Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Down Under Murder Trial Tours Beach At Which Victim Was Discovered
Members of the jury overseeing a widely publicized Queensland homicide case have traveled to the isolated beach where the young woman was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and buried in a shallow resting place with little or no hope of surviving, the jury has been told.
The remains were found by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Jury Inspection to Crime Scene
The panel of 12 individuals plus several back-up jurors attended the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on Monday morning local time.
In a nod to the hot climate and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a casual top, sport shorts and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Scene Particulars
The court members were guided around 1.2km along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, four markers showed where the vehicle had been left.
The visit was designed to help the panel become acquainted with key locations in the case and no official evidence was given.
Context of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, three children and parents.
He was not heard from until he was arrested years after, the state said.
State Case
It is alleged that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, south of 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 killer to avoid detection, the prosecution allege.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was found secured to a post hidden in shrubland about 30 metres from the grave.
The weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the state says the crown's case – though indirect – was made up of proof that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve evidence that DNA obtained from a stick at the location was 3.8 billion times more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The jury has already heard testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the scene after the killing – and that its movements corresponded with those of a vehicle belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the state has argued.
Defense Position
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he began arguments.
The defence is has not present any evidence, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his client 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 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 "biggest mistake."
The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was among those who testified last week.
The court heard he was an immediate person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his partner's disappearance, even before her remains were discovered.
Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the court, with an specialist saying he was confident the photos were genuine and had not been altered in any way.
The trial will return to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on Tuesday.