Jury in High-Profile Down Under Homicide Trial Visits Beach At Which Victim Was Found
Jurors involved in a high-profile Queensland murder trial have traveled to the isolated shore where the victim was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and buried in a sandy resting place with little or no hope of surviving, the jury has been told.
Her body were discovered by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline 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.
Court Visit to Beach
The panel of 12 individuals plus three alternates visited the location along with the judge and barristers on Monday morning local time.
In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a casual top, sport shorts and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys chose polo shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Scene Particulars
The court members were led around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, several markers showed where the vehicle had been left.
The trip was designed to help the panel become familiar with important sites in the trial and no testimony was presented.
Background of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, Mr Singh departed from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, family and relatives.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended years after, the prosecution said.
Prosecution Argument
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with her attire and belongings missing.
Those items were removed by the killer to avoid detection, prosecutors contend.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was found secured to a tree hidden in bushland about 100 feet from the burial site.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been found.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was comprised findings that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve evidence that DNA obtained from a stick at the scene was extremely more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The court has already heard testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the scene after the incident – and that its movements corresponded with those of a vehicle owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the state has argued.
Defense Position
"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," the prosecutor 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 "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed testimony to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had witnessed assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under investigation.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom police quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was one who testified previously.
The trial heard he was an initial police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his partner's disappearance, prior to her remains were discovered.
Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the jury, with an specialist saying he was confident the photos were genuine and had not been altered in any manner.
The trial will return to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on Tuesday.
