Panel of Jurors in Prominent Australian Murder Case Visits Shoreline Where Deceased Was Found
Jurors involved in a widely publicized Australian homicide case have traveled to the remote shore where the young woman was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly attacked with a sharp object and placed in a shallow resting place with minimal hope of surviving, the court has heard.
Her body were discovered by a family member 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 killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Court Visit to Crime Scene
The panel of 12 individuals plus three back-up jurors attended the beach along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on the start of the week local time.
In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, the judge wore a casual top, sport shorts and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers selected casual shirts, shorts and headwear.
Location Particulars
The jurors were guided around 1.2km along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, several markers showed where the vehicle had been left.
The visit was intended to help the jurors become familiar with important sites in the trial and no official evidence was given.
Context of the Trial
Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, family and parents.
He was out of contact until he was arrested four years later, the prosecution said.
Prosecution Case
It is claimed 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 swimwear, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.
Those objects were removed by the killer to conceal evidence, prosecutors contend.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was found secured to a post hidden in shrubland about 100 feet from the burial site.
No murder weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the state says the evidence – though circumstantial – was comprised proof that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve evidence that genetic material obtained from a object at the location was extremely more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.
The jury has already heard testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone left the beach after the incident – and that its movements matched those of a vehicle belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his guilt, the state has argued.
Defense Stance
"While authorities were finding Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he began arguments.
The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his opening address, the defense attorney Greg McGuire described his client as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at testimony to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had seen two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom police excluded as a possible suspect, was among those who testified previously.
The court heard he was an immediate person of interest – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his partner's vanishing, prior to her body were found.
Images depicting Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the court, with an specialist saying he was confident the pictures were genuine and had not been altered in any manner.
The case will resume to the standard environment of the courthouse on Tuesday.