On the afternoon of January 8, 2020, Hector Enrique Valencia Valencia despatched Kimberley McRae a textual content message: “Do you have pic?”
Earlier that day, the then 20-year-old Colombian pupil had seen Ms McRae’s providers as a intercourse employee marketed on-line and commenced conversing and negotiating.
“Ok ok I agree. Kust (sic) last question,” Valencia stated in one other message at 2.55pm after agreeing to pay $100 for oral intercourse.
“Can I touch u down there?”
Valencia arrived at her Mount St, Coogee unit about 3.35pm and left at 4.15pm.
In the 40 minutes when he was inside, he killed Ms McRae by strangling her with a lamp wire.
Her badly decomposing physique was found 4 days later when a involved relative contacted Ms McRae’s actual property agent over rising considerations for her welfare.
By that point Valencia had fled the nation.
When police entered the unit, they discovered Ms McRae’s physique lined in a doona, with a pillow over her head and a part of a lamp wire round her neck.
A discarded condom was discovered close by.
Valencia admitted to killing Ms McRae and pleaded responsible to her manslaughter.
He pleaded not responsible to homicide and following a judge-alone trial earlier than Justice Dina Yehia he was acquitted of the extra severe cost.
On Friday morning, within the NSW Supreme Court he learnt his destiny when he was sentenced to years in jail.
KIMBERLEY
The day earlier than she was killed by Valencia, Ms McRae was captured on CCTV at a Bondi Junction publish workplace.
The photos are the final recognized photos of the Coogee persona.
Justice Yehia stated that whereas Ms McRae was a intercourse employee, she was additionally a beloved sister, a pal to many and an writer.
She lived alone on the Mount St unit and printed a memoir below the pen identify of Isabella Lawson in December 2018.
She marketed her providers below the names “Sabrina”, “Samantha”, “Caitlyn” and “Isabella”.
On the afternoon of January 7, 2020, she went to a publish workplace at Bondi Junction to publish a e book to her pal.
CCTV cameras captured her strolling into the shop at 4.46pm and talking to a publish workplace employee earlier than departing.
It was the final time she could be seen alive.
INSIDE THE MOUNT ST UNIT
At the time of her killing, Ms McRae supplied her sexual providers on labeled web site Locanto.
Valencia responded to an commercial by which she marketed herself as a “38-year-old blonde Australian busty MILF with G cup breasts”.
After paying her $100, he took off his garments and sat on the mattress, the place Ms McRae carried out oral intercourse for about 5 to 10 minutes.
Valencia admitted he misplaced management when he found that Ms McRae was transgender.
During his proof, he advised the court docket: “I started becoming suspicious that the person could be transgender.
“Because of the breasts and the physical appearance.”
He advised Justice Dina Yehia that he felt “lied to” and “upset” earlier than he began the deadly altercation.
Valencia advised the court docket that Ms McRae denied the accusation thrice earlier than admitting it.
Valencia admitted he attacked Ms McRae when he punched her twice – as soon as within the abdomen and as soon as within the face.
Valencia, who was in Australia on a pupil visa and learning at a Surry Hills business school, advised the court docket he was upset as a result of his non secular beliefs specified “it was not normal that I had sexual intimacy with another man”.
The court docket was advised that through the altercation, Ms McRae grabbed a lamp and hit him on the shoulder.
Valencia claimed, through the trial, that he was “scared” that she would choke him.
Ms McRae fell onto her again and Valencia was on high of her throughout a wrestle when he pressed down on her neck with {the electrical} cable from a lamp.
The court docket was advised that he held the wire there till she stopped struggling.
He maintained he acted in self defence and admitted that he “probably” watched her die.
However, Justice Yehia rejected his assertion that he acted in self defence, noting he was the one who initiated the violence.
After killing her, Valencia threw sheets over Ms McRae’s physique.
He rummaged by means of her possessions, threw three of her cellphones in the bathroom in an try and destroy any proof of their contact.
The court docket was advised that when Valencia returned residence, he advised his landlord that he had been out searching for jobs.
“I BELIEVE I KILLED A WHORE”
Three days after leaving Ms McRae for useless, Valencia fled Australia again to his native Colombia.
He despatched messages through social media to a pal in Spanish.
“You are one of the few I can trust. And the truth is tomorrow I am travelling to Colombia. I threw my life away, dude. I am escaping because I don’t want to finish in jail in Australia.”
The messages continued: “I die of shame to tell this to anybody. I believe I killed a whore … I better go Colombia before they catch me, I cannot see her in the news, I don’t know if she is dead, but she must be after what happened.”
After promoting his motorbike for $2000, Valencia purchased a ticket, utilizing his landlord’s bank card, again to Colombia.
He was ultimately arrested in Aruba and was flown again to Australia below police guard to face trial.
The court docket was advised that whereas Valencia was in custody, officers found a letter addressed to then attorney-general Christian Porter.
“I am a young migrant who did not know how to handle a situation that changed abruptly from a night of passion to a night of madness and confrontation,” Valencia wrote within the letter.
He additionally stated he was afraid of being deported or going through “public embarrassment” over his position in Ms McRae’s demise.
“In my capacity as a foreigner, I was also afraid of a scandal,” he wrote.
TEN YEARS
On Friday morning, Valencia sat silently in a jail cell, watching through audio hyperlink as he was sentenced by Justice Yehia within the NSW Supreme Court.
Justice Yehia stated she couldn’t discover past an affordable doubt that Valencia was motivated by prejudice when he attacked Ms McRae.
However, she additionally rejected his assertion that he was appearing in self defence.
She stated he displayed a “degree of callousness” when he strangled Ms McRae till she was unconscious, did not name for assist and left her entrance door unlocked as he fled.
“Angry or not, the offender should have simply left the deceased’s unit rather than reacting with violence,” Judge Yehia stated.
She took into consideration his expressions of regret and the findings that he had good prospects of rehabilitation.
He was sentenced to 10 years in jail after being given a 25 per cent low cost on his sentence for his early responsible plea.
He shall be eligible for launch in November 2026 after serving a six 12 months and 9 month non-parole interval.
Source: www.news.com.au
