Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Down Under Homicide Trial Tours Beach At Which Deceased Was Discovered
Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Australian murder trial 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 buried in a shallow grave with little or no hope of surviving, the court has been told.
Her body were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Court Inspection to Beach
The jury of 10 men and two women plus three alternates visited the beach along with the judge and barristers on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a nod to the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a casual top, sport shorts and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the prosecuting and defence barristers selected casual shirts, shorts and headwear.
Location Details
The jurors were guided around 1.2km along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, several markers indicated where the vehicle had been left.
The visit was intended to help the jurors become acquainted with key locations in the trial and no testimony was presented.
Background of the Case
Last week, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, the accused departed from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and parents.
He was out of contact until he was apprehended years after, the prosecution said.
State Argument
It is claimed that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and belongings missing.
Those items were removed by the killer to avoid detection, the prosecution contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was located secured to a post hidden in bushland about 100 feet from the burial site.
No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been identified.
But the state says the crown's case – though indirect – was comprised findings that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve evidence that DNA obtained from a stick at the location was extremely more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.
The jury has previously been told evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the scene after the incident – and that its travel matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the prosecution has claimed.
Defence Stance
"While authorities were finding Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he began arguments.
The defense is has not provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his defendant as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."
He also foreshadowed testimony to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had witnessed assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – 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 Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was among those who gave evidence previously.
The trial 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 remains were found.
Images showing the witness on a walk with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the jury, with an specialist saying he was confident the pictures were genuine and had not been altered in any manner.
The trial will return to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on the next day.