A Colombian student accused of murdering a sex worker in a rage inside her Sydney eastern suburbs unit sent a friend a message saying: “I believe I killed a whore,” a court has been told.
Hector Enrique Valencia Valencia is standing trial in the NSW Supreme Court where he has admitted to assaulting and killing Kimberley McRae in January 2020, however he has pleaded not guilty to her murder.
Mr Valencia, 23, has pleaded guilty to her manslaughter but has denied he intended to kill or cause grievous bodily harm to Ms McRae after he went to her Mount St, Coogee apartment, having answered an online advertisement.
He pleaded not guilty to Ms McRae’s murder, however crown prosecutor Craig Everson SC did not accept the guilty plea to the lesser charge.
The court was told that Ms McRae, 69, was a transgender woman and advertised sexual services online as a 38-year-old woman.
When Ms McRae performed sexual acts on Mr Valencia, he did not know Ms McRae was transgender and when he found out, he “lost self-control”, defence barrister Claire Wasley told the court on Monday.
Mr Valencia punched Ms McRae once in the stomach and once in the face before they wrestled and struggled on the ground, Ms Wasley said.
Mr Valencia is facing a judge-alone trial before Justice Dina Yehia which is centering on the events inside Ms McRae’s home between 3.35pm and 4.15pm on the afternoon of January 8, 2020.
The Crown prosecution has alleged Ms McRae died due to neck compression and was discovered with a cord around her neck and her body covered in a doona and pillow.
Mr Valencia’s defence has accepted he initiated the physical altercation and caused her death, however, has argued he did not intend to kill or cause grievous bodily harm to Ms McRae.
The court heard that after she was attacked, Ms McRae attacked Mr Valencia with a lamp and he claims at that point he feared for his life.
Police discovered a lamp, with a broken cord, and a used condom wrapped in a tissue inside Ms McRae’s bedroom alongside her body.
Mr Valencia arrived in Australia on a student visa in May 2019 and was studying at a Surry Hills business college.
Two days after the altercation which resulted in Ms McRae’s death, Mr Valencia sent a Facebook message to a friend in Spanish, the court was told.
Crown prosecutor Craig Everson SC told the court that one of the messages translated to say: “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.”
Mr Everson said 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.”
Mr Valencia sold his scooter for $2000, borrowed $1000 from friends and bought a plane ticket back to Colombia using his landlord’s stolen credit card.
He boarded a flight back to South America the next day – three days after the altercation inside Ms McRae’s apartment – the court heard.
He returned to Colombia but was arrested in Aruba and extradited back to Australia where he has been in custody ever since.
Ms McRae’s decomposing body was discovered after a concerned relative contacted Ms McRae’s real estate agent.
When asked what she could smell when she entered the unit, property manager Corrine Smith on Monday told the court: “I could smell, like a bad … like decomposing, a strong smell.”
Ms McRae was also an author and published a memoir, ‘Hey Boys, She’s Got a Gash and Other Tales of Gods’, under the pen name Isabelle Lawson in 2019.
One of Ms McRae’s friends, Renee Starr, told the court the 69-year-old would keep the lights off in her apartments with tape over the switches and the blinds closed.
Ms Starr told the court on Monday it was because Ms McRae was self-conscious about her age and her masculine looks.
But Ms Starr denied it was an attempt to hide from her clients that she was transgender.
She described Ms McRae as having “beautiful energy”, who was street smart, good at diffusing situations and making clients feel at ease, but kept a box cutter underneath her bed.
Ms Starr said Ms McRae had told her of clients who were “aggressive” but that prior to Mr Valencia she had never been attacked.
The trial continues.
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