Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Down Under Homicide Trial Visits Beach At Which Victim Was Found
Members of the jury involved in a high-profile Australian murder trial have traveled to the isolated shore where the victim was located.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a bladed weapon and placed in a shallow grave with minimal hope of surviving, the court has heard.
Her body were found by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Court Inspection to Beach
The jury of 12 individuals plus three back-up jurors attended the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on the start of the week local time.
In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and sweltering heat, the judge opted for a casual top, sport shorts and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Scene Particulars
The court members were led around 1.2km north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, several red and white cones showed where the vehicle had been left.
The visit was designed to help the jurors become acquainted with key locations in the case and no testimony was given.
Background of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, family and relatives.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended four years later, the state said.
State Case
It is claimed that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was found wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions missing.
Those objects were taken by the assailant to conceal evidence, prosecutors contend.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found tied up to a post hidden in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.
No murder weapon was found, and no one have been found.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of proof that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include evidence that genetic material obtained from a object at the scene was extremely more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.
The court has previously been told testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone left the scene after the incident – and that its movements matched those of a vehicle belonging to the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his guilt, the prosecution has argued.
Defence Position
"As the police were discovering Toyah's body, he was arranging... a rushed single journey back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he began arguments.
The defense is has not present any evidence, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his client as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also hinted at evidence to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, 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 "gravest error."
The defense attorney has also said he will testify about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was one who testified previously.
The court was informed he was an initial police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his partner's vanishing, even before her body were found.
Images depicting the witness on a hike with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the court, with an expert saying he was certain the photos were genuine and had not been doctored in any manner.
The trial will return to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on Tuesday.
