Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Down Under Murder Trial Visits Shoreline At Which Deceased Was Discovered
Jurors overseeing a widely publicized Queensland murder trial have been taken to the isolated beach where the victim was located.
Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and placed in a shallow resting place with little or no hope of surviving, the jury has heard.
The remains were found by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Court Inspection to Crime Scene
The jury of 12 individuals plus three back-up jurors visited the location along with the judge and barristers on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a T-shirt, athletic wear and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Scene Details
The court members were guided around 1.2km north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, several markers indicated where the vehicle had been parked.
The visit was intended to help the panel become familiar with key locations in the case and no testimony was presented.
Background of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, Mr Singh departed from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, three children and parents.
He was out of contact until he was arrested years after, the state said.
State Argument
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was discovered wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.
Those objects were taken by the assailant to conceal evidence, the prosecution allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was found secured to a tree concealed in bushland about 100 feet from the grave.
No murder weapon was found, and no one have been found.
But the prosecution says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was made up of findings that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include testimony that genetic material obtained from a object at the scene was extremely more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the population.
The court has already heard evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the scene after the killing – and that its travel matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the prosecution has argued.
Defence Stance
"While authorities were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he began arguments.
The defence is yet to present any evidence, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer described his client as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at evidence to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had witnessed assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom authorities excluded as a person of interest, was one who testified last week.
The trial was informed he was an initial police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's disappearance, even before her body were discovered.
Images 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 certain the photos were genuine and had not been doctored in any manner.
The case will return to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on Tuesday.
