Jury in Prominent Australian Homicide Trial Tours Shoreline Where Deceased Was Found
Jurors involved in a widely publicized Queensland homicide case have traveled to the remote beach where the young woman was discovered.
The 24-year-old victim was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and buried in a shallow grave with minimal chance of survival, 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 popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Court Visit to Beach
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 acknowledgment of the hot climate and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a casual top, sport shorts and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys chose polo shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Location Particulars
The jurors were led around 1.2km along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.
Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, four markers indicated where the vehicle had been left.
The trip was intended to help the jurors become acquainted with key locations in the case and no official evidence was presented.
Context of the Trial
Last week, 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 not heard from until he was apprehended years after, the prosecution said.
State Case
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was discovered wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and belongings missing.
Those items were removed by the killer to conceal evidence, the prosecution allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was located secured to a post hidden in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been found.
But the state says the crown's case – though indirect – was comprised findings that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve evidence that DNA recovered from a object at the location was extremely more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The jury has previously been told evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone left the beach after the incident – and that its travel matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his guilt, the state has claimed.
Defence Stance
"While authorities were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.
The defense is yet to present any evidence, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed testimony to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had witnessed two masked men attack 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 individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under investigation.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was among those who testified last week.
The court was informed he was an initial person of interest – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his partner's disappearance, even before her body were found.
Images showing Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the court, with an specialist saying he was confident the pictures were authentic and had not been altered in any manner.
The case will return to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on the next day.
