The brothel owner funding the lifestyle of a mum allegedly killed by her boyfriend lamented to her sister that he was always the bridesmaid and never the bride.
Ricardo Barbaro is standing trial in the Victorian Supreme Court for the murder of Ellie Price, whose body was found with fatal knife wounds in the bedroom of her South Melbourne apartment in May 2020.
It’s alleged Barbaro, who has pleaded not guilty, killed her in the early hours of April 29 after a violent altercation.
But his trial has instead focused on Ms Price’s wealthy benefactor, Mark Gray.
Barbaro’s barrister Rishi Nathwani has accused Mr Gray of being obsessed with Ms Price and wanting to marry her.
But Mr Gray says that’s not true.
Text messages shown to jurors on Monday reveal that almost immediately after meeting Ms Price, Mr Gray bought her a ring that to him signalled she was the one.
“They would signal we were together, but I don’t think she really understood the significance of why I bought them for her,” he wrote to Ms Price’s sister Danielle Price, a month after Ellie’s death.
Later he said he knew she was the one from the very beginning.
“When I got her the ring she asked me what it was for,” he messaged Ms Price.
“I almost said 'it’s your engagement ring' but it was in the first month so would have looked silly.”
Mr Gray denied he wanted to marry Ms Price, but later claimed while it was “the dream” it would never happen because she had a borderline personality disorder and her mental health would prevent their relationship leaving the friend zone.
Texts also reveal he was hurt and upset when, despite everything he gave her, she continued to bring home other men, including Barbaro.
“Imagine getting all that given to you and then going to look and find someone else,” he wrote to Danielle Price.
“First it was Sam and then it was this guy (Barbaro) - I was always the brides made (sic) and never the bride.”
Mr Gray rejected suggestions his denials about wanting to marry Ms Price were rubbish.
“At times she was nasty and evil - is that someone you’d want to marry?” he asked.
“It never happened because she was a very sick person.”
Mr Gray had earlier been asked about texts he sent claiming his lawyer had seen a statement made by “that scumbag” Barbaro.
“Ellie sold me down the river. According to his statement they were very much in love and planning a long term future together, so she told him a lot,” he said.
But Mr Gray said repeated references to “his statement” were just his own musings about what Barbaro might have said.
Mr Nathwani said Barbaro had made “no such statement, not that sort”.
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