Jury in High-Profile Down Under Murder Trial Visits Beach At Which Victim Was Discovered
Jurors overseeing a widely publicized Queensland murder trial have been taken to the remote beach where the victim was located.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a bladed weapon and placed in a sandy resting place with little or no hope of surviving, the court has heard.
Her body were discovered by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch 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 Beach
The jury of 12 individuals plus three back-up jurors attended the location along with the judge and legal counsel on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, the judge wore a T-shirt, athletic wear and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the prosecuting and defence barristers chose polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Scene Details
The court members were guided around 1.2km along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, four markers showed where the victim's car had been left.
The visit was designed to help the panel become acquainted with key locations in the trial and no testimony was given.
Background of the Case
Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, the accused flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and parents.
He was out of contact until he was arrested four years later, the prosecution said.
Prosecution Argument
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with her attire and belongings missing.
Those objects were removed by the killer to avoid detection, prosecutors contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was located tied up to a tree hidden in shrubland about 100 feet from the burial site.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been found.
But the state says the evidence – though circumstantial – was made up of proof that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve testimony that genetic material recovered from a object at the scene was 3.8 billion times more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The jury has previously been told evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach after the killing – and that its movements corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his guilt, the prosecution has claimed.
Defense Position
"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed single journey back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he began arguments.
The defense is has not present any evidence, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire portrayed his client as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also hinted at evidence to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had witnessed assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Further Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was one who gave evidence previously.
The trial heard he was an initial person of interest – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's disappearance, even before her body were found.
Images showing the witness on a hike with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the photos were genuine and had not been doctored in any manner.
The trial will return to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on Tuesday.
