Tinder messages exchanged between a New Zealand tourist and the man charged with her murder have been revealed in court.
Warriena Wright fell 14 floors to her death, just hours after meeting up with Gable Tostee via the dating app in August 2014.
Wright was holidaying in Australia when she matched with Tostee in Surfers Paradise. After meeting on the evening of 7 August, the pair returned to his apartment where they drank and had sex.
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 balcony in the early hours of the next morning. Tostee is thus responsible for murder, it is claimed.
“You look delicious. I want to do dirty things to you,” wrote Tostee on Tinder, in transcripts reported by News.com.au [scroll down for more of their messages.]
“That usually work?” Wright replied, with Tostee following up with “Can you be a freak in the sheets?”
He adds: “Let’s get drunk together, I’m a pornstar after a few drinks!”
After they exchange numbers, one of Wright’s last messages reads: “Plz don’t be an old creepy pervy dude.”
Tostee, who denies murder, secretly recorded more than three hours of audio on his phone that evening. It captured an altercation between the pair, as well as the fall. Selfies taken on Tostee’s phone were also submitted to the jury.
Cash alleged that Tostee became angry after Wright threw ornamental rocks at him and hit him with a telescope. He also said that Tostee choked and restrained her before locking her out of his apartment on the balcony.
“You’re lucky I haven’t chucked you off my balcony you goddamned psycho bitch,” Tostee is heard saying in the recording. “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.
Defense lawyer Saul Holt said Wright had become increasingly erratic and aggressive toward Tostee after a night of drinking and intimacy.
“What happened in this case is nothing like murder or manslaughter. It doesn’t fit,” Holt said.
The jury was also shown pictures of injuries which Tostee claims were inflicted by Wright, including scratches and grazes, ABC.net reports.
A forensic officer told the court she could not put a timeline on when the injuries occurred, or if they were inflicted by the 26-year-old.
CCTV was also produced showing Tostee wandering around Surfers Paradise for more than an hour after Wright fell.
At one point the 30-year-old visits a Dominos Pizza parlour and orders a slice, pausing to eat it.
He was then collected by his father, whom he had phoned and told: “I swear to god I didn’t push her, I just chucked her out on the balcony because she was beating me up.”
One more witness is due to be called, before the case concludes on Thursday.
Tinder messages between August 1 -7
Tostee: Hey you sexy slack jawed yokel
Wright: Lol Hey. Had a few people [think] that’s my real name...
Tostee: Is it? Gable and Cletus sitting in a tree...
Wright: Sounds good lol
Tostee: You look delicious. I want to do dirty things to you
Wright: That usually work?
Tostee: Haha, not trying to make anything “work”, I’m 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 (sic)?
Wright: Lol probably not. Depends.
Tostee: What does it depend on?
Wright: What I’ve had to drink! Lol.
Tostee: Let’s get drunk together, I’m a pornstar after a few drinks!
Wright: Hah that’s great...
Wright: U in gold coast?
Tostee: Yup you?
Wright: Yeah. Just exploring surfers
Tostee: Lol I live in surfers. How long you down for?
Wright: Till Monday
Tostee: Let’s get together then :) what’s your number by the way?
Wright: (provides phone number)