Jury in Prominent Down Under Murder Trial Tours Shoreline Where Victim Was Found
Members of the jury overseeing a widely publicized Queensland murder trial have traveled to the isolated shore where the young woman was located.
Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a sandy resting place with minimal chance of survival, the jury has been told.
Her body were discovered by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Court Visit to Crime Scene
The panel of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors visited the location along with the judge and legal counsel on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, the judge wore a casual top, sport shorts and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers selected casual shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.
Scene Details
The jurors were led around 1.2km along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, four red and white cones showed where the vehicle had been left.
The visit was intended to help the panel become acquainted with key locations in the trial and no official evidence was presented.
Context of the Case
Previously, the court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were found, Mr Singh departed from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, family and parents.
He was out of contact until he was arrested four years later, the prosecution said.
State Argument
It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was found wearing a bikini, with her attire and most of her possessions missing.
Those objects were taken by the killer to avoid detection, the prosecution allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found secured to a post concealed in shrubland about 100 feet from the burial site.
No murder weapon was found, and no one have been found.
But the state says the crown's case – though indirect – was comprised proof that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include testimony that genetic material obtained from a object at the scene was extremely more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the population.
The jury has already heard evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the scene after the killing – and that its travel matched those of a vehicle belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the state has argued.
Defense Position
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.
The defense is has not provided testimony, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire portrayed his client as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at testimony 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 fled in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
The defense attorney has also said he will testify about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Further Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom police quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was among those who testified last week.
The court heard he was an immediate person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his partner's vanishing, even before her body were discovered.
Photographs showing Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a companion 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 way.
The case will resume to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on Tuesday.
