Jury in Prominent Australian Murder Trial Tours Beach Where Victim Was Found
Jurors overseeing a high-profile Queensland murder trial have been taken to the remote beach where the young woman was located.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and buried in a shallow grave with little or no hope of surviving, the jury has been told.
Her body were discovered by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline 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.
Jury Visit to Beach
The jury of 12 individuals plus three alternates attended the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a casual top, sport shorts and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.
Scene Particulars
The court members were led around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.
Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, several red and white cones indicated where the vehicle had been parked.
The visit was intended to help the panel become familiar with important sites in the case and no testimony was given.
Background of the Trial
Previously, the court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, the accused flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, family and parents.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended four years later, the prosecution said.
Prosecution Argument
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was found wearing a swimwear, with her attire and most of her possessions absent.
Those objects were removed by the killer to conceal evidence, prosecutors contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was found tied up to a post concealed in shrubland about 30 metres from the burial site.
No murder weapon was found, and no one have been found.
But the state says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was comprised findings that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include evidence that DNA recovered from a stick at the location was 3.8 billion times more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The jury has previously been told testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the scene after the incident – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the state has argued.
Defense Stance
"As the police were discovering Toyah's body, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.
The defence is has not provided testimony, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer portrayed his client as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed testimony to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
The defense attorney has also said he will testify about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.
Additional Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom police quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was among those who testified last week.
The court heard he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's disappearance, prior to her body were found.
Images depicting Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the court, with an specialist saying he was certain the pictures were authentic and had not been altered in any way.
The trial will return to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on Tuesday.
