Jury in High-Profile Australian Homicide Trial Visits Beach Where Deceased Was Discovered
Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Queensland homicide case have traveled to the isolated beach where the young woman was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a sandy grave with minimal hope of surviving, the court has heard.
Her body were discovered by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Court Inspection to Crime Scene
The jury of 10 men and two women plus several back-up jurors attended the location along with the judge and legal counsel on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a casual top, athletic wear and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys chose polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Scene Particulars
The jurors were guided around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, several markers showed where the vehicle had been parked.
The visit was designed to help the jurors become familiar with key locations in the trial and no testimony was presented.
Context of the Trial
Previously, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, the accused flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, family and parents.
He was out of contact until he was apprehended four years later, the prosecution said.
Prosecution Case
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 victim was discovered wearing a bikini, with her attire and belongings absent.
Those items were taken by the assailant to conceal evidence, the prosecution allege.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was located secured to a tree concealed in shrubland about 30 metres from the burial site.
No murder weapon was found, and no one have been found.
But the state says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of proof that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve evidence that DNA obtained from a stick at the scene was 3.8 billion times more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The jury has previously been told testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the beach after the incident – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also suggested his involvement, the state has argued.
Defense Position
"While authorities were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he opened his case.
The defence is yet to present any evidence, but in his opening address, the defense attorney Greg McGuire described his defendant as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also foreshadowed evidence to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
The defense attorney has also said he will testify about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under investigation.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom police excluded as a possible suspect, was one who gave evidence last week.
The trial heard he was an initial police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his partner's vanishing, prior to her body were discovered.
Photographs showing the witness on a hike with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the court, with an specialist saying he was certain the photos were genuine and had not been doctored in any way.
The trial will resume to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on Tuesday.