Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Australian Homicide Trial Visits Shoreline At Which Deceased Was Found
Jurors overseeing a widely publicized Australian homicide case have traveled to the isolated shore where the young woman was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a sandy resting place with little or no hope of surviving, the court has been told.
Her body were found by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Jury Inspection to Beach
The panel of 12 individuals plus three back-up jurors visited the beach along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, the judge opted for a casual top, sport shorts and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers selected casual shirts, bottoms and headwear.
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.
Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, several red and white cones indicated where the vehicle had been left.
The visit was designed to help the jurors become familiar with important sites in the trial and no official evidence was presented.
Background of the Case
Previously, the court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, family and parents.
He was out of contact until he was apprehended years after, the prosecution said.
Prosecution Case
It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with her attire and belongings absent.
Those objects were taken by the assailant to avoid detection, prosecutors contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was found tied up to a tree concealed in bushland about 100 feet from the burial site.
No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though circumstantial – was made up of proof that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve testimony that DNA recovered from a object at the location was extremely more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.
The jury has previously been told testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the beach after the killing – and that its movements corresponded with those of a vehicle owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the prosecution has argued.
Defence Stance
"While authorities were finding Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he began arguments.
The defense is yet to present any evidence, but in his opening address, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his defendant as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at evidence to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had witnessed assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under investigation.
Further Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was one who testified previously.
The trial heard he was an initial police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's vanishing, even before her body were found.
Photographs showing Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the court, with an specialist saying he was confident the photos were genuine and had not been doctored in any way.
The case will return to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on the next day.
