The girlfriend of a young doctor who was fatally stabbed during a home invasion has hit back at speculation that her mysterious disappearance from the same house a year ago is linked to his death – as the doctor’s best friend breaks his silence.
Dr Ash Gordon’s 25-year-old partner, Dakota Nagel, made headlines last year after he disappeared from the couple’s home in Doncaster, Melbourne’s north-east, after spending the night with friends on January 8.
After a week-long search, police found Ms. Nagel safe on January 15, with the nature of her “out of character” disappearance never clarified.
On Saturday, Dr Gordon was tragically stabbed to death after the same Sargent St home was broken into by a gang of thugs in the early hours of the morning. His killers remain at large.
The 33-year-old GP from a nearby medical clinic in Box Hill bravely chased his attackers out of the house at 5am before he was fatally stabbed during a confrontation about 500 meters away on Elidon Street.
“As far as we are concerned, the persons involved in my disappearance were not involved in Ash’s tragic death, and there is no connection between the two,” Ms Nagel told the newspaper. Herald Sun.
The 25-year-old partner of Dr. Dakota Nagel’s Ash Gordon made headlines last year after he disappeared from the couple’s home in Doncaster, Melbourne’s northeast, on January 8.
A year later, Dr Gordon (right) was tragically stabbed to death after the same Sargent St home was broken into by a gang of thugs in the early hours of Saturday.
“In this time of mourning, beware of speculation, as it causes more harm and heartache than good.
‘We would like people to respect our right to privacy.’
It comes as Tristen Standing, Dr. Gordon’s longtime friend and roommate told Daily Mail Australia he is “struggling to understand” what life will be like without his best friend by his side.
The couple, who met at primary school, were inseparable all their lives – from growing up in Gippsland, enjoying dancing at festivals in their early twenties and traveling abroad, to spending the last decade as housemates at various addresses in Melbourne – including the burglary at the Doncaster unit. on Saturday.
Although he cannot speak about Saturday morning’s events because of the active police investigation, Mr. Standing said detectives say they are close to catching his best friend’s killers.
Part of the investigation will focus on two laptops from Dr. Gordon’s home. One was used for gaming, the other was a personal work computer that contained confidential patient information.
Mr Standing said calling Dr Gordon’s family about his death was the hardest thing he has ever had to do.
By a sad coincidence, the family traveled from Gippsland to Melbourne that day to see him and do work at his clinic.
Tristen Standing (right) struggles to understand what life will be like now that his best friend, Doctor Gordon, (left) is no longer by his side
Although he cannot speak about Saturday’s events due to the active police investigation, Mr Standing (left) said detectives say they are close to catching his best friend’s killer.
Mr Standing said Dr Gordon was so loved that there is talk of a bus to take people from Melbourne to Gippsland for his funeral as his family expects a huge turnout.
The electrician, who owns his own air conditioning company, said that last year his best friend was at his bedside and nursed him back to health after he was electrocuted during a job.
He was flattened by a severe electric shock while working on a roof.
‘I thought I was going to die. I was in bad shape. My hair smelled like burnt bacon,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Eventually I came around and the first person I called was Ash. He told me to go to the hospital right away.
‘When I arrived, before I knew it, there were about twenty doctors surrounding me. Like I’m a monster.
He had called the hospital before my arrival to let them know his best friend was coming and asked them to “take care of me.”
A short time later, much to Mr. Standing’s surprise, his best friend entered his hospital room wearing scrubs.
“He had dropped everything to take time off to be with me,” he recalls.
“He stayed there by my side, keeping me company and giving me ice cream.
‘He was such a great guy. Completely selfless.’
‘Everything was going great for him. He was in the prime of his life,” Mr Standing said of his best friend, Dr Gordon, who was fatally stabbed in a horror home invasion on Saturday.
Growing up, Mr. Standing and Dr. Gordon spent their days going to school and then playing together on their family’s property.
In the classroom, Dr. Gordon was a natural intellectual whose academic ability shone when he helped his friends and other students solve math problems.
In Year 10, he was voted by the class as the student most likely to succeed in life, before later graduating from high school with honors.
Mr Standing said Dr Gordon was drawn to medicine because of his interest in science and his passion for helping people – and of course because of his attractive income.
His patience, down-to-earth nature and candid approach quickly made him popular among clients, and many followed him as he moved to different clinics.
Dr. Immensely ambitious, organized and fastidious, Gordon worked and exercised six days a week, while also setting up his own business.
Mr. Standing and Dr. Gordon grew up together in Gippsland and enjoyed their early twenties, dancing at festivals and traveling abroad. They spent the last ten years as roommates
In addition to his GP work, he also runs Richmond-based cosmetic clinic Redefine Aesthetics, which specializes in skin health, wellbeing and anti-ageing.
When his cosmetic clinic – for which he mapped out the layout himself – opened around February last year, it was the ‘best day of his life’.
“He was so happy when it finally opened. He said it was “the best day of his life,” Mr. Standing recalled.
‘Everything was going great for him. He was in the prime of his life.’
Mr Standing said Dr Gordon and his girlfriend, Ms Nagel, had been planning to move to Kew, closer to the Richmond clinic, for six years, but had still not found the right premises.
The trio were so close that they had always joked that Mr. Standing would live with the couple forever.
Mr Standing (far left) said Dr Gordon (far right) was fiercely protective of the people he loved and did not hesitate to take action when intruders entered their home
A team of detectives was seen Tuesday morning sweeping a property near Dr.’s two-story unit. Searching Gordon as an officer carried evidence bags to a vehicle (photo)
Mr Standing said Dr Gordon was fiercely protective of the people he loved and did not hesitate to take action when intruders entered their home.
While Dr. Gordon touched the lives of everyone he met, Mr. Standing said he felt honored to be his best friend.
“I’m just lucky he chose me to spend all those hours, days, weeks with,” he said.
‘No one will ever be able to fill that hole in my life.
He is irreplaceable.’
A team of detectives searched a property near Dr Gordon’s two-storey unit on Tuesday morning as an officer carried evidence bags to a vehicle.
Anyone with information or CCTV footage is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.