Jury in Prominent Down Under Murder Trial Tours Beach Where Victim Was Discovered
Jurors overseeing a widely publicized Australian homicide case have traveled to the isolated beach where the young woman was discovered.
The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly attacked with a sharp object and buried in a shallow grave with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has heard.
The remains were discovered by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Court Inspection to Crime Scene
The panel of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors visited the location along with the presiding officer and barristers on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a nod to the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a T-shirt, sport shorts and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers chose polo shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Location Details
The jurors were led around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, four markers showed where the victim's car had been left.
The trip was designed to help the panel become familiar with key locations in the case and no official evidence was given.
Context of the Case
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, the accused departed from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, three children and parents.
He was out of contact until he was arrested four years later, the state said.
Prosecution Argument
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a bikini, with her attire and belongings missing.
Those objects were taken by the assailant to conceal evidence, the prosecution allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was located secured to a post concealed in shrubland about 100 feet from the burial site.
No murder weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the state says the evidence – though indirect – was comprised findings that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will include evidence that genetic material recovered from a object at the location was extremely more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The court has previously been told evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the scene after the killing – and that its travel matched those of a vehicle owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the prosecution has claimed.
Defense Stance
"While authorities were finding Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he began arguments.
The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney the lawyer described his defendant as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also hinted at testimony to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had seen assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under investigation.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom police quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was among those who gave evidence previously.
The court heard he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's vanishing, even before her remains were found.
Photographs showing the witness on a walk with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the jury, with an specialist saying he was confident the pictures were authentic and had not been doctored in any way.
The case will resume to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on Tuesday.