Jury in High-Profile Down Under Murder Trial Visits Beach Where Victim Was Found
Jurors overseeing a high-profile Queensland homicide case have been taken to the isolated beach where the young woman was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a bladed weapon and placed in a sandy grave with little or no chance of survival, the court has heard.
Her body were found by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch 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 northern Australia.
Jury Visit to Beach
The panel of 12 individuals plus several alternates attended the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a nod to the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, the judge wore a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Scene Details
The jurors were led around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, four markers indicated where the victim's car had been left.
The trip was intended to help the panel become familiar with important sites in the trial and no testimony was presented.
Context of the Case
Previously, the court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, the accused flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, family and relatives.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended four years later, the state said.
State Case
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was found wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and belongings missing.
Those items were taken by the killer to conceal evidence, the prosecution allege.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was located secured to a post concealed in bushland about 30 metres from the grave.
The weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the state says the crown's case – though indirect – was comprised findings that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include evidence that DNA obtained from a stick at the scene was extremely more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The jury has previously been told evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone left the scene after the killing – and that its travel corresponded with those of a vehicle owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also suggested his guilt, the state has claimed.
Defense Stance
"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 opened his case.
The defence is yet to provided testimony, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire portrayed his client as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also hinted at testimony to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had seen assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."
The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was among those who testified last week.
The trial 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 partner's vanishing, even before her remains were found.
Images depicting the witness on a hike with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the photos were genuine and had not been doctored in any manner.
The trial will return to the standard environment of the courtroom on the next day.