Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Down Under Murder Trial Tours Beach At Which Deceased Was Discovered
Jurors involved in a widely publicized Queensland homicide case have been taken to the remote beach where the young woman was located.
Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly stabbed with a bladed weapon and placed in a shallow resting place with minimal hope of surviving, the court has heard.
The remains were discovered by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Jury Inspection to Crime Scene
The jury of 12 individuals plus several alternates attended the location along with the judge and barristers on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a nod to the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers selected polo shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.
Scene Particulars
The jurors were guided around 1.2km along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, several markers showed where the vehicle had been parked.
The visit was designed to help the jurors become acquainted with important sites in the case and no testimony was given.
Context of the Trial
Last week, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, family and relatives.
He was not heard from until he was arrested years after, the prosecution said.
State Argument
It is alleged that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.
Those items were removed by the assailant to conceal evidence, the prosecution contend.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was located secured to a tree concealed in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.
No murder weapon was found, and no one have been identified.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was comprised findings that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include evidence that DNA obtained from a object at the scene was 3.8 billion times more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.
The jury has previously been told testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone left the beach after the killing – and that its travel corresponded with those of a vehicle belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the prosecution has argued.
Defense Position
"As the police were discovering Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he began arguments.
The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney the lawyer portrayed his client as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed testimony to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had witnessed assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."
The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.
Further Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom police excluded as a person of interest, was one who testified previously.
The court heard he was an immediate person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his partner's vanishing, even before her remains were discovered.
Images depicting Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the court, with an specialist saying he was confident the pictures were authentic and had not been altered in any manner.
The trial will return to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on the next day.
