Jury in High-Profile Down Under Murder Trial Visits Beach Where Deceased Was Discovered
Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Australian murder trial have traveled to the isolated beach where the young woman was located.
The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly stabbed with a sharp object and buried in a shallow resting place with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has been told.
Her body were found by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline 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.
Court Inspection to Crime Scene
The panel of 10 men and two women plus several back-up jurors visited the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on Monday morning local time.
In a nod to the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, 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, shorts and headwear.
Location Details
The jurors were led around 1.2km north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, four red and white cones showed where the vehicle had been left.
The trip was intended to help the panel become acquainted with important sites in the trial and no testimony was presented.
Context of the Case
Previously, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were found, the accused departed from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, three children and parents.
He was not heard from until he was arrested years after, the state said.
Prosecution 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 pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.
Those objects were taken by the assailant to avoid detection, the prosecution allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found tied up to a tree hidden in shrubland about 100 feet from the grave.
No murder weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the prosecution says the crown's case – though indirect – was comprised findings that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve evidence that DNA obtained from a stick at the scene was extremely more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The jury has previously been told testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the scene after the killing – and that its travel matched those of a vehicle belonging to the accused.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the state has argued.
Defence Position
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged 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, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his client as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at testimony to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had witnessed two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
The defense attorney has also said he will testify about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.
Further Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities excluded as a person of interest, was among those who gave evidence last week.
The court heard he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his partner's disappearance, prior to her remains were discovered.
Photographs depicting the witness on a hike with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the jury, with an specialist saying he was confident the pictures were authentic and had not been doctored in any way.
The trial will resume to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on the next day.
