Jury in High-Profile Down Under Homicide Trial Visits Beach At Which Deceased Was Found
Members of the jury overseeing a widely publicized Australian homicide case have traveled to the isolated beach where the young woman was located.
The 24-year-old victim was multiple times attacked with a bladed weapon and placed in a sandy grave with minimal hope of surviving, the court has heard.
The remains were found by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Jury Inspection to Crime Scene
The jury of 12 individuals plus three alternates visited the location along with the judge and barristers on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and sweltering heat, the judge opted for a casual top, sport shorts and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys chose casual shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.
Location Details
The court members were led around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.
Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, several markers showed where the vehicle had been parked.
The trip was designed to help the jurors become familiar with important sites in the trial and no official evidence was presented.
Context of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, the accused departed from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, three children and relatives.
He was out of contact until he was apprehended years after, the state said.
State Case
It is alleged 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 swimwear, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.
Those objects were taken by the assailant to avoid detection, prosecutors contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was found secured to a tree hidden in shrubland about 30 metres from the burial site.
No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the state says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was made up of proof that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve testimony that genetic material obtained from a object at the scene was extremely more likely to have come 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 incident – and that its travel matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the state has claimed.
Defense Stance
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a rushed single journey back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he began arguments.
The defence is has not present any evidence, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire described his client as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed evidence to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had witnessed two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."
Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under investigation.
Further Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom police excluded as a possible suspect, was one who gave evidence 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 involved in his girlfriend's disappearance, even before her body were discovered.
Photographs depicting the witness on a walk with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the court, with an specialist saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been doctored in any way.
The case will resume to the standard environment of the courtroom on Tuesday.
