Panel of Jurors in Prominent Australian Murder Trial Tours Beach Where Deceased Was Discovered
Members of the jury involved in a widely publicized Australian homicide case have traveled to the remote beach where the victim was located.
The 24-year-old victim was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and buried in a shallow resting place with minimal chance of survival, the court has been told.
The remains were discovered by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Jury Inspection to Crime Scene
The panel of 12 individuals plus several back-up jurors visited the beach along with the judge and barristers on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, the judge wore a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers selected casual shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Location Particulars
The court members were led around 1.2km along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, four markers indicated where the vehicle had been parked.
The visit was intended to help the panel become acquainted with key locations in the trial and no testimony was presented.
Context of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, the accused flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, family and relatives.
He was not heard from until he was arrested years after, the state said.
State Argument
It is alleged that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was discovered wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.
Those items were removed by the killer to conceal evidence, prosecutors allege.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found tied up to a post concealed in shrubland about 30 metres from the burial site.
No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the state says the evidence – though circumstantial – was made up of findings that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include testimony that DNA obtained from a stick at the location was 3.8 billion times more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The jury has previously been told testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone left the scene after the incident – and that its travel matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also suggested his involvement, the state has argued.
Defence Position
"While authorities were finding Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he began arguments.
The defence is yet to present any evidence, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer described his defendant as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at evidence to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had witnessed assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was one who gave evidence previously.
The trial was informed he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his partner's vanishing, prior to her remains were discovered.
Photographs showing Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the jury, with an expert saying he was confident the photos were authentic and had not been doctored in any way.
The case will resume to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on Tuesday.