Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Down Under Homicide Case Tours Shoreline At Which Deceased Was Found
Members of the jury overseeing a widely publicized Queensland murder trial have traveled to the isolated beach where the young woman was located.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and placed in a sandy grave with little or no chance of survival, the court has been told.
The remains were found by her father the next 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 northern Australia.
Jury Visit to Beach
The panel of 10 men and two women plus several alternates visited the beach along with the judge and barristers on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a nod to the hot climate and sweltering heat, the judge opted for a casual top, athletic wear and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the prosecuting and defence barristers selected casual shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.
Location Details
The jurors were guided around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, several red and white cones showed where the victim's car had been left.
The trip was designed to help the jurors become acquainted with important sites in the case and no official evidence was given.
Context of the Trial
Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, family and parents.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended four years later, the prosecution said.
State Case
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was discovered wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.
Those items were taken by the assailant to conceal evidence, prosecutors contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was located secured to a post hidden in shrubland about 100 feet from the burial site.
No murder weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the state says the evidence – though circumstantial – was comprised findings that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include evidence that DNA recovered from a object at the location was extremely more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.
The court has already heard testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the scene after the incident – and that its movements corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the prosecution has argued.
Defense Position
"As the police were finding Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he began arguments.
The defence is has not present any evidence, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer described his defendant as a "placid" and "compassionate" 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 plainclothes agent he had witnessed two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Additional Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom police quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was among those who gave evidence last week.
The trial was informed he was an initial police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's disappearance, even before her body were found.
Images depicting Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the pictures were authentic and had not been doctored in any manner.
The case will return to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on Tuesday.