‘She never responded’: Daughter tells murder trial of fear when mother went silent

The daughter of a missing US citizen allegedly killed by her boyfriend says her mother became distant and later completely stopped responding to messages, including about the death of her grandmother, raising alarm bells.

Priscilla Brooten, a former beauty queen in the US, disappeared from her Brisbane home in July 2018. Her body was never found.

Her boyfriend at the time, Mark Sheridan Waden, who she had met through Zumba classes, is now facing a Supreme Court trial over her alleged murder. He has pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution case is that Waden killed Brooten following an argument, possibly disposed of her body in a tip, then gave her belongings to his new girlfriend.

Brooten had discovered messages from Waden to a new girlfriend in the days before her disappearance, the court has so far heard.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court heard from Brooten’s daughter, Caitlin Williams. She spoke of how her mother loved dancing, was studying to become a nurse, and was making a new life in Australia.

Speaking via video link from the US, Williams said her mother was usually very responsive to messages, but by late 2017 and early 2018, had become distant.

The jury were shown a series of messages between Williams and Brooten. Williams became emotional as she told the court her mother had not responded when she had messaged about her grandmother being sick in hospital.

“She would’ve called if she’d known her mum was sick,” she said.

Williams said she was prompted to investigate online when Brooten did not reply. She discovered one of her mother’s close friends was also looking for her, and said she had gone missing.

“She just randomly stopped [replying] one day and it was weird. Normally she’s responsive but she just wasn’t,” she said.

“Slowly it seemed like she was aggravated or annoyed with something.”

The pair communicated regularly about their lives, Williams said, but their relationship was at times complicated. She said Brooten had become distant since dating Waden.

“She didn’t really tell me much about him like she would normally do,” she said.

Williams recalled that her mother’s relationship with her previous boyfriend, Steve Thompson, was a healthy one.

“He was really nice, very supportive, very friendly,” she said, adding that they had many things in common, and they played video games a lot.

Williams said the silence when Brooten’s own mother died was “very, very strange”.

“When my grandmother passed away, if [my mother] was alive, she would’ve been there. She would’ve not let her mum die like that,” Williams said.

She recalled an argument about sending money overseas.

“The last thing I heard from her was back in 2017. She had an argument with my grandmother about sending money to our relatives in the Philippines,” Williams.

“For some reason my grandma was confused why she would be upset about that and it was a very strange argument, my grandmother told me.

“She had never spoken to her ever again since that telephone call.”

Williams recalled that her grandmother stopped getting calls from Brooten, and got concerned, asking Williams to check up on her online.

Some of Williams’ messages were about being homeless in the US, and asking to come to live with her mother in Australia.

“That’s why I asked her that day if I could come live with her, and she never responded to that, normally she would.”

Williams said she continued to message her mother, including to tell her she had a son. “She never responded to that either,” she said.

Asked about Brooten’s immigration status, Williams said: “As far as I remember … she was trying to renew her visa but never got the chance to. I’m not sure why.”

She said her mother had no intention to return to the US, adding: “She told me there were a lot of bad memories in the States … she was really adamant about starting a new life in Australia.”

Williams said she knew her mother had struggled with depression, but was seeing a therapist.

Thompson, Brooten’s former partner, told the court they began dating in 2011 after meeting online.

Messages between the pair showed Thompson offering to help her, including paying for her therapy.

Thompson became emotional as the court was played several of Brooten’s audio messages.

In one, Brooten could be heard talking about an issue with her back, and her mental health. She was heard saying: “I keep making the same mistakes. I’m meant to be getting better and I’m not.”

In another, Brooten said: “It’s going to be hard … I need to learn how to be me, how to be a good person … stop taking, be more thoughtful.”

Thompson said his relationship with Brooten became strained over financial issues, and together, they had accumulated more than $70,000 in debt.

He said he told Brooten at one point he could not afford her lifestyle, and a week later she spent $700 on perfume.

The pair broke up, but Thompson said he became concerned in 2018 when he had not heard from her.

He and another of Brooten’s friends told her mother in the US that she was missing, and discovered Brooten also had a daughter in the US.

Brooten drove a Volkswagen Golf, which was owned by Thompson.

Messages from Brooten’s phone to Thompson detailed the vehicle being returned to his home in 2018. The prosecution case is that those messages were never sent by Brooten.

Thompson said it was odd that the messages were via text, rather than Whatsapp, where they had always spoken.

After Thompson found the car outside his home, he also found Brooten’s tablet in the boot.

The court also heard evidence from Senior Constable Neil Ollenburg, who received a missing person report in December 2018 that came with a number of surnames for Brooten, including Thompson, Waden, Saunders, and Webb.

The court heard Qantas had provided flight details for several people using similar names.

The trial before Justice Peter Callaghan continues.

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