Jury in High-Profile Down Under Murder Case Tours Shoreline At Which Deceased Was Found
Jurors overseeing a widely publicized Queensland murder trial have been taken to the isolated beach where the young woman was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a bladed weapon and placed in a sandy resting place with little or no chance of survival, the court has been told.
Her body were found by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Jury Inspection to Beach
The panel of 10 men and two women plus several back-up jurors visited the location 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 opted for a T-shirt, sport shorts and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers chose polo shirts, shorts and headwear.
Scene Particulars
The court members were guided around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, four markers showed where the vehicle had been parked.
The trip was intended to help the panel become acquainted with important sites in the case and no testimony was given.
Context of the Case
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, three children and relatives.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended years after, the prosecution said.
State Argument
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a swimwear, with her attire and most of her possessions absent.
Those objects were taken by the killer to conceal evidence, prosecutors contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found secured to a post hidden in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.
No murder weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the state says the evidence – though indirect – was comprised findings that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve evidence that genetic material obtained from a object at the scene was extremely more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The jury has previously been told testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the scene after the incident – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the prosecution has claimed.
Defence Position
"While authorities were finding Toyah's body, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he began arguments.
The defense is yet to present any evidence, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire described his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
He also hinted at 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 fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
The defense attorney has also said he will testify about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under investigation.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom police excluded as a person of interest, was one who testified last week.
The trial was informed he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his partner's vanishing, prior to her remains were found.
Photographs showing Mr Heidenreich 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 manner.
The trial will resume to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on Tuesday.
