Jury in Prominent Australian Homicide Trial Tours Beach Where Deceased Was Found
Members of the jury overseeing a widely publicized Queensland murder trial have been taken to the isolated shore where the young woman was located.
The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and placed in a shallow grave with little or no chance of survival, the jury has been told.
The remains were discovered by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Court Visit to Beach
The jury of 10 men and two women plus three alternates visited the location along with the judge and barristers on Monday morning local time.
In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a T-shirt, athletic wear and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the prosecuting and defence barristers chose polo shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Location Details
The jurors were led around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, several red and white cones showed where the vehicle had been parked.
The trip was intended to help the panel become familiar with important sites in the trial and no official evidence was presented.
Background of the Trial
Last week, the court was informed 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 out of contact until he was apprehended four years later, the prosecution said.
State Case
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was discovered wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.
Those items were taken by the assailant to avoid detection, the prosecution allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was located tied up to a post hidden in bushland about 100 feet from the burial site.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been found.
But the prosecution says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was made up of findings that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include testimony that DNA obtained from a stick at the scene was extremely more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The jury has previously been told testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a vehicle belonging to the accused.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also suggested his guilt, the prosecution has argued.
Defense Position
"While authorities were finding Toyah's body, he was arranging... a rushed single journey back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.
The defense is yet to present any evidence, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire described his client as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also foreshadowed evidence to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had seen two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – 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 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 court was informed he was an initial person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's disappearance, prior to her body were found.
Photographs showing the witness on a walk with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the court, with an expert saying he was confident the photos were genuine and had not been doctored in any manner.
The case will resume to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on the next day.
