A British forensics company will review DNA evidence in the unsolved murder of Perth woman Corryn Rayney, whose death in 2007 was followed by the high profile trial and acquittal of her husband, barrister Lloyd Rayney.
Corryn Rayney, a supreme court registrar, was found buried in Kings Park on August 15, 2007, eight days after she went missing en route from a line dancing class to her home in the wealthy Perth suburb of Como. She was 44 years old.
Lloyd Rayney, 53, was charged with her murder in 2010 but acquitted at a judge-only trial in 2012. That verdict was upheld by the appeal court.
Rayney has argued publicly that Western Australian police failed to properly investigate the case, having settled on him as a suspect from the start, and has called for a coronial inquest.
The commissioner of police, Karl O’Callaghan, announced a cold-case review of the murder using an entirely new team of investigators in May, headed by assistant commissioner Gary Budge.
On Wednesday, O’Callaghan said the team on the review, which has been dubbed Operation Delve, would include 13 detectives and forensics officers from WA police and a senior homicide detective from Queensland police. A detective inspector from New South Wales police was due to join the investigation next month.
“This is a brand new, independent inquiry into who killed Corryn Rayney and now is the time for anyone with any information at all about this crime to make themselves heard,” O’Callaghan said.
O’Callaghan said WA police had also hired Cellmark Forensic Services to review DNA evidence. The private forensics firm – one of three large firms handling criminal investigations in Britain – claims credit for finding the DNA link between Rachel Nickell, a 23-year-old woman who was stabbed 49 times in front of her son on Wimbledon Common in 1992, and Robert Napper, the man who in 2008 pleaded guilty to her manslaughter.
“This enhanced forensic capacity, along with the two experienced eastern states secondments, will provide a further layer of independence and expertise to the review,” O’Callaghan said.
“Cellmark has appointed a lead forensic scientist to the Corryn Rayney cold case and he has already travelled to Perth to commence initial assessment work for the team.”
The inquiry is expected to take at least 12 months.
