Missing Gary Tweddle Book Part 24 – CHAPTER 11: DÉNOUEMENT: COCAINE USE AT ORACLE

At this juncture in this story, this author as an outsider, logically asks why would a clever, successful and presumably well paid sales executive like Gary employed with such a global leading IT corporation like Oracle, delve into illegal use of narcotics?

Clearly, Gary was a team player within the Oracle Sales team in Sydney.  Gary had never made contact with drug dealer Pambos, yet Gary was observed by two independent witnesses as clearly “wasted” on some substance on the night a few hours before Gary suddenly went missing.   The logical explanation for Gary’s impaired condition was that Gary’s fellow sale colleagues had previously obtained and shared cocaine with Gary on the night (at the restaurant) before Gary went missing.

The investigated evidence obtained by police and reported by the media, which we have restated above was that Gary had not ever met the drug dealer Pambos, so Gary had obtained the cocaine through his associations with his Oracle Sales colleagues.  This could have occurred before or at the restaurant on the night he went missing, or even much previously back at Oracle or on the bus.

We have noted that his close sales colleagues (at least four of them who had stayed back at the restaurant a time after the main dining group had been officially transferred by  Oracle coach charter safely back to the Fairmont), elected to party on.   We similarly note that when Gary’s mobile phone went dead and nothing was heard, it took at least one of the four some 3 hours before he contacted not the police buy Gary’s girlfriend in Brisbane at 3:30 am to raise the alarm.  Talk about implicated with guilt.

That Gary had made arrangements with Pambos early that day for purchase five bags of cocaine for $1550 clearly meant he was acting as a drug mule for his colleagues.   It  confirms a cocaine drug use culture in Oracle’s sales team at the time.

That Gary texted to Pambos that he “will pay BIG” yet the drug deal value was $1550, whereas Pambos was subsequently caught by police with more than $30,000 worth of cocaine and $800 of ecstasy concealed in his home refrigerator, revealing that Gary was a small time personal user, and likely a new user of cocaine.  Gary was young and naive as a relatively newcomer to Oracle Sydney, had come under the bad influence of his recreational drug using colleagues.

Cocaine Intoxication Symptoms

Gary’s observed impairment upon departing the restaurant late and requiring assistance to board the taxi, on the balance of probabilities, was drug induced.  He was observed not drinking much alcohol by the restaurant owner/manager during the course of the dinner function.

Was Gary’s “wasted” then later erratic running behaviour that night consistent with him being affected by taking cocaine, and if not, also by ecstasy?  Pambos was caught with both types of narcotics, so it is possible that Gary was doubly affected by both drugs.  His colleagues on the night  were not observed as so ‘wasted” by the two eyewitnesses.
It is not normal behaviour to run at midnight off the resort premises wearing only a shirt in freezing conditions, not knowing the area or where to go, and not have the state of mind to call for another taxi, or to check the train timetable and the 45km distance to Penrith by train to meet up with Pampos.  Gary was clearly not thinking straight.
Our recent ground-truthing 7th May 2025, we reckon we might have finally identified Gary’s “light on the hill” beacon which he so desperately spfoke to his Oracle colleague by mobile back at the Fairmont.

Gary was alone, intoxicated, it was after midnight, he was lost in a strange location, he was unaware of the cliff escarpment risks, his was struggling off track through thick bushland off the end of West Street Leura in pitch blackness once his mobile phone battery died.

The available information about Gary covers on the very brief 6.5 hours between 7pm and 12:30 am.  His behaviour that night seems contradictory to the feedback provided by his girlfriend to the media, if not out of character.  Gary and Ms Haigh had been dating for three years and Ms Haigh described her partner as the most fun-loving, caring and intelligent person she had ever met.
Cocaine and ecstasy are both stimulant drugs.  Official medical research tells us that cocaine intoxication tends to has symptoms of feeling high, excited, anxious, talking and rambling, confusion and poor decision making. 
This is consistent with Gary’s observed and noted behaviour.  We don’t know the signs that Gary showed.  His running out of the resort showed he had increased energy and confidence.
His desperate attempt to bush-bash toward some “light on a hill” off the end of West Street in pitch blackness indicated a kind of hallucination, certainly agitation, single mindedness and a loss of inhibition and even (rarely) vertigo (not good near cliff tops).  These symptoms are known symptoms of cocaine intoxication. 

West Street’s western end in sunshine.  Just 100 metres beyond this dead-end street edge, down through dense bushland was Gary’s fate.

Narcotics and prescription drugs can affect different individuals in different ways.  Gary may likely not have used narcotics previously, if so, likely he was not used to the effects of cocaine use.  Perhaps he took excess on the night give that he was the only one in the Oracle dining group observed by eyewitnesses as being so ‘wasted” compared with his colleagues.
Had Gary also used ecstasy (MDMA) as well as cocaine at the time?
Perhaps the opportunity presented after the restaurant back in one of the rooms with his colleagues.  If so, whoever supplied Gary with the cocaine and perhaps also ecstasy, must be contributorily culpable for the manslaughter, not misadventure of Gary.  Gary’s behaviour that night demonstrated that once he ran out of the Fairmont in that dark freezing night to think rationally, he was not in control of his mind.

