Source : Perth Now news
Friends of missing former beauty queen Priscilla Brooten repeatedly confronted her boyfriend after she vanished from the Zumba classes she rarely missed, a court has been told.
The Brisbane Supreme Court was told concern quickly spread through a tight-knit fitness community when Ms Brooten stopped attending classes in mid-2018, stopped responding to messages and disappeared from social media.
Mark Waden has pleaded not guilty to murdering the former American beauty queen, who vanished from the Bracken Ridge home in Brisbane’s north they shared in July 2018.
Prosecutors allege he killed her at the property before burying her body in a trench behind a retaining wall.
The Crown further alleges he later concealed her death by telling friends and police she had fled to avoid immigration authorities. Her body has never been found.
On Monday, the jury heard from Mr Waden’s former girlfriend and real estate colleague, Desiree Hatzipapas, who said the pair began a relationship on June 25, 2018.
The court was shown text messages between the pair, including one in which Mr Waden said: “It’s actually kind of fun with this cloak and dagger act.”
Ms Hatzipapas said it referred to keeping their relationship secret from colleagues and arranging discreet meetings.
Ms Hatzipapas told the jury Mr Waden said on June 30 he would not be coming to work due to “dramas” involving Ms Brooten, claiming that she had been “being loud and yelling” and police had attended.
“I was doubting the relationship after that,” she said.
She also told the court that weeks later she saw women’s clothing and makeup at his Bracken Ridge home.
Mr Waden told her the items belonged to Ms Brooten and asked if she wanted them, and she later handed some items to police after giving a statement in 2019.
Ms Hatzipapas said Mr Waden told her his front yard was “completely dug up” after what he blamed on council works, stating they had “messed something up” and cost him a lot of money.
Text messages showed that on May 5, 2019, he told her he was going to the dump to dispose of “excess soil” from the property, sending photos of dirt on a tarp on a trailer and later another image at the tip.
She said he returned again two days later.
A nurse told the court Mr Waden presented to hospital in January 2019 with three significant wrist lacerations following an attempted suicide.
He was treated and later spoke about the police investigation, saying officers were suspicious of him.
Ms Hatzipapas said that after the attempt, Mr Waden contacted her and spoke about the investigation.
She told him he had nothing to worry about if he was not involved.
“They will get me on circumstantial evidence,” she told the court he replied.
Earlier, a former colleague from Mr Waden’s Zumba classes told the court he called in sick about 7pm shortly before a scheduled class on the night prosecutors allege Ms Brooten was killed.
The witness said the late notice forced organisers to quickly cancel the class, and he challenged the timing, describing it as “BS” because someone would normally know much earlier if they were too unwell to work.
Friend Laetitia Penfold became emotional as she described the growing concern among gym-goers after Ms Brooten disappeared.
“Everyone was asking me where she was,” Ms Penfold told the jury through tears.
After unsuccessfully trying to contact her friend, Ms Penfold approached Mr Waden after a class.
She said he told her that immigration authorities were looking for Ms Brooten and she had “run away”.
Ms Penfold said she repeatedly called Ms Brooten but never received a response.
“She didn’t answer,” she said, her voice shaking.
Concerned by the silence, she tracked down Ms Brooten’s former partner Steven Thompson and left a note at his home.
After speaking with Ms Brooten’s mother, who urged them to contact police, the pair attended a station together to report her missing.
Another friend and former gym attendee, Vicki Le, told the court that she also became worried when Ms Brooten stopped replying to messages.
Ms Le said she later phoned Mr Waden and asked about her friend.
“I don’t have anything to do with Priscilla anymore,” she recalled him saying.
According to Ms Le, Mr Waden claimed “nasty people” were chasing Ms Brooten over money and she had fled.
“He went on to say that she was frightened of them,” Ms Le said.
A third witness, Rebecca Astier, told the jury she joined several others in questioning Mr Waden after noticing Ms Brooten had missed several Zumba classes.
“Myself and several other people were there and asked if Priscilla was OK and where was she,” she said.
Ms Astier said Mr Waden told the group they had broken up, that Ms Brooten had been “untruthful”, and immigration authorities had been looking for her.
The trial continues.
