I wasn’t Ellie’s sugar daddy
Businessman tells hearing he wasn’t a pimp for dead mother
A MELBOURNE accountant and the “closest friend” of a young woman stabbed to death in her South Melbourne home has denied he was her “sugar daddy” or “pimp”.
Ellie Price, 26, was found dead in her Park Street townhouse on May 4 last year.
Her boyfriend Ricardo Barbaro, 34, (pictured), was charged with her murder and is facing a hearing in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.
Businessman Mark Gray, 58, was called to give evidence on Wednesday about his relationship with the young mother from Tasmania.
The court heard Mr Gray helped Ms Price secure a number of innercity apartments, a luxury car and a kitten after meeting her at a King Street strip club in 2017.
He also paid about $25,000 in upfront rent for the Park Street home where she was found stabbed to death. Mr Gray said the money was simply a loan and he “felt sorry” for Ms Price after learning she was couch surfing with her young son and viewed himself as a “father rescue figure”.
Mr Gray denied he was Ms Price’s “sugar daddy” or that there was any sexual relationship between the pair.
Instead, he said he considered her like a “younger sister”, but said her erratic behaviour made it hard to maintain a friendship.
The court heard Ms Price had allegedly attempted to extort Mr Gray just days before her death after demanding he upgrade her car, accommodation and loan her $100,000 to set up a beauty salon or she would tell police he had raped her. Mr Gray told the court Ms Price later apologised and he transferred her $25,000 – the first of what was to be four instalments.
Mr Gray said the demands from Ms Price were “getting out of control” and by April he wanted to “be free” from her.
“It just had to stop,” he said. The businessman said the last time her saw Ms Price alive was about a week before her death when he met her on a park bench in South Melbourne.
Mr Gray said Ms Price had stormed off after he encouraged her to go to the police about her ex-boyfriend, Mr Barbaro, who she claimed had been violent towards her.
Mr Barbaro claims Ms Price was alive when he left her Park Street home in the early hours of April 29, and someone else is responsible for her death.
The hearing continues.