MURDER: The Disappearence of Corryn Rayney
A mysterious and high-profile case from Western Australia, the tragic murder of Corryn Rayney is seeped in suspicions of police malpractice and inter-webbed with various suspicions and theories that have led to this case still being unsolved 14 years later. We may never know real unfortunate reason why Ms Rayney was murdered, or who killed her, but lets have a look at the details of this fairly unknown, but famous, case from Western Australia.
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| Corryn Rayney and Lloyd Rayney |
Witnesses described Ms Rayney as a strong-willed, controlled woman who took her reputation seriously. She was professional and responsible when it came to her job. Although she was also described as ''hard-nosed'' and ''opinionated' by people, there was a general consensus that the victim was a family-orientated person and did everything for her children. Ms Rayney was regarded well by her coworkers and fellow colleagues in the industry, and loved by her friends and family.
Her husband, Lloyd Rayney, was also part of an immigrant family. He was born in Yemen in 1962, and moved to Australia with his family around the age of five years old. He also graduated from law, and was allowed to practice law from 1984. After various job posts from 1988 to 2003 working for the Commonwealth and WA government, Lloyd moved to Bermuda to work as a Senior Crown Counsel at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. In mid 2004, he returned to Western Australia where he got a a job as a barrister in the private sector.
People close to the couple described Lloyd Rayney as a reserved man, quiet and measured, but sensitive. Family also added that Lloyd was not one to get angry, and it was unusual for him to even raise his voice. He maintained a calm demeanor, and was cool and collected, even in times of stress. He was also described a ''charmer'' and a ''ladies man'' when his wife was not around. Overall, there was a consensus that Mr Rayney also took his career and professional reputation seriously.
Their daughters were Caitlyn (13 years old) and Sarah (10 years old).
It was reported in Court that the marriage between the couple has been strained and deteriorating for many years. Ms Rayney was complaining to friends and family how she did not trust Lloyd with financial matters, because he had a gambling addiction. Her husband also was known to philander with women, and had extramarital affairs.
It was also said that the victim did not speak kindly to her husband and did not like having him around. In the time that he was living in Bermuda, and the couple was separated, friends and family noticed that she flourished and loved being with her daughters as a single parent. While there was a period around 2005 where it was looking like the relationship improved, after the couple reconciled upon Mr Rayney's return from Bermuda, it was revealed later in 2006 that there was still problems in the relationship. Lloyd moved out of the couple's bedroom to the study and they were formally separated pending divorce negotiations in June 2007.
Crime
On the evening of Tuesday, 7 August 2007, Ms Rayney was attending a boot-scooting class at the Bentley Community Center. She left the class at 9.30pm, and that was the last time anyone saw her alive. It is believed that Corryn Rayney died in the evening of the same night, or in the early hours of Wednesday 8 August 2007. Her body was buried in King's Park, in the bush, off a sandy track from Lovekin Drive, know as Wattle Track. The grave was discovered on 15 August 2007.
The cause of death has not been formally established, however it was known that Ms Rayney suffered from coronary artery disease. She was susceptible to suffer from a cardiac event that could make her lose consciousness or kill her. At the trial, it was concluded that her death was not of natural causes, but she sustained a violent assault that injured her brain and intervertebral discs, which probably made her unconscious. There is evidence that whoever attacked Ms Rayney put her body in the boot of the car and transported her to King's Park for burial. There was pollen found in her nasal passages that came from the King's Park area, which suggested that she either died in that vicinity by suffocation from the perpetrator, or was buried alive and suffocated from the soil that was placed on her body.
Later, the car was abandoned in Kershaw St, Subiaco, due to engine failure from the oil leakage. This was caused by the attacker hitting a bollard close to Wattle Track. The car was found on 14 August 2007. The oil track was just over 3.3kms long, and went from the vicinity of Wattle Track to Kershaw St.
The evening of the murder, the Rayneys planned to sit down and discuss the separation and custody arrangements between them. Corryn decided to attend the boot-scooting class so that she did not look too ''desperate'' and her agenda was to talk about the custody arrangements between the couple and their two daughters. The same day, friends have said that Lloyd appeared to look ''happy'' and ''relieved'' that they were finally sitting down to discuss things. He felt like they were making progress and settling their issues.
