Jury in Prominent Australian Homicide Trial Tours Shoreline Where Victim Was Discovered
Jurors involved in a widely publicized Queensland murder trial have traveled to the isolated beach where the young woman was located.
The 24-year-old victim was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and buried in a shallow grave with minimal hope of surviving, the court has heard.
The remains were discovered by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Court Visit to Crime Scene
The jury of 12 individuals plus several back-up jurors visited the beach along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on the start of the week local time.
In a nod to the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a casual top, athletic wear and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Scene Particulars
The jurors were led around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, several markers indicated where the vehicle had been parked.
The trip was designed to help the jurors become familiar with key locations in the trial and no testimony was given.
Background of the Case
Last week, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, family and parents.
He was out of contact until he was arrested years after, the state said.
Prosecution Argument
It is claimed that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions missing.
Those objects were removed by the killer to avoid detection, prosecutors contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was located secured to a tree hidden in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.
No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the state says the evidence – though circumstantial – was comprised proof that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include testimony that DNA recovered from a object at the location was 3.8 billion times more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The court has previously been told evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the scene after the incident – and that its movements corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his guilt, the state has argued.
Defense Stance
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's body, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he opened his case.
The defense is has not present any evidence, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney the lawyer portrayed his client as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also foreshadowed evidence to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an plainclothes agent he had witnessed assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
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, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was among those who testified last week.
The court 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 partner's vanishing, prior to her remains were found.
Images showing Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the court, with an specialist saying he was confident the photos were genuine and had not been altered in any manner.
The case will resume to the standard environment of the courthouse on Tuesday.