Bombshell letter revealed in sex worker murder trial against Colombian student

A Colombian student wrote a bombshell letter after he was extradited to Australia for killing a sex worker moments after learning she was transgender.

A Colombian student wrote a letter to then-Attorney-General Christian Porter describing “a night of madness” during which he killed a sex worker moments after learning she was transgender, a court has heard.

Hector Enrique Valencia is standing trial in the NSW Supreme Court after he admitted to killing Kimberley McRae in a violent altercation in January 2020.

The 23-year-old pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denied murdering the sex worker, a plea that was not accepted by the Crown prosecution.

The former Colombian army serviceman took the stand on Monday to explain the deadly altercation with Ms McRae on the afternoon of January 8.

Hector Enrique Valencia Valencia is standing trial over the alleged murder of sex worker Kimberley McRae in her Coogee flat.

The court heard he first saw Ms McRae, 69, when he came across an online advertisement for the sexual services of a 38-year-old blonde “MILF with G-cup breasts”.

Mr Valencia contacted the woman through WhatsApp and went to her flat in Sydney’s beachside suburb of Coogee after 3pm, the court heard.

He paid her $100 in cash and then went to her bedroom, took off his clothes, and sat on the bed.

The court heard Ms McRae performed oral sex on the 23-year-old for five to ten minutes.

As the pair were talking, Mr Valencia told the court he started to question what the sex worker had told him.

“I started becoming suspicious that the person could be transgender,” he said.

“Because of the breasts and the physical appearance.”

Ms McRae denied the accusation three times before admitting it when Mr Valencia asked a fourth time “in a loud voice”, the court heard.

Kimberley McRae, 69, died in her eastern suburbs home in January 2020. Picture: NSW Police

“I felt lied to and I started to feel upset,” Mr Valencia said.

The student told the court he was upset because his religious beliefs specified “it was not normal that I had sexual intimacy with another man”.

He told the court he punched the sex worker in the stomach and then in the face while he was still naked.

Ms McRae grabbed a nearby lamp and the two began to struggle over the electrical cable, the court heard.

“I was scared that she was going to choke me with the lamp (cord),” Mr Valencia said.

He said the cable broke and they both fell to the ground, where he pressed part of the cable against the sex worker’s neck.

He forcefully held it there for “a few seconds” until she stopped resisting, the court heard.

A medical expert has previously testified that Ms McRae died due to neck compression.

“I was scared and I was panicked,” the Colombian native said.

The court heard Mr Valencia served in the Colombian army.

He served in the military for 12 months.

He grabbed the sheets from the bed and threw them over Ms McRae “in case she was conscious” and tried to attack him, the court heard.

He then searched for her mobile phones, which he threw in the toilet so she couldn’t contact him, and reclaimed the money he paid her.

The business college student maintained he acted in self defence “to stop her attack”.

He told the court he “probably” watched her die.

“I believe I killed the whore … I do not know if she is dead but she must be after what happened,” Mr Valencia wrote in a message to a friend days later.

He said he told two friends about the deadly altercation because he was “having suicidal thoughts” but he didn’t tell them Ms McRae was transgender.

“I didn’t want them to know … that I was with … a man,” Mr Valencia told the court.

“I didn’t want to be embarrassed.”

The 23-year-old said he would not have contracted Ms McRae’s services if he had known she was transgender.

Mr Valencia was extradited from Aruba to Australia over Ms McRae’s death. Picture: NSW Police

He admitted to assaulting the 69-year-old because he felt that he had been tricked into having sex with a man.

Mr Valencia flew to South America three days after Ms McRae died, but was arrested and extradited back to Australia to face trial.

While in jail, the court heard he composed a letter, with help from family members, to then Attorney-General Christian Porter in which he described the fatal confrontation.

“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,” Mr Valencia wrote.

The 23-year-old said he used his “strength as a defence mechanism” when he choked Ms McRae with the lamp cord in her own home.

He also told the Attorney-General that he was afraid of being deported or facing “public embarrassment” over his role in Ms McRae’s death.

“In my capacity as a foreigner, I was also afraid of a scandal,” he wrote.

Crown prosecutor Craig Everson SC told the court it was undisputed that Mr Valencia’s actions ended the sex worker’s life.

Ms McRae died in her flat on Mount St in Coogee but she wasn’t found for days. Photo: Tim Pascoe

He told the court the 23-year-old killed Ms McRae out of anger after learning she was transgender.

“There is no issue that an act of the accused caused the death of Kim McRae,” he said.

“He believed he had been cheated … he retaliated with the intention to cause really serious injury by attacking the neck of Kim McRae and choking her until she stopped struggling.”

Defence barrister Claire Wasley will give her closing statement on Tuesday before Justice Dina Yehia.