On the same night, the younger daughter Sarah, was at home with her father. She remembers that around 9.30pm to 10.00pm she fell asleep and before that her father was spending time with her and let her do her homework before she finally went to bed. Her older sister, Caitlyn, was at a concert with a close family friend, and arrived home between 10.45pm to 11.00pm.
Caitlyn mentioned to the court that when they arrived back to their home, she could see that her mother's car was not parked in the driveway. This struck her as unusual. After her friends and the neighbour left, Caitlyn went to check her mother's room and found that she was not in her bed. After, her father helped her do her homework and she turned in just before midnight. It was strange that her mother was still not home at the time. As was her practice, she read just before sleeping, and it would have been the early hours of the morning before she fell asleep. However, it was an anxious and not well-rested sleep, as the eldest daughter was worried why her mother was still not home.
The next morning, the girls and Lloyd woke up to eat breakfast and go to school and work, respectively. First it was noted by Caitlyn that her mother's bed was made and the jacket that was left on the bed the night before was still there. This worried her slightly, but their father assuaged their fears by saying that maybe their mother left for work early in the morning and did not inform anyone.
By midday, the office of Ms Rayney contacted her husband and informed that she missed her appointment for that day. At this stage, Lloyd Rayney started to panic that his wife was missing. He started calling friends, family, colleagues to ask if anyone knew the whereabouts of his wife. He visited her office and requested permission to check her emails. He saw that their eldest daughter wrote an email that morning asking where her mother was. None were replied to.
That afternoon, Lloyd took his sister and father-in-law to the police station and put in a statement for a missing person.
Investigation
On 16 August 2007, an investigation to determine who is Ms Rayney's killer was launched. Police take DNA from the body to determine that it is indeed Corryn Rayney, and they collect evidence from around the scene of the crime.
The police wasted no time in searching the Rayney home. Initially, the police name Lloyd Rayney as a person of interest, but not a suspect. He was cooperative in letting them have a look at the house and searching for clues. In the first few days of the investigation, seasoned police officers also scrutinized Mr Rayney to see if he had any visible signs of a man who did not sleep, any cuts or bruises, or any other distinguishable marks that could indicate that he was the one who attacked his wife. No one could find any evidence that he has been involved in a scuffle. Even Mr Lloyd's secretary attested that he did not have signs of someone doing work with his hands the day after his wife went missing.
However, on 20 September 2007, police name Lloyd Rayney as the prime and only suspect in the case, adding that there are some persons of interest, also. Mr Rayney is also charged with bugging his wife's phone.
On 8 December 2010, over 2 years after the death of his wife, Lloyd Rayney is arrested for the murder. His arrest was as highly visible as possible. Police came in hi-vis vests in Perth's CBD, and arrested Mr Rayney in plain sight of everyone, in the middle of the day. He was released on bail on 23 December 2010.
The WA Police build a case that Mr Rayney killed his wife and hid her body in the bushes after his youngest daughter went to bed. And he hid the car somewhere that could not be seen. Then he waited for Caitlyn to come home from her rock concert. After the eldest daughter went to bed, which the Court ruled that it must have been around 11.30pm, Mr Rayney walked to where he parked the car and drove it back to the house, and dragged the victim's body to the rear seat and drove to King's Park to get rid of it.
The Police surmised that Lloyd acquired a shovel or similar implement between the house and King's Park. However, nothing was found and there was no evidence to support that idea. The attacker lowered a bollard on Wattle Track and then hit the lowered bollard with the underside of the car, which caused the oil leak. The car was then driven the 3.3kms to Kershaw Street, Subiaco, where it was abandoned. After, the Police say that Mr Rayney made his way back home on foot, which was about a 90 minute walk. He would have been home just after 04.00am with some few hours of sleep and time to wake up and get the girls ready at 07.30am. There was no witnesses, no CCTV footage or any other evidence to support that.
One nail in the Police's investigation was the physical condition of Mr Rayney. He was just a bit less than 174cms with a weight of around 67kgs. His late wife was 160cms with a weight of 78kgs. Lloyd was described as having a ''soft condition'' due to having a sedentary job and suffering from significant back injuries for many years. He also did not engage in physical exercise. It would have been very difficult for him to drag a deceased person of that weight and height, and also manoeuvre it in the back of a car.
