WA Police Commissioner Order Review Of Corryn Rayney Murder

The murder of Corryn Rayney is going to be reinvestigated. The Supreme Court registrar from Western Australia was murdered in 2007.

WA Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan has ordered a review of Rayney’s death. Gary Budge, the assistant commissioner, was appointed as the leader of a team of investigators that will include personnel for the eastern states of the country.

Former Perth barrister Lloyd Rayney, the deceased’s husband, was accused of her murder. At that time, he was considered to be the “only suspect” in the murder case. Corryn disappeared on Aug. 7, 2007 after going to a boot-scooting class. Police found her car abandoned after one week in Subiaco. She was discovered buried head down.

Lloyd was charged with the murder in 2010. However, he was acquitted in a judge-only trial. A subsequent appeal was made in 2013 but that was also rejected. Last week, he was also acquitted of charges related to illegally tapping Corryn’s phone. According to police allegations, the husband tapped the family phone while the couple was going through a nasty divorce.

O’Callaghan said on Monday that he had chosen to act now irrespective of legal advice. “This is an important matter for us to try to resolve for Corryn Rayney’s family and loved ones,” his statement said. The investigating team is going to report directly to O’Callaghan. Martin Bennett, Lloyd’s lawyer, earlier appealed for an inquiry into the primary investigation.

O’Callaghan said that the team would have to get a look at the material in hand and give an idea of how long it might take to investigate. He added that the process might take around two to three weeks. It will be clear by that time how long the whole investigation will take, he said.

The WA police commissioner said that it had not been possible to make any public comment related to the case before. However, he said that a public statement should be expected in three weeks for more updates about the duration of the review.

O’Callaghan also said that Budge would assemble a team of independent investigators as well as some local investigators. He said that the assistant commissioner would require some time to look through the available material.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au