Jury in Prominent Australian Murder Trial Tours Shoreline At Which Deceased Was Found
Jurors involved in a widely publicized Queensland homicide case have been taken to the remote beach where the young woman was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times stabbed with a sharp object and placed in a sandy grave with little or no hope of surviving, the jury has heard.
The remains were discovered by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline nestled between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Jury Inspection to Crime Scene
The panel of 12 individuals plus several alternates attended the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on Monday morning local time.
In a nod to the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a T-shirt, athletic wear and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys chose casual shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Scene Particulars
The court members were led around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, several red and white cones showed where the vehicle had been left.
The trip was intended to help the panel become acquainted with important sites in the case and no official evidence was presented.
Background of the Case
Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, the accused flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and parents.
He was not heard from until he was arrested years after, the state said.
State Argument
It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was found wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions missing.
Those items were removed by the killer to conceal evidence, the prosecution allege.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was located tied up to a post hidden in shrubland about 30 metres from the burial site.
No murder weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the state says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was made up of findings that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include evidence that genetic material recovered from a stick at the location was 3.8 billion times more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.
The jury has previously been told evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the scene after the incident – and that its movements matched those of a vehicle owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the state has argued.
Defence Stance
"As the police were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a rushed one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.
The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his opening address, the defense attorney Greg McGuire described his defendant as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
He also hinted at evidence to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had witnessed assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled 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.
Additional Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was among those who gave evidence last week.
The trial was informed he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his partner's disappearance, prior to her body were found.
Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the court, with an specialist saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been doctored in any manner.
The case will resume to the standard environment of the courtroom on Tuesday.
