Gable Tostee Acquitted of Murder Charge
Gable Tostee, 30, was charged with the Aug. 8, 2014, murder and manslaughter of Warriena Wright, 26, a woman he had matched with on Tinder a week earlier. During his trial, the prosecution alleged Wright became so scared of Tostee during the time she spent with him at his Queensland, Gold Coast, apartment that she died trying to climb off his 14th-floor balcony to escape him. After four days of deliberation, the jury declared Tostee not guilty of the aforementioned crimes, the BBC reports.
Over the course of the trial, the court heard 199 minutes of audio recordings taken on Tostee’s phone the night of the incident. In the recordings, Wright seems to be choking or choked and Tostee can be heard telling her, “You’re lucky I haven’t chucked you off my balcony, you goddamn psycho bitch,” and, "You’re not going to collect any belongings, you’re just going to walk out. If you try to pull anything I’ll knock you out. I’ll knock you the fuck out - do you understand?”
Tostee’s defense argued he ended up locking Wright out on the balcony as a method of self-defense after the pair started physically fighting. They’d both been drinking (before and after arriving at his apartment) and, it’s unclear when, but Wright allegedly began throwing heavy objects in the apartment at him.
Selfies of the pair show the night began as fun for both of them and progressively got worse - the last picture taken of Wright shows her looking troubled.
The recordings also included several minutes of Wright pleading to leave. Tostee’s neighbors testified hearing her scream, “No, no, no, please let me go home,” seconds before they saw her body drop from the balcony.
Surveillance footage and further phone records show Tostee did not call police after Wright fell - he left the apartment, ordered and ate pizza, and then called his father, whom he asked, “Why does this shit happen to me?” After the verdict was heard, Nick Dore, one of Tostee’s defense attorney, told reporters Tostee was "relieved this matter is now behind him and he’s looking forward to moving on with his life.”
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