Jury in High-Profile Down Under Homicide Case Visits Beach At Which Victim Was Discovered
Jurors overseeing a high-profile Australian homicide case have been taken to the isolated beach where the victim was discovered.
The 24-year-old victim was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and placed in a sandy grave with little or no hope of surviving, the jury has heard.
Her body were found by her father the next 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 murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Jury Inspection to Beach
The panel of 12 individuals plus three back-up jurors attended the location along with the judge and legal counsel on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a T-shirt, athletic wear and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys chose polo shirts, shorts and headwear.
Scene Details
The court members were led around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, several red and white cones showed where the victim's car had been left.
The visit was designed to help the panel become familiar with key locations in the trial and no testimony was given.
Context of the Trial
Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, family and parents.
He was out of contact until he was apprehended years after, the state said.
State Argument
It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions absent.
Those objects were removed by the killer to avoid detection, the prosecution allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found tied up to a post concealed in bushland about 100 feet from the burial site.
No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the prosecution says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was made up of proof that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include evidence that DNA obtained from a stick at the location was 3.8 billion times more likely 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 phone left the scene after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the state has argued.
Defence Stance
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's body, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he began arguments.
The defence is yet to present any evidence, but in his opening address, the defense attorney Greg McGuire 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 seen 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 give evidence about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.
Additional Evidence
Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom police excluded as a person of interest, was among those who testified previously.
The trial was informed he was an initial police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's vanishing, prior to her body were found.
Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the court, with an specialist saying he was confident the photos were genuine and had not been doctored in any manner.
The case will return to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on Tuesday.