Zumba instructor found guilty of girlfriend’s murder

Eight years after US citizen Priscilla Brooten disappeared from her Brisbane home, her boyfriend has been found guilty of her murder.

Mark Sheridan Waden pleaded not guilty to the murder of his girlfriend, Brooten, at the beginning of his Supreme Court trial.

The jury reached their verdict on Tuesday morning. As it was heard in court, Waden said: “It wasn’t me.”

Justice Peter Callaghan said Brooten was a vibrant woman, who was described as fully engaged in life.

“Circumstances of her death cannot and apparently will not ever be known,” he said.

“The fact her body has not been found will be a source of trauma for her daughter and those who cared for her for so long as that remains the case.

“It follows from the verdict of the jury that they must have found that you engaged in an elaborate campaign of misdirection and deception.”

Waden shook his head as Callaghan spoke of the deception.

Brooten, who participated in beauty pageants in the US, had been in Australia since 2005, and met Waden in 2016 while he was teaching Zumba classes.

Waden always maintained his innocence, with his barrister James Godbolt saying the case was based on conjecture, and there had been nothing linking his client to Brooten’s death.

The prosecution’s case – a circumstantial one – centred on allegations that Brooten was killed by Waden following an argument.

Brooten’s belongings given to new girlfriend

Brooten went missing in July 2018 after she discovered messages between Waden and Desiree Hatzipapas, a 21-year-old colleague at the real estate agency where he worked.

Crown Prosecutor Andrew Walklate told the jury that Waden and Hatzipapas had by then started a relatively intense relationship.

After Brooten went missing, he gave Hatzipapas his former girlfriend’s belongings.

Waden claimed Brooten had caused a disturbance at his home, and when Hatzipapas tried to end the relationship, Waden said he had completely closed his former girlfriend off.

The prosecution said the day after Brooten went missing, Waden made inquiries about digging a trench on his property, telling contractors the council was “on his back”.

He then posted online that he needed the work done urgently with the right digging equipment.

The jury were shown a series of photos of Waden’s car pulling a trailer with a wheelie bin on the back. Walklate said Waden had also messaged about washing the bin.

The prosecution case relied on messages Waden made about dumping more than 800 kilograms of soil at a Brisbane tip, and purchasing items from Bunnings, including two tarpaulins and rope.

Hatzipapas did not know Brooten was a missing person until January 2019, when police seized the phone in her possession – which once belonged to Brooten.

Waden self-harmed and drove himself to hospital after the phone was seized by police, the court heard.

Excavator hired after police visit home

After her disappearance, Waden told multiple people that immigration officials had been looking for Brooten, that she was in Australia illegally, and had taken money from him, the court heard.

Police began investigating Brooten’s disappearance after she was reported missing by her former boyfriend, Steve Thompson, in late 2018.

Officers then visited Waden’s home in May 2019. They did not speak to Waden, but the day after they visited, he hired a self-drive excavator.

The prosecution relied on messages between Waden and Hatzipapas, where he talked about his entertaining area flooding, and said he needed to purchase a drainage pipe from Bunnings. He later bought tarpaulins and rope.

Police seized multiple items from the Bracken Ridge home, including a notebook in which Brooten had written down her thoughts.

Many entries did not specify who they were referring to, including one that read: “Remember when you beat the shit out of me.”

Other sections of the notebook included: “He claims he fears for his life, that I will stab him while he is sleeping. He chooses to sleep next to me. I have never threatened to kill, stab or physically hurt him. Why would I kill or stab him?

“According to him, I have threatened to ruin his life by exposing his weed growing and selling operation and publishing my injuries he gave me after almost killing me on Facebook.

“Mark is trying to put all this on me. Yes, it may appear he is taking responsibility and apologising but his facts regarding my mental health are incorrect. It is an attempt to save himself, to give himself an out or to try and make me appear crazier than I am.”

In the final days of the trial, the jury viewed footage of Waden’s police interview, when he was shown photos of authorities excavating his front yard and told detectives “I didn’t do it”.