Ellie Price: Brothel owner Mark Gray quizzed in Ricardo Barbaro murder trial

A brothel tycoon has been questioned in court over an exotic dancer’s death following a rape allegation that could have destroyed his multimillion-dollar sex industry empire.

Ellie Price’s boyfriend Ricardo Barbaro has been charged with her murder. Picture: Supplied

A brothel owner has been quizzed over whether he had an exotic dancer killed because she made a rape allegation that could have destroyed his multimillion-dollar sex industry empire.

Ellie Price, 26, was found stabbed to death in May 2020 in her South Melbourne apartment that was paid for by “Sugar Daddy” and brothel tycoon Mark Gray.

Ms Price’s boyfriend, Ricardo Barbaro, faces a Supreme Court murder trial where his lawyer on Monday asked Mr Gray if he had used his “underworld connections to have her removed”.

“That’s totally wrong,” Mr Gray replied.

Mr Barbaro’s defence has labelled the murder case a ‘whodunit’, with Mr Barbaro pleading not guilty and denying he killed his girlfriend.

A week before her death, Ms Price demanded $100k from her “friend” Mr Gray – who has been described by his own lawyers as “the biggest brothel owner in the world” – or she would report him to the police for rape.

Danielle Price, older sister of Ellie Price seen leaving the Supreme Court. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

He paid her a $25k first instalment, which was posthumously given to her family.

Defence barrister Rishi Nathwani put to Mr Gray that a rape allegation by Ms Price could have called “into question” his brothel licence, with an empire worth millions of dollars.

The court heard that Mr Gray had his Victorian brothel licence cancelled for five years after he hired an underage sex worker, then bought Sydney’s Liaisons and A Touch More Class.

Returning to Melbourne, he was interested in buying The Daily Planet, and had purchased Harem Palace, 1km from the South Melbourne apartment he rented for Ms Price, who would work there as “manageress” and earn “high wages”.

After she died, the court heard that Mr Gray asked Ms Price’s sister Danielle about her statement to police, and whether she labelled him a brothel owner – a detail he was keen to keep out of the media.

He told the jury that when you think of a brothel, you think, “drugs, criminal”.

Tracey Gangell, mother of Ellie Price, seen leaving the Supreme Court. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

“Newspapers love anything to do with brothels and brothel owners and they will love this brothel owner extortion murder,” he wrote in a text message to Danielle shown to the court.

He texted that he “can’t live with the thought of everyone who reads the newspaper thinking there could be some possibility that I was involved in Ellie’s murder”.

Further messages between Mr Gray and Danielle challenged his earlier evidence that his relationship with Ms Price was simply “platonic”.

He described a time in 2018 when she kissed him and his legs had turned to “jelly”, with Mr Nathwani asking why he hadn’t mentioned that incident in prior court hearings.

“It meant nothing. I kiss my dog, should that have been mentioned at (an earlier hearing)?”, he replied.

“Does kissing your dog make your legs turn to jelly?” Mr Nathwani said.

Other messages showed Mr Gray describing Ms Price as his “partner in waiting”, that he’d bought her a “friendship” ring a month after they met, and had likened the two of them to Baywatch characters Eddie and Shauni, who got married and left the Californian coast to start their life anew in Australia.

“I told Ellie if we ever got married I would change to her surname not mine. She liked that idea because it was different,” Mr Gray wrote.

“She was my dream girl and I was determined to be together.”

Mr Gray, who paid for Ms Price’s apartment, a $100k Mercedes-Benz, plastic surgery, and gave her a $2k weekly allowance, denied that he was her ‘Sugar Daddy’, but rather a “kind hearted soul who was just helping someone out”.

The trial, before Justice Lex Lasry, continues.