Jury in Prominent Australian Murder Trial Tours Shoreline At Which Victim Was Discovered
Members of the jury involved in a high-profile Australian murder trial have traveled to the isolated shore where the young woman was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a sandy resting place with little or no chance of survival, the jury has been told.
The remains were found by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section 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.
Court Visit to Crime Scene
The jury of 12 individuals plus several alternates visited the beach along with the judge and barristers on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a nod to the hot climate and sweltering heat, the judge wore a T-shirt, sport shorts and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defence barristers chose polo shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.
Location Particulars
The jurors were guided around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, four red and white cones showed where the vehicle had been parked.
The visit was designed to help the panel become familiar with important sites in the trial and no testimony was presented.
Context of the Trial
Previously, the court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were found, the accused departed from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, family and parents.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended years after, the prosecution said.
State Case
It is claimed that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with her attire and belongings absent.
Those items were taken by the killer to avoid detection, the prosecution contend.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was found secured to a post hidden in bushland about 30 metres from the grave.
No murder weapon was found, and no one have been identified.
But the prosecution says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was made up of findings that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve evidence that DNA recovered from a stick at the scene was 3.8 billion times more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The court has previously been told evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the beach after the incident – and that its movements corresponded with those of a vehicle belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his guilt, the prosecution has claimed.
Defence Stance
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's body, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he began arguments.
The defence is has not present any evidence, but in his opening address, the defense attorney the lawyer portrayed his client as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."
He also foreshadowed testimony to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had seen two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom police quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was one who testified 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 body were found.
Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the jury, with an expert saying he was confident the photos were genuine and had not been altered in any manner.
The trial will resume to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on Tuesday.
