Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Australian Homicide Trial Tours Beach At Which Deceased Was Discovered
Jurors overseeing a high-profile Australian murder trial have traveled to the remote beach where the young woman was discovered.
The 24-year-old victim was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and placed in a shallow resting place with little or no hope of surviving, the jury has heard.
The remains were discovered by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Jury Visit to Crime Scene
The jury of 12 individuals plus several back-up jurors attended the beach along with the judge and barristers on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a nod to the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a casual top, athletic wear and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers selected casual shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.
Scene Particulars
The jurors were guided around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, four red and white cones indicated where the victim's car had been left.
The visit was intended to help the jurors become acquainted with important sites in the case and no testimony was presented.
Background of the Trial
Previously, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, Mr Singh departed from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, three children and parents.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended four years later, the state said.
Prosecution Case
It is alleged that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was discovered wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions absent.
Those objects were removed by the assailant to avoid detection, prosecutors contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was found secured to a post concealed in bushland about 100 feet from the burial site.
No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the state says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of findings that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve evidence that genetic material obtained from a stick at the scene was extremely more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The court has already heard evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the beach after the incident – and that its travel matched those of a vehicle owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his guilt, the prosecution has argued.
Defence Position
"While authorities were finding Toyah's body, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he began arguments.
The defense is has not provided testimony, but in his opening address, the defense attorney the lawyer described his client as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed evidence to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was one who testified last week.
The court heard he was an initial person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his partner's disappearance, even before her remains were discovered.
Images showing the witness on a walk with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the court, with an expert saying he was confident the pictures were authentic and had not been altered in any manner.
The case will resume to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on Tuesday.
