His is a name that has been highlighted in headlines around the world. Gable Tostee. The man accused and then cleared of murdering his Tinder date, Warriena Wright.
After four days of deliberation and a near mistrial, a jury last month found the 30-year-old not guilty of causing the New Zealand woman to plunge 14 storeys to her death off the balcony of his Gold Coast apartment.
We’ve heard Tostee’s side of this tragic story before, courtesy of a post he penned on a bodybuilding forum. But tonight we will hear them direct from the carpet layer’s lips in a special (and widely criticised) segment on 60 Minutes. He was reportedly paid a six-figure sum for the segment.
In tonight’s episode, Tostee will be questioned about the events of that August night in 2014, including why he didn’t rush to the 26-year-old’s aide.
“Instinctively, I knew that if I ran out there and somebody saw me looking over the edge and she had actually fallen all the way, it would look like, you know, I – it would not look good,” he says. “It would look like I had forced her over, or something.”
Tostee had forced Wright onto the balcony and closed the door, after their drunken arguments turned into a scuffle – “I restrained her to stop her attacking me,” Tostee tells the program, “I wanted her to stop. I didn’t know what else to do.”
From there, Brisbane’s Supreme Court heard, she tried to climb over the edge to the balcony below and fell to her death. But why the balcony? Why did Tostee not get her to leave via the front door?
The 60 Minutes interviewer probes Tostee on this, “you had control of her. You’re six foot three, she was five foot four. How far is it between the front door and the balcony door?”
“It was a lot, lot closer to the balcony door and it was wide open and it was the logical option at the time,” Tostee replies.
Warriena Wright and Gable Tostee. Image: Facebook.
Central to the case, and to press coverage of it, was the audio recording that Tostee took of the latter part of their date - a clip that began at 12:55am and captured everything from their fights, to the moment of Wright's death and his movements afterwards.
When questioned by 60 Minutes why he captured the audio, Tostee responds, "why wouldn't you do that?".
"Because I, obviously I used to go out, um, quite a lot drinking," he says. "I don’t have the best memory when, when I drink. And in this day and age, hitting 'record' is, I mean recording your night out is as easy as pressing a button and leaving your phone in your pocket."
In that clip, Wright is heard shouting "No!" a total of 33 times - a chilling fact offered to him during tonight's interview.
“Yeah, she was certainly trying to make a lot of noise,” Tostee says.
You can watch Gable Tostee's full interview on 60 Minutes tonight at 8.30pm on Channel Nine.
Top Comments
Of course he'll tell his side for $ .. but didn't have the guts to get on the stand where he could be questioned over his version of the night, instead getting his lawyers to put all the blame on her ... Only two people know exactly that happened before hand .. ones dead and the other one didn't want to answer any question in a court of law but quite happy to give his version for dollars
He had absolutely nothing to gain by taking the stand. There was a huge risk what he said would be twisted and used against him. It wasn't about whether or not he had 'guts.'
I keep reading comments like this about why he didn't take the stand... and it's not that simple! I'm pretty sure his lawyers would have directed him not to take the stand, which is pretty common in a lot of these very serious cases, especially where the defendant is charged with murder. Of course he is going to listen to them, that's what they are being paid to do - give him the best defence possible. I don't think any of us who were not involved in the case whatsoever can make any claims on his guilt or innocence.
If it was legally in my best interests to not take the stand I wouldn't have done it either. Especially if it was on the behest of my legal team. Considering how he has come across in these interviews I suspect that his lawyers were falling all over themselves to ensure that he didn't ever have to be questioned in court.
After watching the interview i 100% agree with his legal team for not putting him on the stand. To a judge and jury a defendant needs to come across as likable and sympathetic, he does not poses the abilty to do either. It is not about him not having the guts to do it, it is about listening to his legal team whose job it is to present his case the way they need it to be seen. Having him speak would not have done any one any favours.
I think the question that everyone keeps asking, why did he force her out on to the balcony, assumes that he was psychic enough to know that she would try and climb down from it. This thought would not occur to most people because only a disturbed person would even consider trying to climb over a balcony if they were that many stories up (14 I think?)
If I had an argument with someone and they were attacking me, yes I could imagine shoving them out the nearest open door just to get them away from me, and you might think that 10 minutes out on the balcony would let the person cool down a bit. Never in my wildest dreams would I assume that someone on a balcony many stories up would decide to try a death defying act such as this. I have a balcony at home does this mean the next time people come over for drinks I should not allow them to go out on it because they might decide to try flying from it? Will I be charged with murder if they do so?
Obviously this whole thing had to be investigated to make sure that he didn't push her, but once that became obvious then I think the question of why he shoved someone out on the balcony who was attacking him is self explanatory.
She was intoxicated, not mentally disturbed. My question is, why does he feel he needs to explain himself after a jury found him not guilty? Money talks...
Yes but what led up to her attacking him ? ....If you listen to him he was an saint on the night who did nothing to her to deserve it .... .... but wouldn't answer anything about
in a court of law ..
Yes I also believe they were both drunk, both exhausted and both emotional and while that is not an excuse I believe both of their reactions to the situation would have been out of the ordinary. It was an unfortunate and preventable chain of events.
Yes, I totally agree 100% The media were speaking about Gable (pre-trial) as though he was a 'convicted' murderer, [several articles I came across had labeled him a 'murdering monster']. If there wasn't the recording from Gables phone from that night, he might not be walking free now...
Why do people find it so difficult to comprehend, that a female may have actually instigated a violent situation (& I am a female, before ya'll call me sexist!) I have simply seen this scenario, play out with others too many times; thankfully not to the point that a life was lost- but never the less....
Some of the girls I knew when I was younger, were friendly and nice, ....until they drank alcohol that is- then they turned into 'unpredictable highly strung ticking time bombs' (for example, they would be violent towards their boyfriend/partner/date and laugh, thinking it was funny, to hit/ hurt them... and they'd usually ALWAYS push it way, way too far- which was about the time their boyfriend/partner/date would say; "screw this crap" & they'd leave!.