Jury in High-Profile Australian Homicide Trial Visits Beach At Which Victim Was Found
Jurors overseeing a widely publicized Queensland homicide case have traveled to the remote beach where the victim was discovered.
The 24-year-old victim was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and buried in a shallow resting place with little or no chance of survival, the jury has heard.
The remains were found by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline nestled between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Jury Visit to Crime Scene
The panel of 12 individuals plus several back-up jurors attended the beach along with the presiding officer and barristers on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a casual top, athletic wear and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, shorts and headwear.
Scene Details
The court members were led around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, four red and white cones showed where the victim's car had been left.
The trip was intended to help the jurors become acquainted with key locations in the case and no testimony was presented.
Background of the Case
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, family and relatives.
He was out of contact until he was arrested four years later, the state said.
Prosecution Argument
It is claimed that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.
Those items were removed by the killer to avoid detection, the prosecution contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found secured to a tree hidden in shrubland about 30 metres from the burial site.
No murder weapon was found, and no one have been found.
But the prosecution says the crown's case – though indirect – was made up of findings that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will include evidence that DNA recovered from a object at the scene was extremely more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.
The jury has previously been told testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a vehicle owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his involvement, the prosecution has claimed.
Defence Stance
"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed one way trip back to India," Mr Crane 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 described his defendant as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."
He also foreshadowed testimony 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 run away in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."
Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under investigation.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom police quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was one who gave evidence previously.
The court was informed he was an immediate person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's vanishing, even before her body were discovered.
Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the jury, with an specialist saying he was confident the photos were authentic and had not been doctored in any manner.
The case will resume to the standard environment of the courtroom on Tuesday.
