Panel of Jurors in Prominent Down Under Homicide Trial Tours Shoreline Where Victim Was Found
Jurors overseeing a high-profile Queensland murder trial have traveled to the isolated beach where the young woman was located.
The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and placed in a shallow grave with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has been told.
Her body were discovered by a family member the following 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 murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Jury Inspection to Crime Scene
The jury of 12 individuals plus several alternates attended the beach along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on Monday morning local time.
In a nod to the hot climate and sweltering heat, the judge opted for a T-shirt, athletic wear and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Scene Particulars
The court members were guided around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.
Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, several red and white cones showed where the victim's car had been parked.
The trip was intended to help the panel become familiar with important sites in the trial and no official evidence was presented.
Context of the Case
Last week, the court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, three children and parents.
He was not heard from until he was arrested four years later, the state said.
Prosecution Argument
It is alleged that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.
Those items were taken by the killer to avoid detection, prosecutors contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was located tied up to a tree hidden in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.
The weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the state says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of proof that indicated 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 come from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.
The jury has already heard testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the scene after the incident – and that its movements corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his guilt, the prosecution has argued.
Defense Position
"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was arranging... a rushed single journey back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he opened his case.
The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire described his defendant as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."
He also foreshadowed testimony to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had seen assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – 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.
Further Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was among those who gave evidence last week.
The court was informed he was an initial police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's disappearance, prior to her remains were found.
Photographs depicting the witness on a walk with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the court, with an expert saying he was confident the photos were genuine and had not been doctored in any way.
The case will return to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on the next day.