Australian not guilty of Tinder date murder
An Australian man accused of murdering a woman he met on a Tinder date has been found not guilty.
Gable Tostee has been cleared of both the murder and manslaughter of Warriena Wright, who died when she fell from his 14th floor balcony. Although prosecutors did not allege Mr Tostee, 30, had thrown Ms Wright, 26, to her death, they argued she was so scared of him she fell while trying to escape from his apartment balcony in the city of Gold Coast.
Ms Wright, from New Zealand, had been on holiday in Australia when she arranged to meet Mr Tostee in a local pub on 7 August, 2014, before heading to his home. The pair spent the night together before Ms
Wright fell from the balcony in the early hours of the morning.
An audio recording by Mr Tostee played to the court appeared to show the pair fighting, with Ms Wright heard threatening to "destroy [Mr Tostee's] jaw". She is later heard to scream: "Let me go home."
“I would, but you’ve been a bad girl,” he replied. “You’re lucky I haven’t chucked you off my balcony. I should have never given you so much to drink. I’m gonna walk you out of this apartment just the way you are, you’re not going to collect any belongings.
“If you try to pull anything, I’ll knock you out." Ms Wright then appears to scream “no” repeatedly before falling and screaming.
During the trial, prosecutor Glen Cash said Mr Tostee intimidated and threatened Ms Wright so much that she felt her only escape was to climb down from his balcony. Mr Cash alleged that Tostee became angry after Ms Wright threw ornamental rocks at him and hit him with a telescope. The prosecutor also said that Mr Tostee choked and restrained her before locking her out of his apartment on the balcony.
Defence lawyer Saul Holt denied Mr Tostee was responsible for Ms Wright's death, saying she had become erratic and aggressive toward Mr Tostee after a night of drinking.
After four days of deliberations, the jury of six men and six women found Mr Tostee not guilty of murder or manslaughter. He faced a life sentence if convicted.