Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Down Under Homicide Trial Visits Beach At Which Victim Was Found
Jurors overseeing a widely publicized Australian murder trial have been taken to the isolated shore where the young woman was located.
The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and placed in a sandy resting place with minimal hope of surviving, the court has been told.
The remains were found by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Court Inspection to Crime Scene
The panel of 12 individuals plus several alternates visited the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, the judge opted for a casual top, athletic wear and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Scene Details
The court members were guided around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, several red and white cones indicated where the vehicle had been left.
The visit was intended to help the jurors become acquainted with key locations in the case and no official evidence was presented.
Background of the Trial
Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, family and relatives.
He was out of contact until he was arrested years after, the state said.
Prosecution Argument
It is claimed that the defendant, 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 swimwear, with her attire and belongings absent.
Those items were taken by the killer to avoid detection, prosecutors allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was located secured to a tree hidden in shrubland about 100 feet from the grave.
The weapon was found, and no one have been found.
But the state says the evidence – though circumstantial – was made up of findings that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve testimony that DNA recovered from a object at the scene was extremely more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The court has previously been told evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the scene after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a vehicle owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also suggested his guilt, the state has argued.
Defence Stance
"As the police were finding Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a rushed single journey back to India," the prosecutor said previously 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 defendant as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at testimony to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had seen two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."
Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was among those who gave evidence previously.
The court heard 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 vanishing, prior to her body were found.
Photographs showing the witness on a walk with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the pictures were authentic and had not been doctored in any way.
The case will resume to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on the next day.
