Jury in High-Profile Australian Homicide Trial Visits Shoreline At Which Deceased Was Discovered
Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Queensland homicide case have traveled to the isolated beach where the young woman was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly stabbed with a sharp object and placed in a sandy resting place with minimal chance of survival, the jury has heard.
The remains were discovered by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline nestled between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies killing 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 attended the location 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, athletic wear and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers selected polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Location Particulars
The court members were led around 1.2km along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, four red and white cones indicated where the vehicle had been left.
The visit was designed to help the jurors become acquainted with key locations in the trial and no official evidence was given.
Context of the Trial
Previously, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, the accused departed from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, three children and parents.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended years after, the prosecution said.
State Argument
It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a swimwear, with her attire and most of her possessions missing.
Those items were removed by the killer to conceal evidence, prosecutors contend.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found secured to a tree hidden in bushland about 100 feet from the grave.
No murder weapon was found, and no one have been identified.
But the prosecution says the crown's case – though indirect – was made up of findings that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve evidence that DNA obtained from a object at the location was extremely more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.
The court has already heard evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the beach after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his involvement, the state has argued.
Defense Stance
"While authorities were finding Toyah's body, he was arranging... a rushed single journey back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he began arguments.
The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire described his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
He also hinted at evidence to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer 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 investigation.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom police excluded as a person of interest, was among those who gave evidence last week.
The court heard he was an initial person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his partner's disappearance, even before her remains were found.
Photographs showing Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the jury, with an expert saying he was confident the photos were genuine and had not been altered in any way.
The trial will resume to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on the next day.