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Corryn Rayney murder: Calls for independent review of forensic evidence found in car in hope of finding clues

It was the crippled car — sitting on a Subiaco street for more than week — which led police to the final, tragic resting place of Corryn Rayney. A silver Ford Fairmont, missing along with the Supreme Court registrar after she vanished from outside a boot scooting class on August 7, 2007. Its discovery ten days later, parked in plain sight on Kershaw Street, was a breakthrough. The vivid trail of transmission fluid that ran behind it a bonus. Because it led detectives straight to where Mrs Rayney had been buried in King’s Park — a site which also told them how the car had been damaged. A bollard driven over, which had in turn punctured the car’s underside, which eventually caused it to stop for good. In his intricate reasons for finding Lloyd Rayney not guilty of the murder of his wife, Justice Brian Martin was succinct in his summing up the investigations into that vehicle. “The deceased’s car was examined thoroughly for the presence of fingerprints, blood and other artefacts,” he said. Now, 15 years on, supporters of Mr Rayney say those examinations did not go far enough, and a revisiting — as part of an independent review of forensic evidence — could provide new, crucial clues. As revealed during Mr Rayney’s murder trial, 26 fingerprints inside the car were never identified — 13 of which did definitely not belong to Mr Rayney. They were found on a David Jones bag in the back seat, and on a street directory. They were also picked up on the right rear window, left rear quarter window, left rear window, right rear door handle, front left door armrest — and on compact disk in the CD unit. They also point to significant amounts of sand in the front passenger seat and both foot wells — suggestive of at least two people in the car, along with Mrs Rayney. Numerous fluid samples were found on the back seat of the car, separate to the blood of Mrs Rayney, which was found in three different areas of the car. And, as detailed in Justice Martin’s judgment, male DNA — which was excluded as being Mr Rayney’s — was present in various suspicious spots inside the car. On the door-skin of the driver’s door was discovered a ‘weak mixed profile with at least two contributors. “It is possible that a male person contributed to the profile, but the accused is excluded,” was the conclusion of the senior forensic scientist Laurie Webb As can be seen in these never before published photographs, the contents of Mrs Rayney’s purse were strewn inside the vehicle. Her Medicare card, poignantly containing the names of her children, Caitlyn and Sarah, alongside her own. The ironic number for an accident repair firm. And her chequer-board patterned purse itself. “The outside of the wallet produced a ‘complex, mixed profile with at least three contributors’ and at least one male and one female are represented in the profile,” WA’s Supreme Court heard. “There was at least one unknown contributor who is not the daughter of the accused and the deceased.” On her Commonwealth Bank card “a very weak mixed profile with at least two contributors, one of whom was a male ... the accused is excluded.” In the other footwell, Mrs Rayney’s black, stitched boots. Removed from her feet. Her jeans ripped off so forcefully teeth of the zipper had come away. Her shirt had been torn in areas where it had been double-stitched. And on Mrs Rayney herself, traces of saliva, on her neck, and on her genitals. “The combination of facts to which counsel for the accused referred is undoubtedly suggestive of a sexually motivated assault. It is an explanatory alternative ... that must be carefully considered,” Justice Martin concluded. Mr Rayney’s supporters still say it was ignored by the police — because they believed they had their man. “If they engaged the right people, people who are truly independent and courageous, if they were serious about it, it’s not hard to find the answer,” Mr Rayney told the Post this week. “The police have wasted $20million persecuting an innocent man. They have still failed to bring justice to Corryn, Caitlin and Sarah. “The evidence is in statements taken by police. That evidence all points in the one direction. It is clear that this evidence has not been pursued. They thought they knew who had done it.” That belief is backed by the amount of surveillance conducted on Mr Rayney by police over more than three years. The West Australian understands 40 days of physical surveillance, and covert listening devices inside his home for 152 days.

exclusiveCorryn Rayney murder: Calls for independent review of forensic evidence found in car in hope of finding clues

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Corryn Rayney murder: Calls for independent review of forensic evidence found in car in hope of finding clues