Jury in Prominent Down Under Homicide Trial Tours Shoreline At Which Victim Was Discovered
Jurors overseeing a widely publicized Queensland murder trial have traveled to the isolated beach where the young woman was discovered.
The 24-year-old victim was multiple times attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a sandy grave with little or no hope of surviving, the jury has been told.
The remains were discovered by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Jury Visit to Crime Scene
The panel of 10 men and two women plus several back-up jurors attended the location along with the judge and legal counsel on Monday morning local time.
In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a casual top, sport shorts and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers selected polo shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Scene Details
The court members were guided around 1.2km along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, four markers indicated where the victim's car had been left.
The visit was intended to help the jurors become familiar with key locations in the case and no testimony was presented.
Background of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were found, the accused departed from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, family and relatives.
He was out of contact until he was arrested four years later, the prosecution said.
Prosecution Case
It is claimed that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was found wearing a bikini, with her attire and most of her possessions absent.
Those items were taken by the assailant to conceal evidence, prosecutors allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was found secured to a tree hidden in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.
The weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the state says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was made up of findings that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will include testimony that DNA recovered from a object at the scene was 3.8 billion times more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.
The jury has already heard evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the scene after the killing – and that its travel matched those of a vehicle belonging to the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his involvement, the state has argued.
Defence Stance
"As the police were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a rushed one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he opened his case.
The defence is yet to present any evidence, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire described his client as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed evidence to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had seen assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."
The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under investigation.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was one who gave evidence previously.
The trial heard he was an initial police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's disappearance, prior to her body were discovered.
Images showing Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the court, with an expert saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been doctored in any way.
The trial will return to the standard environment of the courtroom on Tuesday.
