Brothel boss Mark Gray’s alibi brought into question on morning Ellie Price was killed

Phone records have revealed the owner of a multi-million dollar brothel empire could have been near young mum Ellie Price’s apartment the morning she was murdered.

Ricky Barbaro and Ellie Price.

Phone tower records show the owner of a multi-million dollar brothel empire could have been near his ‘Sugar Baby’s’ apartment the morning the exotic dancer was murdered on her bedroom floor.

Mark Gray was shown phone data logs indicating he could have been in the South Melbourne area on April 29, 2020, when police believe young mum Ellie Price was stabbed to death in her Park St home.

Ms Price’s boyfriend Ricardo Barbaro faces a Supreme Court murder trial, with the jury on Tuesday shown data suggesting Mr Gray’s phone pinged off the nearby ‘Kings Way East’ tower at 6.27am.

Mr Barbaro’s defence barrister Rishi Nathwani said the records put Mr Gray’s phone “in the vicinity of Park St when you say you were at home tucked up”.

“I was at home tucked up,” Mr Gray replied.

“Your phone doesn’t suggest that.”

In a heated exchange, Mr Nathwani said there was “no reason your phone should be using” that South Melbourne tower when he lived up to 7km away near Elsternwick.

“I’ll challenge that,” Mr Gray said, pointing to the data on a court screen.

Mr Gray later agreed with prosecutor Damien Hannan that he could have gone to his brothel Harem Palace on Park St, which he’d bought and was undergoing renovations, some time that morning.

It comes as Mr Barbaro’s lawyers accused his late girlfriend’s ‘Sugar Daddy’ of sending a hitman to her apartment to hurt him and murder her.

Mr Gray denied that he sent “one of the meanest men in Melbourne” to Ms Price’s apartment to “deal with” the couple after she’d demanded $100k from him, or would report him to police for rape.

The Supreme Court earlier heard the blood of both Ms Price, 26, and Mr Barbaro was found at the apartment her “soulmate” Mr Gray paid for, where her body was found on May 4, 2020.

Mr Gray - 30 years Ms Price’s senior who paid for her homes, plastic surgery and a weekly $2k allowance - was asked if he’d sent a man to the young mum’s home “to deal with Ellie Price and Ricardo Barbaro”.

“No, I don’t accept that,” he replied.

Mr Nathwani suggested the brothel owner had become “aware” that Ms Price had been killed and Mr Barbaro injured “by the man you sent around there” to “deal with the problems you had”.

“Totally denied,” Mr Gray said.

Mr Barbaro denies murdering his girlfriend, claiming the case was a ‘whodunit’.

The police believe Ms Price was killed sometime between 3.57am and 4.30am on April 29, with her Mercedes-Benz allegedly driven from her apartment by Mr Barbaro and later dumped at Diggers Rest.

The trial before Justice Lex Lasry continues.