Jury in Prominent Down Under Homicide Trial Visits Beach Where Deceased Was Discovered
Jurors overseeing a widely publicized Queensland homicide case have been taken to the isolated shore where the young woman was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly stabbed with a bladed weapon and placed in a shallow resting place with minimal chance of survival, the court has heard.
Her body were found by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline nestled 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.
Jury Inspection to Beach
The jury of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors visited the beach along with the judge and barristers on the start of the week local time.
In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers chose casual shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Scene Details
The jurors were led around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, four markers indicated where the vehicle had been left.
The trip was designed to help the panel become acquainted with important sites in the trial and no official evidence was presented.
Context of the Trial
Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, family and relatives.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended years after, the state said.
Prosecution Argument
It is claimed that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.
Those items were taken by the assailant to conceal evidence, the prosecution allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was found tied up to a post hidden in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.
No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been found.
But the state says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of findings that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve evidence that genetic material obtained from a stick at the scene was 3.8 billion times more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The court has already heard testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the scene after the killing – and that its travel matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his guilt, the prosecution has claimed.
Defense Stance
"As the police were finding Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he began arguments.
The defense is has not provided testimony, but in his opening address, the defense attorney the lawyer portrayed his defendant as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also foreshadowed testimony to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an plainclothes agent he had seen assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was among those who gave evidence last week.
The court was informed he was an initial person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his partner's disappearance, even before her remains were discovered.
Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been altered in any way.
The case will resume to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on Tuesday.
