit, and beautiful with pretty blonde hair. The marriage quickly got into trouble, however, when Dana dug them deeply into debt. At this point, she was also estranged from her two half-brothers, having burned many bridges, in a dispute over an aunt's will.

She was a labor and delivery nurse at Inland Valley Regional Medical Center. They lived in the gated community of Canyon Lake where they had several business ventures under the name Graymatter. Gray left her husband in early 1993 and moved in with their friend and her lover, Jim Wilkins, and his young son Jason. In June, 1993, she filed for divorce from Gray, though this was not finalized until after Dana had been in jail for quite some time. In September 1993, she and Gray filed for bankruptcy to stave off foreclosure on their Canyon Lake house. Although the value of the house had greatly increased since they purchased it, they owed much more on the house than it was worth. On November 24, 1993, she was fired from the hospital where she worked for misappropriating Demerol and other opiate painkillers.

On February 14, 1994, Dana sent word through Gray's parents (Gray kept his phone number and address hidden from her) that she wanted to meet with her estranged husband. Gray initially agreed but did not show up. Later that day, Dana murdered Norma Davis, an elderly lady whose home Dana had shared for a time. Gray later found out that Dana had taken out an insurance policy on him. The policy would have paid off the Canyon Lake house in the event of Gray's death.