Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Down Under Homicide Case Visits Shoreline At Which Victim Was Found
Jurors involved in a high-profile Australian murder trial have been taken to the remote shore where the victim was located.
Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly stabbed with a bladed weapon and buried in a shallow resting place with little or no hope of surviving, the jury has been told.
Her body were found by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Court Visit to Beach
The panel 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 acknowledgment of the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, the judge opted for a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers selected polo shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Scene Details
The court members were led around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, several markers showed where the victim's car had been parked.
The visit was designed to help the jurors become familiar with key locations in the trial and no official evidence was given.
Background of the Case
Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, Mr Singh departed from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, family and parents.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended years after, the state said.
Prosecution Argument
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was discovered wearing a bikini, with her attire and most of her possessions absent.
Those objects were removed by the killer to conceal evidence, the prosecution contend.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was found secured to a tree hidden in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the state says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was made up of proof that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve evidence that DNA recovered from a object at the scene was 3.8 billion times more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The court has previously been told evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the scene after the killing – and that its travel corresponded with those of a vehicle owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the state has claimed.
Defense Stance
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he opened his case.
The defence is has not provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney the lawyer described his client as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also hinted at testimony to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an plainclothes agent he had witnessed two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
The defense attorney has also said he will testify about individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom police quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was one who testified last week.
The court was informed he was an initial person of interest – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his partner's disappearance, prior to her body were discovered.
Photographs depicting the witness on a hike with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared 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 trial will return to the standard environment of the courtroom on Tuesday.