Australia - Warriena Wright, 26, dies in balcony fall, Surfers Paradise, Aug 2014 #7

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MsAnais

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The young woman in this case apparently met the man whose apartment she fell from on Tinder. Police are calling the death suspicious and the investigation is continuing.

Police have positively identified a woman who died after she fell from a Surfers Paradise high-rise apartment building.

The woman has been identified as 26-year-old Warriena Tagpuno Wright from Lower Hutt, New Zealand.

Around 2.20am on Friday officers were called to the Wahroonga Place building after receiving reports that a woman had fallen from a balcony.

Police have confirmed the death is being treated as suspicious.

......The 28-year-old man who is the sole occupant of the apartment, Gable Tostee, was assisting police with inquiries on Friday afternoon. He was not formally arrested and no charges have been laid.

Tagpuno Wright was reportedly visiting Tostee after meeting him through an online dating app, believed to be Tinder, the Courier Mail reported.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/10367377/Kiwi-dies-after-Surfers-Paradise-balcony-fall

10367479.jpg


Gable Tostee, man at centre of investigations into Surfers Paradise highrise death plunge of Warriena Wright, charged with murder

http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au...plead-not-guilty/story-fnje8bkv-1227025428311

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Media/Timeline Thread
 
Gable Tostee murder trial: Jury hears last chilling moments of Warriena Wright’s life
Kim Stephens, news.com.au
October 11, 2016

4742be6316ae95b1ef103090d8d9d490


THEY could have been any happy young couple on a Tinder date.

Six selfies tendered to the Brisbane Supreme Court on Tuesday showed a smiling Warriena Wright and a shirtless Gable Tostee inside his Gold Coast apartment and gave no hint of the tragic events that were about to unfold in the early hours of August 8, 2014.
 
What is “Causation” in Criminal Law?

In criminal law, causation essentially describes a ‘cause and effect’ relationship between the defendant’s actions and the harm suffered by the alleged victim.

In order to establish a defendant’s guilt, the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that his or her actions were a ‘substantial and significant cause’ of the harm. This means that although other factors may have contributed to the harm suffered, the defendant can in certain circumstances still be found criminally responsible. Homicide cases are often useful to illustrate the law relating to causation.

In the important case of Royall v R [1991] HCA 27, Kelly Louise Healey died after falling from the window of a sixth floor apartment. It was alleged that prior to her death, she had been engaged in a violent argument with her boyfriend, Mr Royall.

At trial, the prosecution put forward three possible explanations for her death:

1. That Mr Royall had pushed her out of the window,

2. That she had fallen whilst attempting to avoid an attack by Mr Royall, and

3. That she died whilst trying to escape ‘life-threatening violence.’

It was held that even though Ms Healey may have directly brought about her own death by jumping out the window, Mr Royall was ultimately responsible for her death as he created a ‘well founded apprehension that she would be subjected to further violence’ if she remained in the apartment.

Accordingly, the court found that Royall’s actions were the ‘substantial or significant cause’ of Ms Healey’s death.

In criminal cases, the question of whether the defendant’s conduct ‘substantially or significantly’ brought about the deceased’s death is left to the jury. Where there are several different possibilities for the death, as was the case in Royall, the jury is not required to determine the exact cause of death – but rather, they should simply focus on whether the defendant’s actions substantially contributed towards the death.

http://nswcourts.com.au/articles/what-is-causation-in-criminal-law/

There are other cases on this link too.
 
“So if you are satisfied there was a choking, a strangling ... obstruction of her breathing over such a long period of time, you would conclude from that intent, at that point, to cause her some grievous bodily harm,” he said.

“And if that’s the case ... it is sufficient, the prosecution says, for you to return a verdict of murder.”
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...n/news-story/b130ade6605cec5a4152dadbae8e49c0
Gable Tostee murder trial: Choking question key to conviction
Melanie Petrinec,
 

Very interesting soso, thank you.

Particularly interesting that the reporter describes his expression as "glazed, vacant and sometimes baffled" - not the expression you'd expect of someone with an IQ of 150. Then again, nobody with an IQ of 150 would lock a drunk and distressed woman out on a highrise balcony at 2am, would they? Probably not even any ordinary Joe with an average IQ around 100, I'm thinking.
 
Thanks Soso.

