Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Down Under Murder Case Visits Shoreline Where Victim Was Found
Jurors involved in a high-profile Queensland homicide case have been taken to the isolated shore where the young woman was located.
The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly stabbed with a bladed weapon and placed in a shallow grave with minimal hope of surviving, the court has heard.
The remains were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline between the popular destinations 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 back-up jurors attended the location along with the presiding officer and barristers on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a casual top, sport shorts and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Location Details
The jurors were guided around 1.2km north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, four markers showed where the victim's car had been left.
The trip was intended to help the jurors become acquainted with important sites in the case and no official evidence was presented.
Background of the Case
Previously, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were found, the accused flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, three children and relatives.
He was out of contact until he was apprehended four years later, the prosecution said.
Prosecution Argument
It is claimed that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was discovered wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.
Those objects were removed by the killer to conceal evidence, the prosecution allege.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was found secured to a post concealed in shrubland about 100 feet from the burial site.
The weapon was found, and no one have been identified.
But the state says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of proof that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include testimony that genetic material obtained from a object at the scene was 3.8 billion times more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The court has already heard testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone left the scene after the incident – and that its travel matched those of a vehicle belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the state has claimed.
Defense Position
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a rushed single journey back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he opened his case.
The defense is has not present any evidence, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his client as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also hinted at testimony to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen assailants assault 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 other people "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom police quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was among those who testified previously.
The court was informed he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's disappearance, prior to her body were found.
Images showing Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the jury, with an specialist saying he was confident the pictures were authentic and had not been altered in any manner.
The trial will return to the standard environment of the courtroom on Tuesday.