A tourist was so afraid of a man she met through Tinder that she fell 14 floors to her death while trying to escape from his apartment balcony, a court heard today.
Warriena Wright, from New Zealand, was in Australia for a two week holiday when she met Gable Tostee on the night of her death. He pleaded not guilty to the murder of 26-year-old Wright in Gold Coast city in the early hours of 8 August, 2014.
He faces a potential life sentence if convicted, the Huffington Post reports.
Tostee and Wright met for the first time in the tourist center of Surfers Paradise on the night she died.
Prosecutor Glen Cash told the jury that Tostee did not throw Wright to her death, but intimidated and threatened her to an extent that she felt the only way to escape was to climb down from his 14th floor balcony.
The court heard an audio recording made on Tostee’s phone that captured an altercation between the pair, as well as the fall.
Cash alleged that Tostee became angry after Wright threw ornamental rocks at him and hit him with a telescope, adding that Tostee choked and restrained her before locking her out of his apartment on the balcony.
Tostee can be heard saying in the audio recording: “You’re lucky I haven’t chucked you off my balcony you goddamned psycho bitch. If you try to pull anything, I’ll knock you out, I’ll knock you the fuck out, do you understand?”
The jury was told a neighbor heard Wright crying, “No, no, no, please let me go home,” before witnessing her falling from the balcony about 15 seconds later.
The trial, which is estimated to last between seven and eight days, was adjourned until Tuesday.
