Panel of Jurors in Prominent Australian Homicide Case Tours Shoreline At Which Victim Was Found
Jurors involved in a high-profile Australian homicide case have been taken to the isolated beach where the victim was discovered.
The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and placed in a sandy grave with little or no chance of survival, the jury has been told.
The remains were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline 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 Visit to Beach
The jury of 12 individuals plus three back-up jurors attended the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a nod to the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a T-shirt, sport shorts and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.
Scene Particulars
The jurors were led around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, four red and white cones showed where the victim's car had been parked.
The visit was intended to help the jurors become familiar with important sites in the trial and no official evidence was given.
Background of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, the accused departed from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, family and relatives.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended years after, the state said.
State Argument
It is alleged that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was found wearing a swimwear, with her attire and belongings absent.
Those objects were removed by the killer to conceal evidence, the prosecution contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found secured to a post hidden in shrubland about 30 metres from the grave.
No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been identified.
But the state says the crown's case – though indirect – was comprised proof that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve testimony that DNA recovered from a object at the scene was extremely more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The court has already heard evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the scene after the incident – and that its movements corresponded with those of a vehicle owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the state has claimed.
Defence Position
"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.
The defence is yet to present any evidence, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer portrayed his defendant as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed evidence to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had witnessed assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.
Further Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom police quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was one who gave evidence previously.
The court was informed he was an immediate person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his partner's disappearance, prior to her body were found.
Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the photos were authentic and had not been doctored in any way.
The trial will resume to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on Tuesday.