Jury in Prominent Down Under Homicide Case Visits Beach Where Victim Was Found
Members of the jury overseeing a widely publicized Australian murder trial have been taken to the remote beach where the victim was located.
Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly stabbed with a sharp object and placed in a shallow resting place with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has been told.
The remains were discovered by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline nestled 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 Far North Queensland.
Court Visit to Crime Scene
The jury of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors visited the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on Monday morning local time.
In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a T-shirt, sport shorts and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers chose casual shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.
Location Particulars
The jurors were led around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, several markers showed where the victim's car had been left.
The visit was designed to help the panel become acquainted with important sites in the case and no testimony was given.
Context of the Case
Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, the accused flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, family and relatives.
He was out of contact until he was apprehended years after, the prosecution said.
State Case
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 most of her possessions absent.
Those objects were taken by the assailant to conceal evidence, prosecutors contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was located tied up to a post concealed in shrubland about 30 metres from the burial site.
No murder weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was comprised findings that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve testimony that genetic material recovered from a stick at the scene was extremely more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The jury has previously been told evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone left the beach after the incident – and that its movements corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the prosecution has claimed.
Defence Position
"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he began arguments.
The defense is yet to present any evidence, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire portrayed his client as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed evidence to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had witnessed two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – 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.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom police excluded as a possible suspect, was one who testified previously.
The trial heard he was an initial police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his partner's disappearance, even before her remains were discovered.
Images showing Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the jury, with an specialist saying he was confident the photos were genuine and had not been doctored in any manner.
The case will return to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on the next day.
