Join Tristram Clayton as he talks with Investigative Journalist Phil Vine on the Tostee court case.
Warning: This article contains graphic content that some readers may find distressing
The mother of New Zealander Warriena Wright, who died after falling from the balcony of Gable Tostee's 14th floor Surfer's Paradise apartment, has criticised the judge in Tostee's murder trial saying she didn't want to hear her daughter's screams.
Merzabeth Tagpuno said in a statement released on her behalf that the "media... have made this trip the most saddest, hardest trip I have ever had to endure", Australian media reported.
"I asked not to release the audio tapes - yet I was over-ruled by the judge. I did not want to hear my daughter screaming, 'No, no, no'. I did not want to remember her like that.
"I feel our family had been disrespected by the judge's ruling to release the audio tapes to the media. To those who want an exclusive from my family, we're saying 'No'. The judge gave you everything - that is enough.
"The media have hurt me so bad. When this is over I will go back to New Zealand. I want to be left alone. Please respect my privacy, I will not talk to anybody; just leave our family in peace.
"No matter how this goes, I just want to go home."
Gold Coast doctor Dianne Little told the Brisbane Supreme Court today that New Zealander Warriena Wright had more than 80 injuries after she fell from Gable Tostee's 14th storey Surfers Paradise apartment in the early hours of August 8, 2014.
Her blood alcohol reading was estimated to be 0.156, or more than three times the safe driving limit.
Tostee has been charged with Wright's murder.
He has pleaded not guilty.
Dr Little, the last witness in the Crown's case, told the court it was hard to conclusively determine Wright's height, because "there was severe disruption to her body due to trauma".
"She had severe injuries to all of her body that caused her death," she said.
"At the time she arrived in the mortuary her body was almost folded over on itself, her head was hyper-flexed down to wards her trunk.
"There was a piece of her jeans caught in a skull fracture."
The 162 cm, 57kg Wright met Tostee just hours before her death, after the pair matched on Tinder.
Gable Tostee arrives at the Supreme Court in Brisbane, where he faces a charge of murdering Kiwi Warriena Wright. Photo / AAP
The court has previously heard the pair spent the night of August 7, 2014, drinking and having sex in Tostee's home, on the 14th floor of Surfers Paradise's Avalon Apartments.
Audio recorded by Tostee of the night appeared to show the pair fighting, and captured Wright's terrified screams, as Tostee allegedly refused to let her go home.
He locked her on his balcony, before she plunged to her death while trying to climb to the balcony below.
The Crown contends she was fleeing for her life in fear of Tostee when she fell.
Dr Little told the court that Ms Wright had "poorly defined" red marks on her neck but that they were "Not consistent with any application of force".
The Crown has contended Tostee strangled Ms Wright in the course of their struggle, in a part of the tape where her cries for help appear muffled.
Tostee's defence counsel has argued there is no evidence he strangled his Tinder date. The Crown's case has now concluded and the jury has been excused for the remainder of the day, as Justice John Byrne, Crown prosecutor Glenn Cash and defence barrister Saul Holt, QC, argue points of law.
The court will reconvene before the jury at 10am Friday.
The Tinder date that proved fatal
Gable Tostee told New Zealand tourist Warriena Wright she looked "delicious" and he wanted to do "dirty things" to her during their Tinder texts.
The pair first started messaging each other on the dating app on August 1 before arranging to meet in person on August 7, 2014.
Their saucy exchanges also showed Tostee asking Ms Wright whether she was a "freak in the sheets".
Their Tinder conversation and text messages tendered in his trial show the two had only spoke sparingly before their date.
Tostee: "You look delicious. I want to do dirty things to you." Wright: "That usually work?" Tostee: "Haha, not trying to make anything 'work', im just saying. Got a problem with that? :P" Wright: "Lol fair enough. I was just asking :P" Tostee: "So you're down with that then? Can you be a freak in the sheets Cletes (Ms Wright's Tinder alias)?" Wright: "Lol probably not. Depends" Tostee: "What does it depend on?" Wright: "What ive had to drink! Lol." Tostee: "Lets get drunk together, I'm a pornstar after a few drinks!"
It's not alleged Tostee threw or pushed Ms Wright but that he intimidated her so greatly she felt the only way to escape him was to climb off his locked balcony.
Tostee and Wright in his apartment just hours before she fell to her death. Photo / via Twitter
Injuries detailed in murder trial
VICTIM: Warriena Wright, aged 26, died from a fall off Gable Tostee's 14th floor balcony in the early hours of August 8, 2014.
She had:
• 80 separate injuries to her body • Blood alcohol level 0.156, three times over legal driving limit • Head hyperflexed, bent right over torso • Body "almost folded over itself" • No internal or external evidence of choking, strangulation • Old scars on wrists, right thigh, chest from self-inflicted injuries.
ACCUSED: Gable Tostee, now aged 30, on trial in Brisbane Supreme Court after pleading not guilty to Ms Wright's murder.
• Abrasions on right knee, covered in dried blood • Small linear abrasion on right side of nose • Abrasion on lower left cheek, half a centimetre long • Red mark just below hairline on neck.
Timeline of Warriena Wright's final night
(Based on CCTV and audio recording exerts tendered in murder trial)
Thursday, August 7, 2014 8.46pm - Gable Tostee and Warriena Wright meet for their Tinder date on Cavill Ave, Gold Coast. 8.50pm - Tostee buys a six pack of beer from BWS. 8.53pm - They get into lift at his block of units. Last time Wright is seen alive.
Friday, August 8, 2014 1.05am - Tostee starts recording audio on his mobile phone 2.14am - Tostee: "You have to leave." Ms Wright: "It's all good." Tostee: "You're f***ing insane." 2.15am - Tostee: "You're lucky I haven't chucked you off my balcony you goddamn little pschyo bitch." 2.17am - Tostee: "I'm gonna let you go, I'm gonna walk you out of this apartment just the way you are. You're not going to collect any belongings, you're just going to walk out. I'm gonna slam the door on you. If you try to pull anything I'll knock you out, I'll knock you the f*** out." Heavy breathing then crashing sound 2.20am - Tostee: "You just don't understand. Let go! You think if you hit me I'll just fall down like in the movies?" Ms Wright: (screaming) "No, no, no, no, no. Just let me go home." Tostee: "I would but you have been a bad girl." Ms Wright: (screaming) "I want to go home, I want to go home." Distant scream followed by loud heavy breathing 2.22am - Tostee: "Shit" (call goes to voicemail) "Where the f*** are my keys?" 2.23am - Gets out of lift on ground floor, paces around, goes back in. 2.25am - Gets out of lift in basement, leaves building via car park. 3.07am - Tostee continues walking around Gold Coast entertainment precinct. 3.11am - Orders and eats pizza from Cavill Ave shop. Tostee calls father Tostee: "Hello dad, might have a bit of a situation ... I locked her out on the balcony and I think she might have jumped. I've been walking around and there's million cops around my building ... I swear to God I didn't push her. I just chucked her out on the balcony because she was beating me up ... why does s*** happen to me, I didn't do anything wrong." 3.44am - Tostee picked up by father Gray Tostee in car. Tostee: "Oh my God I hope she's not dead."