From your link;

He is rarely bothered by the dozens of journalists or observers in the courtroom.

Law students, social dropouts, members of the legal fraternity come and go over the course of the week but it is only when a large group of school students enter that Tostee seems concerned by who is watching him.

He doesn’t look at the jury often; his eyes fixed forward or studying exhibits tendered to the court on a small screen at his feet.

All eyes are on him, though.

One juror stops looking at a transcript when the audio of Ms Wright’s final moments is played and stares at Tostee, who appears oblivious to the attention.
 
Tostee’s “intimidation” was a significant cause of her death, he said.
The jury had heard Ms Wright’s screams of “abject terror”. “You have heard for yourselves the panic and desperation in her voice ... and that speaks more powerfully than I ever could about the cause of her death.”
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...s/news-story/f704ae9d3c1adb66a97ba2466658018d
 
I wonder why Justice Byrne gave such an itty bitty part of his summary Friday afternoon. Any professional opinions as to why he did that rather than making a full address on Monday?
 
Forget the smiling half naked selfies.

Because I'm only interested in the audio where he threatened to kick her out without her clothing and possessions and also threatened to throw her off the balcony minutes before she was thrown off the balcony.


Jmo
 
Six selfies tendered to the Brisbane Supreme Court on Tuesday showed a smiling Warriena Wright and a shirtless Gable Tostee inside his Gold Coast apartment and gave no hint of the tragic events that were about to unfold in the early hours of August 8, 2014.


There was one photo among st the selfies that stood out to me, she had a fearful look in her eyes....not the one where they both were making silly faces.

This one http://bit.ly/2eaY2NT
 
elde fruit said:
What you have conveniently ignored is that after he neutralised her, he left her there, he disengaged, she is unharmed, on the balcony. No-one is suggesting he tossed her off. She was perfectly safe there, and she chose her fate from that point on. How can he be expected to know she would try to climb down from a 14th Floor balcony? Is that something the man on that Clapham Omnibus, the reasonable man, would anticipate? I don't think so.

How do you know he disengaged? How do you know he didn't pick up some weapon of sorts and begin to walk back prompting her to attempt to escape? If he had disengaged, how did he know she had fallen?
 
Also, I don't know any reasonable man who wanted someone to leave their property who would achieve it by locking someone in their property. And I don't be know any reasonable man who would think locking a woman in any room/location would cause her to calm down. Much less someone who is essentially a stranger. If he truly wanted the situation to end, why wouldn't he have immediately called the police?
 
There was one photo among st the selfies that stood out to me, she had a fearful look in her eyes....not the one where they both were making silly faces.

This one http://bit.ly/2eaY2NT

In that picture it looks to me as if she had been crying almost. And herbchest area looks very red to me.

Question for those who have followed closely...was there any gaps in the timeline of the recording?
 
One more thing...Holt wants us to dismiss choking claims because of lack of physical proof on her body despite many ways choking can be done without leaving a mark, but wants us to believe she clobbered GT with telescope stand despite no physical proof? I've never seen someone clobbered by something metal and not have a mark.
 
Forget the smiling half naked selfies.

Because I'm only interested in the audio where he threatened to kick her out without her clothing and possessions and also threatened to throw her off the balcony minutes before she was thrown off the balcony.


Jmo

What were all the instances leading up to Warriena's dire need to escape over the balcony?

1. Life-threatening violence: Tostee restricted her breath for 45 seconds in a "chokehold" leading her to think IMO that if she ever came back into the apartment that he could murder her by strangulation because she had been a "bad girl".

2. Intimidation: Tostee had already threatened to throw her off the balcony so maybe she thought he could come out at any time and actually do it. So she could not just go to sleep on the chair on the balcony to sober up for fear that he would come out at any time.

3. Intimidation: Tostee had already threatened to kick her out without her clothes and possessions so if she came back into the apartment he might actually do that and what was she going to do in the early hours of the morning walking around naked with no phone to call the police and no money? “You’re not going to collect any belongings. I’ll slam the door on you. You’re not going to pull anything or I’ll knock you out. I’ll knock you the *advertiser censored** out. Do you understand? Do you understand?”

4. The apparently violent fight, in which Tostee later confessed to his father he tackled the young New Zealander to the ground, is silenced by the sound of a sliding door, which fits with the Crown’s contention that Tostee locked her on his 14th floor balcony.