It would have also been quite difficult for him to dig a hole for the body to be buried in. A large amount of sand would have to be removed, and then the body placed in the hole, sand put back and the vegetation to be placed back. He would have experienced pain in his back and be out of breath and exhausted. And on top of all that, to walk 90 minutes back home and be refreshed and ready to get the girls ready for school! Everyone (colleagues, family, friends and even Police) said that Lloyd looked normal the next day, with no visible signs of tiredness, cuts, or bruises to suggest he had been up to no good the night before.
According to Police, Mr Rayney used his knowledge of working as a barrister and prosecutor to commit the perfect crime. However, I would say that this is quite far from the perfect crime, and it's a bit of a hack job that the man would kill his wife in the family home, with his daughters sleeping so close. It would take someone very cold-hearted, borderline evil, to be able to do that.
The only piece of evidence that the Police had to support the theory that Lloyd Rayney was the killer was a small place card that was found close to the body. This place card was from a dinner party that he attended on 28 July 2007. The Police said that he dropped that card while being in the area of Wattle Track on the evening of 7 August. Suspicions came when Mr Rayney lied that he took his wife's car to the dinner, and that is how it came to be there, however witnesses say that he drove his own car that night. The Court surmised that he lied because he knew the card could implicate him in a negative light in the case of his wife.
The Court accepted the fact that Corryn Rayney was probably attacked in front of her house, due to forensic evidence found such as a seed pod in her hair from the Liquidambar tree which was in their front yard, and also particles of paint, plastic and brick that was present in her clothing. If she was attacked and immobilized immediately, it would have been difficult for her family to hear with the daughter being asleep and the husband maybe in the family room or the rear of the house.
Lloyd Rayney was trialled for the murder of his wife starting on 16 July 2012. He had a judge only trial with no jury as it was argued that due to his work as a prosecutor and barrister, he would face bias from a jury. On 1 November 2012, he was acquitted of implication in his wife's murder due to lack of ''crucial evidence'' and ''logic''.
Mr Rayney has also sued for defamation when he was accused as the ''prime and only suspect'' and was awarded a payout of 2.6 million $AUD in 2017. This was the largest single payout to one person at the time.
Other suspects and theories
There were some other persons of interest questioned in relation to this case. One of Western Australia's most infamous sex offenders, Allon Lacco and his former housemate Ivan Eades, who also had a sordid reputation, A cigarette butt with Eades' DNA was found from the footpath outside the Rayney's house, one week after Corryn Rayney's body was found in the bush grave.
They were both living close to the Rayneys' home, and coincidentally, had an apartment that overlooked the Bentley Community Centre, where Ms Rayney was last seen and attended her bootscooting classes.
There was also a phone calls made to Eades' sister on the dates of 7 and 8 August 2007 from a phone box located on the Rayneys' street.
Allon Lacco moved to Melbourne, Victoria in 2007, shortly after the disappearance of Corryn Rayney. His moved got attention from the media in December 2007 because he was living near a school and spent his days surrounded by young people at a skate park. Aged 47, he got his sordid reputation after brutally injuring and sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl as she slept in her home in 1989. This happened after he raped a woman in her late 20s, as she was sleeping in the same bed as her 2-year-old son. He was also reported to have escaped out of prison 4 times.
Ivan Eades had a previous murder conviction, which was know to Police at the time of investigation.My conclusion
My sympathies go out to the friends and family of Ms Rayney who had to deal with not only such a tragic loss, but a long and arduous battle to get justice for this crime. With no new leads, this has remained a cold case, even now 14 years on. Lloyd Rayney has lost his prestigious legal reputation that he so long fought to build. The daughters are now apparently living overseas, and not in Australia anymore. They have stood by their father constantly through the investigation and trial, and this has caused a rift in the family. Especially, with family on Ms Rayney's side.
Who do you think was responsible for this murder? Did the Police do justice to the crime, or just jumped to conclusions based on biases against Mr Rayney? Let me know in the comments below!
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