Jury in High-Profile Australian Homicide Case Visits Shoreline Where Deceased Was Found
Members of the jury involved in a high-profile Queensland murder trial have traveled to the remote shore where the victim was located.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a sandy resting place with minimal chance of survival, the jury has heard.
The remains were found by a family member the following 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 Far North Queensland.
Court Inspection to Crime Scene
The jury of 10 men and two women plus three back-up jurors attended the location along with the judge and legal counsel on the start of the week local time.
In a nod to the hot climate and sweltering heat, the judge wore a casual top, athletic wear and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys chose polo shirts, shorts and headwear.
Location Details
The court members were led around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, several markers showed where the victim's car had been left.
The visit was intended to help the panel become familiar with important sites in the trial and no official evidence was presented.
Context of the Case
Last week, the court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, family and relatives.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended years after, the state said.
Prosecution Case
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with her attire and belongings missing.
Those items were taken by the killer to avoid detection, the prosecution contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was located tied up to a post concealed in shrubland about 100 feet from the burial site.
No murder weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was comprised findings that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will include evidence that genetic material recovered from a stick at the location was 3.8 billion times more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.
The jury has already heard evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone left the scene after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his guilt, the state has claimed.
Defense Stance
"While authorities were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a rushed single journey back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he opened his case.
The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his defendant as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at evidence to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had seen assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom police quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was one who testified previously.
The court heard he was an immediate person of interest – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's disappearance, even before her remains were found.
Photographs showing Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the court, with an expert saying he was confident the pictures were authentic and had not been doctored in any way.
The trial will return to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on the next day.
