Panel of Jurors in Prominent Australian Homicide Trial Visits Beach At Which Victim Was Found
Members of the jury overseeing a widely publicized Queensland homicide case have been taken to the remote beach where the victim was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and buried in a shallow grave with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has been told.
The remains were found by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Court Inspection to Crime Scene
The jury of 12 individuals plus three alternates attended the location along with the judge and legal counsel on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a nod to the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, the judge wore a T-shirt, sport shorts and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Scene Particulars
The jurors were guided around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, several red and white cones indicated where the victim's car had been parked.
The visit was designed to help the jurors become familiar with important sites in the trial and no testimony was presented.
Background of the Case
Last week, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and relatives.
He was out of contact until he was arrested years after, the state said.
Prosecution Case
It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was discovered wearing a bikini, with her attire and belongings missing.
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 found secured to a post hidden in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.
The weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the state says the crown's case – though indirect – was comprised findings that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve evidence that genetic material recovered from a object at the location was extremely more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The jury has already heard evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the scene after the killing – and that its travel matched those of a vehicle owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the state has argued.
Defence Stance
"As the police were discovering Toyah's remains, 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 "calm" and "compassionate" 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 plainclothes agent he had witnessed two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom police excluded as a possible suspect, was one who testified previously.
The trial was informed he was an initial person of interest – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's disappearance, even before her remains were discovered.
Images showing the witness on a walk with a friend on the day 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 manner.
The trial will return to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on the next day.