Coogee sex worker Kimberley McRae strangled to death: Inside her frantic final ... trends now

They are the haunting last known images of sex worker Kimberley McRae before her death at the hands of a Colombian business student who is now facing years in jail.

Ms McRae's badly decomposing body was found inside her Coogee flat on January 14, 2020, when a relative contacted her real estate agent over growing fears about her welfare.

Hector Enrique Valencia Valencia, 23, stood trial in the NSW Supreme Court over her killing earlier this month.

He admitted to punching the 69-year-old and during an altercation placing a cord on her neck until she stopped moving, later telling his trial he 'probably' watched her die.

During his evidence, Valencia said he had become upset after learning McRae was transgender, and punched her in the face and stomach, initiating the fatal altercation which led to her death.

On Friday, Justice Dina Yehia found Valencia not guilty of murder but guilty of the alternate charge of manslaughter.

She said it had not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he intended to kill or cause really serious injury as he wrestled with her inside her darkly lit Mount St apartment.

Her final moments 

The day before she was killed by Valencia and her body left underneath a doona cover, she was captured on CCTV at a Bondi Junction post office.

The images are the last known pictures of the well-known Coogee personality and author.

During her verdict handed down on Friday afternoon, Justice Yehia said while Ms McRae was transgender and a sex worker, no judgement was made about her lifestyle.

'It should be clearly understood that Kimberley McRae was entitled to live her life as she wanted,' Justice Yehia said.

She added Ms McRae had a twin sister, and was a beloved family member and a friend to many.

Ms McRae lived alone at the Mount Street unit and published a memoir under the pen name of Isabella Lawson in December 2018.

She was a self-employed sex worker and advertised her services under the names 'Sabrina', 'Samantha', 'Caitlyn' and 'Isabella'.

On the afternoon of January 7, 2020, she went to a post office at Bondi Junction to post a book to her friend.

CCTV cameras captured her walking into the store at 4.46pm and speaking to a post office worker before departing.

They are the last known images of her before her death about 24 hours later.

'Can I touch you down there?' 

Hector Enrique Valencia Valencia arrived in Australia on a student visa in May 2019.

While in Australia he rented a room at a townhouse in Matraville for $200 a week, worked at a Little Bay cafe and attended a business college two evenings a week.

On the afternoon of January 8, 2020, Valencia texted Ms McRae after seeing one of her advertisements on an online classifieds website.

In her advertisement, Ms McRae did not state that she was transgender and described herself as a 38-year-old 'blonde Australian busty MILF with G-Cup breasts'.

'Hmmm im (sic) sorry but I want to do oral sex :(.... Let me think,' Valencia wrote to her at 2.49pm.

After asking for a pic, he wrote six minutes later: 'Ok ok I agree. Kust (sic) last question. Can I touch you down there?'

After being given Ms McRae's address, he was told to call her when he arrived.

The last outgoing call on Ms McRae's phone was to Valencia's number at 3.35pm and he left her home at 4.15pm.

Anger and panic 

What happened inside Ms McRae's Mount Street apartment in those 40 minutes has been pieced together through both forensic and Valencia's evidence.

The court heard Ms McRae's apartment was kept dark - she had blackout curtains and her light switches were covered in duct tape.

After arriving, he was told to go into the bedroom, get naked, and lie on the bed.

He paid Ms McRae $100

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