Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Down Under Murder Trial Visits Shoreline At Which Deceased Was Found
Members of the jury involved in a widely publicized Queensland murder trial have been taken to the isolated shore where the young woman was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and placed in a shallow resting place with little or no hope of surviving, the jury has been told.
The remains were found by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Jury Visit to Beach
The jury of 10 men and two women plus several alternates attended the beach along with the presiding officer and barristers on Monday morning local time.
In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and sweltering heat, the judge wore a casual top, athletic wear and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.
Location Particulars
The jurors were led around 1.2km along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.
Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, four markers indicated where the victim's car had been parked.
The trip was intended to help the panel become acquainted with important sites in the case and no testimony was presented.
Context of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, the accused departed from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, three children and relatives.
He was out of contact until he was apprehended years after, the prosecution said.
Prosecution Argument
It is alleged that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a swimwear, with her attire and most of her possessions missing.
Those objects were removed by the assailant to conceal evidence, the prosecution allege.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found tied up to a post hidden in shrubland about 100 feet from the grave.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been identified.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was comprised findings that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include testimony that DNA recovered from a stick at the scene was 3.8 billion times more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The jury has already heard evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the scene after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his involvement, the state has argued.
Defence Position
"As the police were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a rushed one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he opened his case.
The defense is has not provided testimony, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire portrayed his defendant as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
He also hinted at testimony to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an plainclothes agent he had seen assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
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 partner, 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 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 remains were discovered.
Images showing Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the court, with an specialist saying he was certain the pictures were authentic and had not been doctored in any manner.
The trial will resume to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on Tuesday.