Jury in High-Profile Down Under Homicide Trial Visits Beach At Which Victim Was Discovered
Jurors involved in a high-profile Australian murder trial have traveled to the remote beach where the young woman was located.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a bladed weapon and placed in a shallow grave with minimal chance of survival, the court 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 Far North Queensland.
Court Visit to Beach
The panel of 10 men and two women plus several alternates attended the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a nod to the tropical conditions 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 selected polo shirts, shorts and headwear.
Location Details
The jurors were led around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, several red and white cones indicated where the victim's car had been parked.
The visit was intended to help the jurors become familiar with key locations in the trial and no testimony was presented.
Background of the Case
Last week, the court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, the accused departed from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, family and relatives.
He was not heard from until he was arrested four years later, the state said.
State Case
It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions missing.
Those items were removed by the killer to avoid detection, the prosecution contend.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was found secured to a tree concealed in shrubland about 100 feet from the grave.
The weapon was found, and no one have been identified.
But the state says the evidence – though indirect – was comprised proof that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include evidence that genetic material obtained from a object at the location was 3.8 billion times more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.
The jury has already heard evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone left the scene after the killing – and that its travel matched those of a vehicle owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the state has claimed.
Defence Position
"As the police were finding Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.
The defence is yet to provided testimony, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire described his defendant as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed testimony to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.
Further Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was among those who testified previously.
The trial was informed he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his partner's vanishing, prior to her body were discovered.
Photographs depicting the witness on a walk with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain 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 Tuesday.
