Jury in High-Profile Down Under Murder Trial Visits Shoreline At Which Victim Was Found
Members of the jury overseeing a widely publicized Queensland murder trial have been taken to the remote beach where the victim was located.
The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly stabbed with a sharp object and buried in a sandy resting place with little or no hope of surviving, the court has been told.
Her body were discovered by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline nestled between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies murdering 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 alternates attended the beach along with the presiding officer and barristers on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a casual top, athletic wear and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Location Particulars
The jurors were guided around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, four red and white cones indicated where the vehicle had been parked.
The trip was intended to help the panel become familiar with important sites in the case and no official evidence was presented.
Context of the Trial
Last week, the court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, Mr Singh departed from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, family and parents.
He was out of contact until he was apprehended four years later, the state said.
State Case
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a swimwear, with her attire and most of her possessions absent.
Those objects were taken by the assailant to avoid detection, the prosecution allege.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was found secured to a tree concealed in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been found.
But the state says the evidence – though indirect – 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 3.8 billion times more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The jury has previously been told testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the scene after the incident – and that its movements matched those of a vehicle owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the state has argued.
Defence Stance
"As the police were discovering Toyah's body, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he began arguments.
The defence is yet to present any evidence, but in his opening address, the defense attorney the lawyer described his client as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
He also hinted at testimony to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had seen assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled 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 partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom police excluded as a person of interest, was one who gave evidence last week.
The trial heard he was an initial police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's vanishing, prior to her remains were found.
Photographs showing the witness on a hike with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the court, with an expert saying he was certain the pictures were authentic and had not been doctored in any manner.
The case will resume to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on the next day.