Jury in High-Profile Australian Homicide Trial Visits Beach Where Victim Was Discovered
Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Australian homicide case have traveled to the isolated beach where the victim was located.
The 24-year-old victim was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and buried in a sandy grave with minimal chance of survival, the jury has heard.
Her body were discovered by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline nestled between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Court Inspection to Crime Scene
The jury of 10 men and two women plus three alternates attended the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on Monday morning local time.
In a nod to the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, the judge wore a T-shirt, athletic wear and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Location Details
The jurors were led around 1.2km north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, several markers showed where the victim's car had been left.
The trip was designed to help the panel become familiar with important sites in the case and no testimony was given.
Background of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were found, Mr Singh departed from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, family and relatives.
He was out of contact until he was arrested years after, the prosecution said.
State Argument
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with her attire and most of her possessions absent.
Those objects were removed by the killer to avoid detection, prosecutors allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was found tied up to a post hidden in shrubland about 30 metres from the burial site.
No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been found.
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 include testimony that genetic material recovered 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 public.
The jury has already heard testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone left the scene after the incident – and that its travel matched those of a vehicle owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the prosecution has argued.
Defense Stance
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed single journey back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he opened his case.
The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney the lawyer described his defendant as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at testimony to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an plainclothes agent he had witnessed 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 individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was among those who gave evidence previously.
The court was informed he was an immediate person of interest – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's vanishing, even before her body were found.
Images showing Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the court, with an expert 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 the next day.