Jury in High-Profile Australian Homicide Trial Visits Beach At Which Victim Was Discovered
Jurors overseeing a widely publicized Queensland murder trial 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 little or no hope of surviving, the court has been told.
Her body were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline 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 several back-up jurors attended the beach along with the judge and barristers on Monday morning local time.
In a nod to the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a casual top, sport shorts and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.
Scene Details
The court members were led around 1.2km along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, several markers indicated where the victim's car had been parked.
The trip was designed to help the jurors become acquainted with key locations in the case and no official evidence was given.
Background of the Trial
Last week, the court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, three children and parents.
He was out of contact until he was arrested years after, the state said.
State Case
It is alleged that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a bikini, with her attire and belongings absent.
Those items were taken by the killer to conceal evidence, the prosecution contend.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was found tied up to a tree hidden in bushland about 30 metres from the grave.
No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been identified.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though circumstantial – was made up of proof that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include evidence that DNA recovered from a object at the scene was 3.8 billion times more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.
The jury has already heard evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach after the killing – and that its travel matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the state has claimed.
Defence Position
"While authorities were discovering 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 defence is has not present any evidence, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire described his client as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed evidence to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had witnessed two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – 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 Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was among those who testified last week.
The court was informed he was an immediate person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his partner's vanishing, even before her body were discovered.
Photographs showing Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the jury, with an expert saying he was confident the photos were authentic and had not been doctored in any way.
The trial will return to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on Tuesday.