As a consequence of this, IMO it was murder or manslaughter by fear for her life.

‘It wasn’t just an ordinary scream. It was a terrified scream’ "IT WAS terror. Sheer, unmistakeable terror."

The Crown has argued that Ms Wright was so in fear of her life, that when Tostee locked her on his balcony, after refusing to let her leave his apartment, she felt she had no other choice but to escape by climbing over the balcony. They argue this constitutes murder.

http://www.news.com.au/national/que...m/news-story/9d371f8eb19ac2e00fee6fa474f631fd

http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/s...A/1991/27.html?stem=0&synonyms=0&query=royall
 
I've finally caught up on the details of this case (7 hours since i started reading it) and i'm seriously shocked that anyone can even suggest there is little evidence of his intention to make sure she went off the balcony. All there IS is evidence of his intent. He said, practically fantasised about it outloud NUMEROUS times, before he eventually threw her out there on the balcony. It was almost as if he was working himself up to doing it. Now, whether he actually threw her off the balcony i don't actually believe, but it's clear he wanted her off that balcony. Let's call a damn spade a spade here. Because if he didn't then he wouldn't have talked about it so damn much and he wouldn't have actually put her on it in such a highly distressed state.

This guy is sick in an Elliot Rodgers-esque way. Women are not people to him, they are merely notches on a bedpost. His self esteem is linked to how many he can pick up and have sex with. He disrespects and humiliates them and gets his kicks from that because he's not a normal human being.

IMO he was a serial killer at worst/serial sexual predator at best in the making. One thing that stood out to me was all those videos he made of that bug. A bug that was at his mercy just as he tried to get these women to be at his mercy. From previous recordings to the recordings of WW his constant manipulation and head******ery is what he's all about.

Also, people have wondered what he could have possibly had in store for her that she would panic and try to lower herself off the balcony risking death to avoid. Violence and violence leading to her death at his hands? Possibly, but i don't personally think so. He had alluded to her to being a bit kinky (whatever his interpretation of that was) and being anally raped and having to live through that and also having to live your life after that could, in a lesser of two evils sense, make risking your life to either get away or hurling yourself off a balcony quite an attractive option.

There is more than one way to mentally scar a woman than just physical violence, sexual violence is also used too.

I'm also appalled that WW's conduct has been questioned in any way. Some posters acting as if meeting someone off Tinder, going back to their house for a drink and a chat, possibly even sex, is an out of the ordinary thing to do. Uh, no. It's pretty damn common actually. And most the time it doesn't result in someone plunging to their death off a 14 story balcony. Casual sex has existed since day dot. Engaging in casual sex, whether you are male or female, has nothing to do with who you are as a person, your true character, and whether you deserve to have violence inflicted on you or not. One does not lead to the other. But gee, thanks for reminding me that if i ever die or am killed by a man my dating and sexual life will be used to evaluate whether i'm a worthy victim or not. Love this society. Bloody great.

Anyway. Basically tl:dr
It's my opinion that GT premeditated everything. Especially his manipulation of the audio/knowing it was recording and putting her on the balcony. It just did not pan out the way he thought it would. And he's too cocky for his own good and thinks he'll get away with it. He's also not as smart as he thinks he is (how very Ted Bundy of him.)

Maybe he will. But i seriously hope not.
 
The defence is relying on a "justified use of violence as self defence" approach - specifically the sound in the audio of pebbles (let's be real here - they are pebbles) and HIS self-serving assertion that she tried to throttle him with a metal clamp - what i can hear in the audio is her having her breathing restricted first - for all we know she might have had her phone in her hand - it might have been a part of him she had grabbed - he doesn't seem to have been injured/theatened by her whatsoever - IMO he seemed to be enjoying it - he even whispered to the "mic" - "I've got a live one here" (or words to that effect) - it was just a game - only when she laughed at him about his "affected" (gay sounding) voice did his tone change - she questioned his sexual orientation and that set him off - IMO GT was a time bomb waiting to happen and WT was unlucky (silly even to be honest) to be caught up with him. Anyone who listens to that audio and can honestly say WT was not terrified is in denial. In the video of him in the basement he is NOT carrying a set of keys on a chain - it is a large metal rigid object - knife? nunchucks? sex aid that "hurt her vagina" - he knew it was incriminating. All IMO
 
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