Jury in Prominent Down Under Homicide Case Visits Shoreline At Which Victim Was Discovered
Jurors involved in a high-profile Queensland homicide case have traveled to the isolated shore where the young woman was located.
The 24-year-old victim was multiple times stabbed with a sharp object and placed in a sandy grave with little or no chance of survival, the jury has heard.
The remains were discovered by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Jury Inspection to Crime Scene
The jury of 12 individuals plus three alternates attended 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 sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a casual top, sport shorts and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys chose casual shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.
Location Details
The court members were guided around 1.2km north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, several red and white cones indicated where the victim's car had been left.
The visit was designed to help the jurors become familiar with important sites in the case and no official evidence was given.
Context of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were found, the accused flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, family and relatives.
He was not heard from until he was arrested four years later, the prosecution said.
Prosecution Case
It is alleged that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was found wearing a swimwear, with her attire and belongings missing.
Those objects were taken by the assailant to avoid detection, the prosecution allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was found secured to a post concealed in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.
No murder weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though circumstantial – was comprised proof that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve evidence that genetic material recovered from a object at the location was extremely more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The court has previously been told testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone left the beach after the killing – and that its travel matched those of a vehicle owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the prosecution has argued.
Defence Position
"As the police were finding Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he opened his case.
The defence is yet to present any evidence, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney the lawyer described his client as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at evidence to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an plainclothes agent he had witnessed two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom police quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was one who gave evidence previously.
The court heard he was an initial 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 showing Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the jury, with an expert saying he was confident the pictures were authentic and had not been altered in any way.
The case will resume to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on Tuesday.
