Jury in High-Profile Australian Homicide Trial Tours Shoreline Where Victim Was Discovered

Jurors overseeing a widely publicized Australian homicide case have traveled to the isolated beach where the victim was discovered.

Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly stabbed with a sharp object and placed in a sandy grave with little or no chance of survival, the jury has been told.

The remains were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.

Rajwinder Singh, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.

Jury Inspection to Crime Scene

The jury of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors attended 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, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a casual top, sport shorts and trainers rather than traditional court attire.

Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys chose polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.

Location Details

The court members were led around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.

Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, four red and white cones indicated where the vehicle had been left.

The visit was intended to help the panel become acquainted with key locations in the case and no testimony was presented.

Context of the Case

Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were found, the accused departed from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, three children and relatives.

He was out of contact until he was arrested four years later, the state said.

Prosecution Argument

It is claimed that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.

The victim was discovered wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.

Those items were taken by the killer to avoid detection, prosecutors allege.

Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was found secured to a post concealed in shrubland about 100 feet from the grave.

The weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.

But the state says the crown's case – though indirect – was comprised proof that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."

This will include evidence that genetic material recovered from a object at the location was extremely more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.

The court has already heard evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the defendant.

Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the state has claimed.

Defense Position

"As the police were discovering Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he opened his case.

The defense is yet to present any evidence, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire described his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."

He also foreshadowed evidence to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had seen two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."

Mr McGuire 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 authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was among those who gave evidence last week.

The trial heard he was an immediate person of interest – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's disappearance, even before her remains were found.

Images showing Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the court, with an specialist saying he was certain the photos were authentic and had not been altered in any manner.

The trial will resume to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on Tuesday.