Panel of Jurors in Prominent Down Under Homicide Trial Visits Beach At Which Deceased Was Found
Members of the jury overseeing a widely publicized Australian murder trial have been taken to the remote beach where the victim was located.
Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly stabbed with a sharp object and buried in a shallow grave with minimal chance of survival, the court has been told.
Her body were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Jury Inspection to Beach
The jury of 10 men and two women plus several back-up jurors visited the location along with the presiding officer and barristers on the start of the week local time.
In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, the judge opted for a casual top, sport shorts and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defence barristers chose casual shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Scene Details
The jurors were led around 1.2km along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, four markers indicated where the victim's car had been left.
The visit was designed to help the jurors become acquainted with important sites in the case and no testimony was presented.
Context of the Trial
Last week, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, family and parents.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended four years later, the prosecution said.
Prosecution Argument
It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a bikini, with her attire and most of her possessions missing.
Those objects were removed by the killer to conceal evidence, 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 shrubland about 100 feet from the grave.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the prosecution says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was made up of findings that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve testimony that genetic material obtained from a stick at the location was 3.8 billion times more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the population.
The jury has already heard testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the scene after the incident – and that its travel corresponded with those of a vehicle belonging to the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the state has claimed.
Defense Position
"While authorities were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a rushed single journey 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 the lawyer portrayed his client as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at evidence to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had witnessed assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."
Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under investigation.
Further Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom police quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was one who testified previously.
The trial was informed he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his partner's vanishing, even before her remains were found.
Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the court, with an expert saying he was certain the photos were genuine and had not been altered in any way.
The case will return to the standard environment of the courthouse on the next day.
