Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Australian Homicide Case Visits Shoreline Where Victim Was Found
Members of the jury involved in a high-profile Australian murder trial have been taken to the remote shore where the victim was discovered.
The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly stabbed with a bladed weapon and placed in a shallow grave with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has heard.
The remains were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline nestled between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Jury Inspection to Beach
The jury of 12 individuals plus several alternates attended the beach along with the judge and barristers on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a nod to the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, the judge opted for a T-shirt, sport shorts and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Scene Details
The court members were guided around 1.2km along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.
Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, several red and white cones indicated where the victim's car had been left.
The trip was designed to help the panel become familiar with key locations in the case and no testimony was given.
Background of the Trial
Last week, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, the accused flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, three children and parents.
He was not heard from until he was arrested four years later, the state said.
State Argument
It is alleged that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions absent.
Those items were taken by the assailant to avoid detection, prosecutors allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was located tied up to a tree hidden in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.
No murder weapon was found, and no one have been found.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was comprised findings that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve evidence that genetic material recovered from a object at the scene was extremely more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The jury has already heard evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach after the killing – and that its movements corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the state has claimed.
Defense Position
"As the police were discovering Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.
The defence is has not provided testimony, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer portrayed his defendant as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed testimony to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an plainclothes agent he had seen assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.
Additional Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom authorities excluded as a person of interest, was among those who gave evidence last week.
The trial heard he was an immediate person of interest – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's vanishing, even before her body were found.
Photographs showing the witness on a hike with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the court, with an specialist saying he was confident the pictures were genuine and had not been altered in any manner.
The trial will return to the standard environment of the courthouse on Tuesday.