Jury in Prominent Australian Homicide Case Tours Shoreline At Which Victim Was Found
Jurors involved in a high-profile Australian murder trial have traveled to the isolated beach where the victim was located.
The 24-year-old victim was multiple times stabbed with a sharp object and placed in a sandy resting place with minimal hope of surviving, the court has been told.
The remains were discovered by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Jury Inspection to Crime Scene
The panel of 12 individuals plus several alternates visited the location along with the presiding officer and barristers on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a nod to the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a T-shirt, sport shorts and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Scene Details
The jurors were guided around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, several red and white cones indicated where the vehicle had been left.
The visit was intended to help the jurors become familiar with important sites in the case and no official evidence was presented.
Context of the Case
Last week, the court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, the accused flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, three children and relatives.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended four years later, the prosecution said.
Prosecution Argument
It is alleged that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a swimwear, with her attire and most of her possessions missing.
Those items were taken by the killer to conceal evidence, the prosecution contend.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was located tied up to a post hidden in bushland about 100 feet from the grave.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been found.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of proof that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve evidence that DNA obtained from a stick at the scene was 3.8 billion times more likely 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 scene after the killing – and that its travel matched those of a vehicle belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his involvement, the state has claimed.
Defense Stance
"As the police were discovering Toyah's body, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.
The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire described his client as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at testimony to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an plainclothes agent he had seen 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 "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom police excluded as a possible suspect, was among those who gave evidence previously.
The trial was informed he was an initial police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's vanishing, even before her remains were discovered.
Photographs showing Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the jury, with an specialist saying he was confident the pictures were authentic and had not been doctored in any way.
The case will return to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on the next day.