Jury in Prominent Down Under Murder Trial Tours Shoreline Where Victim Was Found
Jurors involved in a widely publicized Australian homicide case have traveled to the isolated beach where the victim was discovered.
The 24-year-old victim was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and buried in a sandy grave with little or no chance of survival, the court has heard.
Her body 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, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Court Inspection to Crime Scene
The jury of 12 individuals plus several back-up jurors visited the location along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a casual top, sport shorts and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Scene Details
The court members were guided around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, several markers showed where the vehicle had been left.
The trip was intended to help the jurors become acquainted with important sites in the case and no official evidence was given.
Context of the Trial
Previously, the court heard 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 not heard from until he was apprehended four years later, the state said.
State Case
It is alleged that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions missing.
Those objects were taken by the killer to avoid detection, prosecutors contend.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was located tied up to a tree concealed in shrubland about 30 metres from the burial site.
The weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the prosecution says the crown's case – though indirect – was made up of findings that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include testimony that DNA obtained from a stick at the location was 3.8 billion times more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The jury has already heard testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach after the incident – and that its travel corresponded with those of a vehicle belonging to the accused.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also suggested his involvement, the state has claimed.
Defence Position
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's body, he was arranging... a rushed single journey back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he began arguments.
The defence is has not provided testimony, but in his opening address, the defense attorney the lawyer portrayed his client as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed evidence to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away 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 investigation.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom authorities 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 implicated in his girlfriend's vanishing, prior to her body were found.
Images showing Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the jury, with an specialist saying he was confident the pictures were genuine and had not been doctored in any manner.
The trial will return to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on Tuesday.
