The ABC Has Revealed Vital Evidence In Mhelody Bruno’s Case That Never Made It To Court
"There is certainly an argument to say that a miscarriage of justice may have occurred here."
Nearly two years after her untimely death, a new investigation into the Mhelody Bruno case has unveiled promising evidence that never saw the light of day in court.
Content Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual violence.
Mhelody Bruno, a Filipino trans woman, was holidaying in Australia when, a week before her flight back home, she was killed by former Air Force Corporal Rian Toyer — a man she had known for only three weeks.
Toyer told the court he had strangled Mhelody during sex, and claimed it was consensual because while she had not agreed to erotic asphyxiation, she also never communicated for him to stop.
He pled guilty to manslaughter, meaning the case never went to trial. Toyer was originally given 500 hours of community service, before a sentencing error in March bumped his punishment to a max of 22 months in jail.
Mhelody Bruno's killers original sentence to serve no jail time after strangling her to death was unlawful. It shows how the 'justice' system sees the bodies of transwomen of colour as disposable. #justiceformhelody
— Tamina Pitt (@taminap) March 29, 2021
Now, the ABC’s Background Briefing, joined by a regional investigation team, have found information that might have made a difference in Toyer’s charge or sentencing.
A few hours before Bruno was strangled, a string of odd, out-of-character messages were sent from her phone, according to the ABC.
One message swore at her ex, another told her friends in the Philippines to show their genitals, and a third said Bruno was ‘dirty’ and had HIV.
A friend’s sibling also received a video call from Bruno’s phone where an unidentified man allegedly said he would “rape Mhelody and give her AIDS”.
People in the trans community have long raised questions about the strangulation death of Mhelody Bruno in Wagga. They said we hadn't heard the full story. Now, in an incredible investigation for @BackgroundBrief, @EliseK53 shows that they might be right. https://t.co/3lfXfK8lcU
— Tim Roxburgh (@timrox) July 2, 2021
Just eight hours after the last video call, Bruno would be knocked unconscious. She died the day after. The courts never heard about the calls, despite the police taking a statement about it.
The ABC also found that ambulance logs, first-responder statements, medical records, and an autopsy report — all of which may have pointed to inconsistencies in the case — weren’t brought before the bench.
Paramedics said there was no evidence Toyer had administered CPR to Bruno, despite telling operators he had. Bruno was found fully dressed, even though Toyer said he called an ambulance as soon as he realised she was unresponsive in the middle of having sex. There was also a range of other injuries on her body observed by doctors, nurses, and in her autopsy.
@MarkSpeakman this is not going to go away… Please reopen this case so that a fresh judge & jury can consider ALL of the evidence!
— Matthew (@Matthew_L_Dale) July 1, 2021
These significant details may have countered the ruling that Bruno’s death was “on the lower end of the scale of seriousness for matters of manslaughter”, as described by Judge Gordon Lerve earlier this year.
“There is certainly an argument to say that a miscarriage of justice may have occurred here,” former Supreme Court Judge Anthony Whealy told the ABC when shown the unheard evidence.
You can read the full ABC investigation here.