Jury in High-Profile Down Under Murder Trial Visits Beach Where Victim Was Found
Members of the jury involved in a high-profile Australian murder trial have been taken to the remote beach where the victim was located.
Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly attacked with a sharp object and buried in a sandy grave with minimal chance of survival, the court has heard.
The remains were found by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline 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.
Court Inspection to Beach
The jury of 10 men and two women plus three alternates attended the location along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a T-shirt, sport shorts and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.
Scene Details
The jurors were guided around 1.2km 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 victim's car had been parked.
The visit was intended to help the jurors become familiar with key locations in the case and no testimony was given.
Context of the Case
Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were found, the accused flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, family and relatives.
He was out of contact until he was apprehended 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 discovered wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions absent.
Those items were taken by the assailant to conceal evidence, the prosecution allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was located secured to a post hidden in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.
No murder weapon was found, and no one have been identified.
But the state says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was comprised proof that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve evidence that DNA recovered from a stick at the scene was 3.8 billion times more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The court has already heard evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the beach after the killing – and that its travel corresponded with those of a vehicle belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the state has claimed.
Defence Position
"As the police were discovering Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he began arguments.
The defence is has not provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney the lawyer portrayed his defendant as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed testimony to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had witnessed two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
The defense attorney has also said he will testify about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was among those who testified last week.
The court 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 girlfriend's disappearance, even before her body were discovered.
Images showing Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the jury, with an specialist saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been doctored in any way.
The case will resume to the standard environment of the courthouse on Tuesday.
