Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Australian Murder Case Tours Shoreline Where Victim Was Found
Jurors overseeing a high-profile Queensland homicide case have been taken to the remote shore where the young woman was located.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times stabbed with a sharp object and buried in a shallow grave with minimal chance of survival, the jury has been told.
The remains were found by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Court Inspection to Crime Scene
The jury of 12 individuals plus three back-up jurors visited the beach along with the judge and barristers on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a nod to the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a T-shirt, sport shorts and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defence barristers chose casual shirts, shorts and headwear.
Location Particulars
The court members were led around 1.2km north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, 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 key locations in the case and no testimony was presented.
Context of the Trial
Previously, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, the accused flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and relatives.
He was not heard from until he was arrested four years later, the state said.
Prosecution Case
It is claimed that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions missing.
Those items were removed by the killer to conceal evidence, prosecutors contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was located secured to a tree concealed in bushland about 30 metres from the grave.
No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been found.
But the state says the evidence – though indirect – was comprised proof that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include evidence that genetic material recovered from a object at the scene was extremely more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the population.
The jury has already heard testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the scene after the incident – and that its movements corresponded with those of a vehicle owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also suggested his involvement, the prosecution has claimed.
Defence Position
"As the police 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 yet to provided testimony, but in his opening address, the defense attorney Greg McGuire described his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also foreshadowed testimony to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen two masked men 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 other people "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was one who gave evidence last week.
The court was informed 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 vanishing, even before her remains were found.
Images showing the witness on a walk with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been doctored in any manner.
The case will resume to the standard environment of the courtroom on the next day.