Panel of Jurors in Prominent Down Under Homicide Trial Tours Shoreline At Which Victim Was Found
Jurors overseeing a widely publicized Queensland homicide case have traveled to the isolated beach where the victim was located.
The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and placed in a shallow grave with minimal chance of survival, the court has been told.
Her body were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Jury Visit to Crime Scene
The panel of 10 men and two women plus several back-up jurors attended the beach along with the judge and barristers on Monday morning local time.
In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a T-shirt, sport shorts and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers selected polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Location Details
The court members were led around 1.2km north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, several red and white cones indicated where the victim's car had been left.
The visit was designed to help the panel become familiar with key locations in the trial and no testimony was presented.
Background of the Trial
Last week, the court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and parents.
He was out of contact until he was arrested four years later, the prosecution said.
Prosecution Case
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions absent.
Those objects were taken by the killer to conceal evidence, prosecutors allege.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was found tied up to a tree hidden in bushland about 100 feet from the grave.
No murder weapon was found, and no one have been identified.
But the state says the evidence – though circumstantial – was made up of proof that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve testimony that genetic material obtained from a object at the location was 3.8 billion times more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the population.
The jury has already heard testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the scene after the killing – and that its travel corresponded with those of a vehicle owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his involvement, the prosecution has claimed.
Defence Stance
"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he began arguments.
The defence is has not present any evidence, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer portrayed his client as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
He also hinted at evidence to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had seen assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
The defense attorney has also said he will testify about individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.
Additional Evidence
Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom police quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was among those who gave evidence last week.
The trial was informed he was an immediate person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's disappearance, prior to her body were found.
Photographs depicting the witness on a walk with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the court, with an specialist saying he was certain the photos were authentic and had not been doctored in any way.
The trial will return to the standard environment of the courthouse on the next day.