Jury in Prominent Down Under Homicide Trial Visits Shoreline Where Victim Was Found
Jurors overseeing a high-profile Queensland murder trial have traveled to the remote beach where the young woman was located.
The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly stabbed with a sharp object and placed in a sandy grave with little or no chance of survival, the court has been told.
Her body were found by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Court Inspection to Beach
The panel of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors attended the beach along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a casual top, athletic wear and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Location Particulars
The jurors were led around 1.2km along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, several markers showed where the vehicle had been left.
The visit was designed to help the jurors become familiar with important sites in the trial and no testimony was given.
Context of the Trial
Last week, the court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, Mr Singh departed from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, family and parents.
He was out of contact until he was arrested four years later, the state said.
Prosecution Case
It is claimed that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with her attire and most of her possessions absent.
Those objects were taken by the killer to avoid detection, prosecutors allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was found tied up to a tree concealed in shrubland about 30 metres from the burial site.
The weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of proof that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve evidence that DNA obtained from a object 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 testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the beach after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a vehicle owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also suggested his guilt, the prosecution has argued.
Defence Stance
"While authorities were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he began arguments.
The defense is yet to present any evidence, but in his opening address, the defense attorney the lawyer described his defendant as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also foreshadowed testimony to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, 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 "biggest mistake."
The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
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 testified previously.
The court was informed he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his partner's vanishing, even before her body were discovered.
Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the jury, with an expert saying he was confident the photos were authentic and had not been altered in any manner.
The trial will resume to the standard environment of the courtroom on Tuesday.