Jury in High-Profile Down Under Murder Case Visits Shoreline Where Deceased Was Discovered
Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Australian murder trial have traveled to the isolated shore where the victim was discovered.
The 24-year-old victim was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and buried in a shallow grave with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has been told.
The remains were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Court Visit to Crime Scene
The jury of 10 men and two women plus several back-up jurors attended the beach along with the presiding officer and barristers on Monday morning local time.
In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, the judge opted for a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys chose polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Scene Details
The court members were guided around 1.2km north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, several red and white cones indicated where the vehicle had been left.
The trip was designed to help the jurors become acquainted with important sites in the case and no official evidence was presented.
Context of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, family and parents.
He was out of contact until he was apprehended years after, the state said.
State Case
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was discovered wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions missing.
Those items were taken by the assailant to conceal evidence, the prosecution contend.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was found secured to a post hidden in bushland about 100 feet from the grave.
No murder weapon was found, 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 involve testimony that genetic material recovered from a stick at the scene was 3.8 billion times more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The jury has previously been told evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the scene after the killing – and that its movements corresponded with those of a vehicle belonging to the accused.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also suggested his guilt, the state has argued.
Defense Stance
"As the police were discovering Toyah's body, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he began arguments.
The defence is yet to present any evidence, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at testimony to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
The defense attorney has also said he will testify about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Further Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities excluded as a person of interest, was one who testified last week.
The trial was informed 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 vanishing, even before her remains were found.
Images showing Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the jury, with an specialist saying he was confident the photos were genuine and had not been doctored in any manner.
The trial will resume to the standard environment of the courtroom on the next day.
