Jury in Prominent Down Under Homicide Trial Tours Beach Where Deceased Was Discovered
Jurors overseeing a widely publicized Queensland murder trial have been taken to the isolated shore where the victim was discovered.
The 24-year-old victim was multiple times attacked with a bladed weapon and placed in a sandy grave with little or no hope of surviving, the jury has been told.
Her body were found by her father the following 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 Inspection to Beach
The jury of 12 individuals plus several alternates visited the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on Monday morning local time.
In a nod to the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a casual top, sport shorts and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys chose polo shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.
Location Particulars
The court members were guided around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.
Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, several markers indicated where the vehicle had been parked.
The visit was designed to help the jurors become acquainted with important sites in the case and no testimony was given.
Background of the Case
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, three children and parents.
He was not heard from until he was arrested four years later, the state said.
State Case
It is claimed that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was found wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions absent.
Those objects were taken by the assailant to conceal evidence, the prosecution allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was located tied up to a tree concealed in bushland about 100 feet from the burial site.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been identified.
But the state says the crown's case – though indirect – was made up of findings that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will include evidence that genetic material obtained from a stick at the scene was 3.8 billion times more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the population.
The court has already heard testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone left the beach after the killing – and that its travel corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also suggested his guilt, the prosecution has claimed.
Defence Stance
"While authorities were finding Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed 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 initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire described his client as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at evidence to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – 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 Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom police excluded as a possible suspect, was one who testified previously.
The court heard he was an initial police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his partner's vanishing, prior to her remains were found.
Images depicting the witness on a hike with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the court, with an expert saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been doctored in any manner.
The case will return to the standard environment of the courthouse on Tuesday.
