Jury in High-Profile Down Under Murder Case Tours Beach At Which Victim Was Discovered
Jurors overseeing a high-profile Australian murder trial have traveled to the isolated shore where the young woman was discovered.
The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly attacked with a sharp object and placed in a sandy grave with little or no hope of surviving, the jury has heard.
Her body were found by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Jury Inspection to Crime Scene
The panel of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors attended the location along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a T-shirt, sport shorts and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defence barristers chose polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Scene Particulars
The jurors were led around 1.2km 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 trip was designed to help the jurors become familiar with important sites in the case and no official evidence was presented.
Context of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were found, the accused flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, three children and parents.
He was out of contact until he was arrested four years later, the prosecution said.
Prosecution Argument
It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was found wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions missing.
Those objects were removed by the assailant to conceal evidence, the prosecution contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was found secured to a post concealed in bushland about 100 feet from the grave.
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 include testimony that DNA recovered from a object 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 phone left the scene after the incident – and that its movements corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his involvement, the state has argued.
Defence Position
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's body, he was arranging... a rushed single journey back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he opened his case.
The defence is yet to present any evidence, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer described his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at evidence to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had seen two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was one who testified previously.
The court heard he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's vanishing, prior to her remains were found.
Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the court, with an expert saying he was certain the photos were authentic and had not been doctored in any manner.
The trial will resume to the standard environment of the courtroom on the next day.