Ecstasy is presented by druggies as a fun “party drug”.  It is usually even  pressed to look like a lollie.  Gary was in party mode and wanted the party to continue.

If so, then the symptoms of his intoxication would have compounded.  Official medical research also tells us that ecstasy starts to work about 20 minutes after it is taken and the effects usually last up to four hours.  Symptoms of ecstasy intoxication, are similar to cocaine – its causes feelings of extra energy, euphoria (extreme mood elevation), heightened confidence, hallucination, irrational behaviour and can lead to psychosis.

Sales Conference was a Workplace Function
Whilst it is acknowledged that Gary at age 23, along with all his 45 sales colleagues/management, were all adults, so each personally responsible for their own actions and behaviours.
The entire sales conference from the time of departing Oracle at North Ryde, to their return and departure from the workplace, was part of Oracle’s Workplace Function.  This included the coach transfers, the restaurant dinner and the rooms stays at the Fairmont Resort; not just during the time of sales meetings on the Monday and Tuesday.
It could be argued that what individuals did after hours was in their own private time.
However, this was a workplace trip, likely demanding compulsory attendance.  Oracle Corporation Australia Pty Ltd as Gary’s employer had a duty of care to its employees to ensure their safety throughout this three day workplace function.  This should have included for each employee:
  • An employment contract, with terms and conditions of employment
  • Workplace polices and rules – including whilst on business trips, conferences, work-related activities, even corporate sports events, travel to and from work

 

Yep, even playing for Oracle at The Rocks

 

It would have been presumed that company policy and employment conditions would have explicitly prohibited any employee whilst in the workplace being affected by substance abuse or in possession of narcotics.  May be a few beers at a staff function would be allowable.  [COMMENT:  This author recalls being routinely handed a crisp Carlton Cold or more by Stolt-Neilsen management at one’s work desk around 4pm on Friday afternoons; also compulsory 3rd Class schooner beer ‘boat races’ as RnR as required by the company CO whilst at RMC Duntroon. Corporate cultures do vary].

 

Clearly, if Gary had been affected by substance abuse or in possession of narcotics during this 3-day sales conference, he would have probably been in breach of company policy and his employment conditions.

Gary’s memorial plaque above rockclimbing cliff route called ‘Sweet Dreams’ on Sublime Point headland atop where he fell to his death in his intoxicated quest for his “light on a hill” – this young promising Oracle executive, for his cocaine top-up deal hit.

This tragic missing person event was no-one’s fault but that of Gary Tweedle (the victim), but wholly contributed to by his employer master Oracle Corporation and its bully culture driven by CEO Larry Ellison, underpinned by criminal perpetrator (exploitative cocaine drug dealer Christopher Thomas Pambos).
Tech billionaire Larry Ellison has been Oracle’s only chief executive since he founded the company in 1977.  A year after Gary’s body was found, Ellison stepped down as Oracle’s CEO on Thursday 18th September 2014.  He went back on the tools to be Oracle’s CTO, Chief Technology Officer.

Two pertinent quotes from Oracle Corporation’s current website:

“Our people are our greatest assets. They make everything we do possible.

 

With nearly 160,000 employees around the globe, our culture invites diverse perspectives, inspires creativity, and enables our employees to do their best work without barriers. In fiscal year 2024, 30,137 Oracle Volunteers donated 126,369 hours of their time and talent to support 1,038 nonprofit organizations—strengthening their communities, promoting health, advancing education, and protecting the environment.

And in support of workforce development, Oracle Academy worked with more than 38,000 educators globally to prepare young people for success in technology careers.

…

 

We’re committed to the highest standards of business ethics, sound corporate governance, and transparency. Throughout this report, you’ll see data on our companywide efforts around environmental and social impact.

We also share our policies, resources, and a list of awards we earned in fiscal year 2024, including recognition on Fortune’s list of the World’s Most Admired Companies. And if you’d like to share your feedback, please write to us at impact_ww@oracle.com.”

 

Sincerely,
Safra Catz
2025

 

^https://www.oracle.com/au/social-impact/ceo-message/

 

Do we think Safra Catz wrote that herself or outsourced professional PR “communicators’?

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS:
  1. By his midnight antics, did Gary breach any company set curfew?
  2. If not, would Oracle be in breach of its duty of care and standard of care to its employees in the case of Gary’s consequential death by misadventure?
  3.  How did Gary’s particular sales colleagues get away with their involvement and knowledge of this drug dealing, since exposed by police?
  4. How and why did Oracle’s sales culture get involved in narcotics?
  5. Was Oracle’s sale performance demands so stressful and bullying as to drive its sales team to use performance enhancing drugs?
  6. Does this downplayed ‘party drug’ culture prevail today, a decade on?

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