A Colombian student who flew into a rage, assaulted and strangled a sex worker with a lamp in her dimly lit Coogee unit after discovering she was transgender has been convicted of a crime labeled “heartless.”
Hector Enrique Valencia Valencia did not comment in Sydney’s High Court on Friday after being told he would be convicted of killing Kimberley McRae, 69, during a violent altercation and leaving her lifeless body in her apartment in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in January 2020.
Valencia was slapped by Judge Dina Yehia for not calling for help and throwing her cell phones into the toilet in an attempt to cover his trail before going on the run.
Valencia texted a friend two days after he left her for dead saying, “I think I killed aw***e” and fled the country before finally being arrested in Aruba and extradited back to Australia to face charges. to appear in court.
The former Colombian army soldier admitted to violently assaulting Ms McRae after she went to her Mount Street unit and paid $100 for oral sex and caused the altercation when he punched her in the stomach and face.
Kimberley McCrae, 69, was a transgender woman and advertised sexual services online as a 38-year-old woman
Earlier this year, the 23-year-old went on trial in the NSW High Court, where he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was found not guilty on the more serious charge of murder.
Judge Yehia said Ms. McRae was not only a self-employed sex worker, but also a writer, sister and friend to many.
Mrs. McRae was also described by her sister as intelligent, a talented artist, and a lover of the written word.
Valencia admitted to assaulting and killing Ms. McRae, but argued that the intent was not to kill or seriously injure Ms. McRae.
Her decomposing body was found on the floor of her bedroom covered in a duvet, with a pillow over her head, part of a lamp cord over her neck and a used condom nearby.
The court heard McRae advertise her services online as a “38-year-old blonde Australian busty MILF with G-cup breasts.”
After about five to ten minutes of being naked and receiving sexual services, Mr Valencia became ‘suspicious’ about Ms McRae’s sex.
He said he was furious and “upset” because it was against his religious beliefs “for me to have sexual intimacy with another man.”
The court heard Ms McRae advertised her services online as a 38-year-old woman and she described herself as a ‘MILF’ with ‘G-cup breasts’
While still naked, he punched Mrs. McRae in the face and abdomen before she grabbed a nearby lamp to defend herself and hit him on the shoulder.
He had claimed that he was ‘afraid she would choke me with the lamp(string)’.
As they struggled on the floor, Valencia pressed the cord against Mrs. McRae’s neck until she stopped moving.
During his testimony, he claimed it was self-defense.
However, Judge Yehia rejected that argument, saying he was the one who initiated the violence.
Valencia was returned to Sydney under police guard to face trial and was sentenced by Judge Dina Yehia on Friday morning
Justice Yehia said the attack was not premeditated or planned and it could not be established beyond a reasonable doubt that he was motivated by prejudice when he strangled her.
She also said Ms McRae was isolated and vulnerable when she was killed in her own home.
“The violence was a spontaneous reaction that unfolded very quickly in seconds,” she said.
“Angry or not, the perpetrator should have simply left the deceased’s unit instead of responding with violence.”
Judge Yehia also took into account the fact that he did not render aid or call for help and that he threw her cell phones into the toilet in an attempt to destroy any evidence of their contact.
“This shows a certain insensitivity, albeit panicked,” Judge Yehia said.
An autopsy stated that she died from neck compression, leading to asphyxia, and also noted that she had suffered a broken thyroid cartilage.
Two days after killing Mrs McRae, Valencia sent a message to a friend saying ‘I wasted my life, dude’ and that he was afraid of going to jail.
“I’m dying of embarrassment to tell anyone this. I think I killed aw***e… I better get to Colombia before they catch me. But I can’t see her in the news,” the social media post read.
Two days after the deadly attack, Valencia sent a series of Facebook messages to a friend in Spanish, the court was told (above is a digital mock-up of the translated evidence read in court)
“I don’t know if she’s dead, but she must be after what happened.”
Valencia sold his motorcycle for $2,000 and stole his landlord’s credit card to buy a plane ticket back to Colombia before he was later arrested in Aruba, which has an extradition agreement with Australia.
When he returned, he carried a letter asking then-Attorney General Christian Porter.
“I am a young migrant who did not know how to cope with a situation that abruptly turned from a night of passion to a night of madness,” the Colombian student wrote.
“If I could return hers with my life, I would offer it without thinking.”
He was returned to Sydney under police guard to face trial and was sentenced by Judge Yehia on Friday morning.
Judge Yehia also noted that he expressed remorse and took into account that he had good prospects for rehabilitation.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison with a non-parole period of six years and nine months.
In time, he will be eligible for release in November 2026.
Daily Mail Australia first broke the news of Valencia’s arrest in March 2020.