Panel of Jurors in Prominent Down Under Homicide Case Visits Shoreline At Which Deceased Was Found
Members of the jury involved in a high-profile Queensland murder trial have been taken to the isolated shore where the young woman was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly stabbed with a sharp object and buried in a shallow resting place with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has heard.
Her body were found by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline nestled 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 Far North Queensland.
Court Inspection to Crime Scene
The jury of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors visited the beach along with the judge and barristers on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a nod to the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, the judge wore a casual top, sport shorts and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, shorts and headwear.
Location Details
The jurors were led around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, several markers showed where the vehicle had been left.
The visit was intended to help the jurors become familiar with key locations 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, Mr Singh departed from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, family and relatives.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended years after, the prosecution said.
State Case
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions missing.
Those objects were removed by the assailant to conceal evidence, prosecutors 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 30 metres from the grave.
The weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the state says the evidence – though circumstantial – was made up of findings that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include testimony that genetic material recovered from a object at the scene was extremely more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The court has previously been told testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach after the killing – and that its travel matched those of a vehicle belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the state has argued.
Defence Stance
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he began arguments.
The defense is yet to present any evidence, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney the lawyer portrayed his client as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also foreshadowed evidence to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an plainclothes agent he had seen assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
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 boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was among those who testified previously.
The court was informed he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's vanishing, prior to her remains were discovered.
Images depicting the witness on a walk with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been doctored in any way.
The trial will resume to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on Tuesday.