Panel of Jurors in Prominent Down Under Homicide Trial Visits Beach At Which Victim Was Found
Members of the jury overseeing a widely publicized Australian murder trial have been taken to the isolated shore where the young woman was located.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and buried in a sandy grave with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has heard.
Her body were found by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline nestled between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Court Visit to Beach
The panel of 12 individuals plus several alternates attended the location along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and sweltering heat, the judge wore a casual top, sport shorts and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers chose casual shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Location Particulars
The jurors were guided around 1.2km north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, four red and white cones showed where the victim's car had been left.
The trip was designed to help the panel become familiar with key locations in the trial and no testimony was given.
Background of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and parents.
He was out of contact until he was arrested years after, the state said.
Prosecution Case
It is alleged that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was discovered wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and belongings missing.
Those objects were taken by the killer to conceal evidence, the prosecution allege.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found tied up to a tree concealed in bushland about 100 feet from the burial site.
The weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the state says the evidence – though circumstantial – was made up of proof that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve testimony that DNA obtained from a stick at the scene was extremely more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The jury has already heard testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone left the scene after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also suggested his guilt, the prosecution has claimed.
Defense Position
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's body, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he began arguments.
The defence is yet to present any evidence, but in his opening address, the defense attorney the lawyer portrayed his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also foreshadowed evidence to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had witnessed two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under investigation.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was one who testified last week.
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 vanishing, prior to her body were found.
Photographs showing the witness on a walk with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the court, with an specialist saying he was confident the pictures were authentic and had not been doctored in any way.
The case will resume to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on the next day.
