Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Down Under Homicide Case Visits Shoreline Where Deceased Was Found
Members of the jury involved in a widely publicized Queensland homicide case have traveled to the remote beach where the victim was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a shallow resting place with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has been told.
The remains were discovered by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Court Inspection to Beach
The panel of 12 individuals plus three back-up jurors attended the beach along with the presiding officer and barristers on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a nod to the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a casual top, athletic wear and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defence barristers selected casual shirts, shorts and headwear.
Scene Details
The court members were led around 1.2km along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, several markers showed where the vehicle had been left.
The visit was intended to help the panel become familiar with key locations in the trial and no official evidence was given.
Context of the Case
Last week, the court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, the accused departed from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, family and parents.
He was not heard from until he was arrested four years later, the state said.
State Argument
It is claimed that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions missing.
Those objects were removed by the assailant to conceal evidence, prosecutors contend.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was found tied up to a tree concealed in shrubland about 100 feet from the grave.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been found.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was comprised proof that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve testimony that DNA recovered from a stick at the location was extremely more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The court has already heard testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach after the incident – and that its travel corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also suggested his guilt, the prosecution has claimed.
Defence Position
"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was organizing... 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, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer described his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed testimony to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had witnessed assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – 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 suspicion.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom police excluded as a person of interest, was among those who testified last week.
The trial was informed he was an initial police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's vanishing, even before her remains were discovered.
Images depicting the witness on a walk with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the pictures were authentic and had not been altered in any manner.
The case will return to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on Tuesday.
