Jury in High-Profile Down Under Homicide Trial Tours Beach Where Victim Was Discovered
Jurors involved in a widely publicized Queensland murder trial have traveled to the remote shore where the young woman was located.
The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly stabbed with a bladed weapon and buried in a shallow resting place with little or no hope of surviving, the court has heard.
Her body were discovered by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Jury Visit to Beach
The panel of 12 individuals plus three alternates visited the beach along with the presiding officer and barristers on the start of the week local time.
In a nod to the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, the judge wore a T-shirt, sport shorts and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys chose polo shirts, shorts and headwear.
Location Particulars
The court members were guided around 1.2km north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, four markers showed where the victim's car had been left.
The visit was intended to help the jurors become familiar with key locations in the case and no testimony was presented.
Context of the Case
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, the accused departed from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, three children and relatives.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended years after, the prosecution said.
State Argument
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was found wearing a swimwear, with her attire and most of her possessions missing.
Those objects were removed by the killer to avoid detection, the prosecution allege.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was located secured to a post hidden in shrubland about 30 metres from the grave.
No murder weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of findings that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will include testimony that genetic material recovered from a object at the location was extremely more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.
The court has already heard testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the beach after the killing – and that its travel matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his involvement, the state has claimed.
Defense Stance
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a rushed one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he began arguments.
The defence is has not present any evidence, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer portrayed his defendant as a "placid" and "compassionate" 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 told an undercover officer he had witnessed two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.
Further Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was one who gave evidence last week.
The court heard he was an initial police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's vanishing, even before her body were discovered.
Images depicting the witness on a hike with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the court, with an expert saying he was confident the pictures were authentic and had not been doctored in any manner.
The case will resume to the standard environment of the courthouse on Tuesday.