Jury in High-Profile Down Under Murder Trial Tours Shoreline At Which Victim Was Discovered
Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Queensland murder trial have traveled to the isolated shore where the young woman was located.
The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a shallow grave with minimal hope of surviving, the court has been told.
The remains were found by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Court Visit 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 Monday morning in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and sweltering heat, the judge wore a T-shirt, sport shorts and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers selected polo shirts, shorts and headwear.
Location Details
The jurors were guided around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, several markers showed where the vehicle had been left.
The visit was designed to help the jurors become familiar with important sites in the trial and no testimony was given.
Context of the Case
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and relatives.
He was out of contact until he was arrested four years later, the state said.
State 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 victim was discovered wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.
Those items were removed by the assailant to conceal evidence, the prosecution allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was found secured to a post hidden in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the state says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was comprised findings that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include evidence that genetic material obtained from a stick at the scene was extremely more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The jury has previously been told evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the scene after the incident – and that its travel matched those of a vehicle owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the prosecution has claimed.
Defense Stance
"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed single journey back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.
The defence is yet to provided testimony, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer portrayed his client as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also hinted at evidence to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had seen two masked men attack 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 suspicion.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was one who testified last week.
The trial was informed he was an immediate person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his partner's disappearance, prior to her body were found.
Photographs showing Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the jury, with an expert saying he was confident the pictures were genuine and had not been doctored in any manner.
The trial will resume to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on Tuesday.
