Panel of Jurors in Prominent Australian Homicide Case Tours Shoreline Where Deceased Was Discovered
Members of the jury involved in a widely publicized Queensland murder trial have been taken to the remote beach where the young woman was located.
The 24-year-old victim was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and buried in a sandy grave with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has heard.
The remains were found by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Court Inspection to Crime Scene
The jury of 10 men and two women plus three alternates visited the beach along with the judge and barristers on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, the judge wore a casual top, athletic wear and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.
Scene Details
The court members were led around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, four markers showed where the victim's car had been parked.
The trip was intended to help the panel become familiar with important sites in the case and no testimony was presented.
Background of the Case
Previously, the court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were found, Mr Singh departed from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, three children and parents.
He was not heard from until he was arrested four years later, the prosecution said.
State Argument
It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.
Those objects were taken by the assailant to conceal evidence, prosecutors contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was located secured to a post hidden in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.
No murder weapon was found, and no one have been identified.
But the state says the crown's case – though indirect – was made up of proof that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will include testimony that DNA obtained from a object at the location was extremely more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The jury has previously been told testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the beach after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a vehicle owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the state has argued.
Defense Stance
"As the police were discovering Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed 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, the defense attorney the lawyer described his client as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed evidence to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an plainclothes agent he had witnessed two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom police excluded as a person of interest, was among those who testified previously.
The trial was informed 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 girlfriend's vanishing, prior to her remains were discovered.
Photographs depicting the witness on a walk with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the photos were genuine and had not been altered in any way.
The case will return to the standard environment of the courthouse on the next day.