Tinder date death goes to court in Australia

A New Zealand woman was so afraid of an Australian man she met via the dating app Tinder that she plunged to her death from his 14th-floor balcony after being locked out of his apartment, prosecutors told a court in Brisbane.

Gable Tostee, 30, is on trial for the death of 26-year-old Warriena Wright, who was vacationing in Surfers Paradise, about 525 miles (850 kilometers) north of Sydney, when she met Tostee, who has pleaded not guilty to murder.

In chilling audio of Wright's final minutes, Tostee is heard saying that Wright had beaten him up. He then calls her a "psycho bitch," and forces her out onto his balcony.

"You are lucky I haven't chucked you off my balcony, you goddamn psycho little bitch," Tostee says, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Wright is then heard to screaming "no," followed by the sound of what appears to be a door unlocking, and then saying "just let me go home" repeatedly.

Plunged to death

Prosecutor Glen Cash told the court that Tostee didn't push Wright off the balcony, but that she felt so intimidated by his aggressive behavior that she felt her only escape was to climb down from his balcony. Instead, she plunged 14 stories to her death. 

Tostee left the apartment after Wright fell, called his father and a lawyer, and ate pizza, according to a local newspaper.

"I swear to God I didn't push her," Tostee said in a recording that his father played for the court, the newspaper reported. "I just chucked her out on the balcony because she was beating me up. Oh my God, I hope she's not dead."

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," Holt said. "It doesn't fit."

The trial is expected to wrap up next week.

bik/kl (AP, AFP)