Jury in High-Profile Australian Homicide Trial Visits Shoreline At Which Deceased Was Found
Members of the jury involved in a widely publicized Australian murder trial have been taken to the remote shore where the victim was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times stabbed with a sharp object and placed in a shallow grave with little or no hope of surviving, the court has been told.
Her body were discovered by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline nestled 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 Beach
The jury of 10 men and two women plus several back-up jurors attended the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a nod to the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, the judge wore a casual top, sport shorts and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys chose polo shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Location Details
The jurors were guided around 1.2km north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, four markers indicated where the vehicle had been left.
The trip was designed to help the panel become familiar with key locations in the case and no official evidence was given.
Context of the Trial
Last week, the court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were found, the accused departed from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and relatives.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended four years later, the state said.
State Case
It is alleged that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was discovered wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions absent.
Those items were taken by the assailant to avoid detection, prosecutors allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was found secured to a tree hidden in bushland about 30 metres from the grave.
No murder weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of findings that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve testimony that genetic material recovered from a stick at the scene was 3.8 billion times more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.
The court has already heard evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the beach after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the state has claimed.
Defense Stance
"As the police were discovering Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a rushed single journey back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he began arguments.
The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer described his client as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also foreshadowed evidence to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an plainclothes agent he had witnessed assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom police excluded as a possible suspect, was one who gave evidence previously.
The trial was informed he was an initial police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his partner's disappearance, even before her remains were found.
Images showing Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the court, with an expert saying he was certain the photos were authentic and had not been doctored in any manner.
The trial will return to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on Tuesday.
