Jury in Prominent Australian Murder Case Tours Shoreline At Which Victim Was Found
Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Australian homicide case have traveled to the remote shore where the young woman was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a sandy resting place with little or no chance of survival, the court has been told.
Her body were discovered by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Court Visit to Crime Scene
The panel of 10 men and two women plus several back-up jurors visited the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on the start of the week local time.
In a nod to the hot climate and sweltering heat, the judge wore a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers chose polo shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.
Scene Particulars
The jurors were led around 1.2km along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, several red and white cones showed where the victim's car had been parked.
The trip was designed to help the jurors become familiar with important sites in the trial and no official evidence was given.
Context of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, the accused departed from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and parents.
He was out of contact until he was apprehended years after, the prosecution said.
State Argument
It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was discovered wearing a swimwear, with her attire and belongings absent.
Those objects were removed by the assailant to avoid detection, the prosecution allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was located secured to a post hidden in shrubland about 100 feet from the grave.
No murder weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the state says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of findings that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will include evidence that DNA obtained from a object at the location was 3.8 billion times more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The jury has already heard testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the beach after the incident – and that its travel corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the state has argued.
Defense Position
"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.
The defence is yet to present any evidence, but in his opening address, the defense attorney the lawyer portrayed his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at evidence to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had seen two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was one who gave evidence last week.
The trial was informed he was an initial police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his partner's disappearance, even before her remains were found.
Photographs showing the witness on a hike with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the court, with an specialist saying he was certain the photos were authentic and had not been altered in any way.
The trial will resume to the standard environment of the courtroom on the next day.
