Jury in Prominent Australian Murder Trial Visits Shoreline At Which Victim Was Found
Members of the jury involved in a widely publicized Australian murder trial have been taken to the isolated shore where the young woman was located.
Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a sandy grave with minimal chance of survival, the jury has heard.
Her body were found by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Court Visit to Crime Scene
The jury of 10 men and two women 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 wore a T-shirt, sport shorts and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Scene Particulars
The jurors were led around 1.2km along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, several markers indicated where the vehicle had been parked.
The trip was intended to help the jurors become familiar with key locations in the case and no official evidence was presented.
Context of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, the accused departed from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, three children and parents.
He was not heard from until he was arrested four years later, the prosecution said.
Prosecution Case
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 found wearing a bikini, with her attire and belongings missing.
Those objects were taken by the killer to avoid detection, prosecutors allege.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was found tied up to a post concealed in bushland about 100 feet from the grave.
The weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the state says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was comprised findings that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve testimony that genetic material recovered from a object at the location was extremely more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The court has previously been told evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the scene after the incident – and that its movements corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his involvement, the prosecution has argued.
Defence Position
"While authorities were finding Toyah's body, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he began arguments.
The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer described his defendant as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also foreshadowed evidence to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an plainclothes agent he had witnessed two masked men assault 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 "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities excluded as a person of interest, was one who gave evidence last week.
The trial was informed he was an immediate person of interest – 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 depicting Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the court, with an expert saying he was confident the photos were genuine and had not been doctored in any way.
The case will return to the standard environment of the courthouse on the next day.