Tinder murder trial suspect cleared over date’s balcony death plunge

A man has been found not guilty of killing a tourist he met through the dating app Tinder. Gable Tostee was cleared of both the murder and manslaughter of Warriena Wright, who fell to her death from his 14th-floor apartment balcony in the Australian city of Gold Coast in August 2014. Members of both families were in tears as the ruling by the jury of six men and six women was read out in the Supreme Court in Brisbane. Tostee, 30, did not speak to reporters as he left the courtroom but his lawyer said he was “looking forward to getting on with his life”.

You are lucky I haven’t chucked you off my balcony…If you try to pull anything, I’ll knock you out

Gable Tostee was heard on tape speaking to Ms Wright

New Zealander Ms Wright went to his apartment following a brief meeting in a bar and just six days after they first made contact on Tinder. They spent the night together but at some point in the early hours of the next day, she fell from the high-rise balcony. Prosecutors claimed Ms Wright 26, was so scared of him, she tried to escape by climbing down the balcony. Carpet fitter Mr Tostee’s defence team said he had to lock her on the balcony because she attacked him first. Much of the case hinged on a 199-minute recording he made of the night’s events, in which his alleged victim could be heard begging to be allowed to leave.

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