Panel of Jurors in Prominent Down Under Murder Case Visits Beach At Which Victim Was Discovered
Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Queensland homicide case have traveled to the isolated shore where the victim was discovered.
The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a shallow grave with little or no hope of surviving, the court has been told.
The remains were discovered by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Court Visit to Beach
The jury of 12 individuals plus three back-up jurors attended the beach along with the presiding officer and barristers on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a casual top, sport shorts and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defence barristers selected 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 remains were discovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, four markers indicated where the victim's car had been parked.
The visit was intended to help the jurors become acquainted with key locations in the case and no official evidence was presented.
Context of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, the accused flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and relatives.
He was out of contact until he was apprehended four years later, the state said.
Prosecution Argument
It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with her attire and most of her possessions absent.
Those objects were removed by the killer to avoid detection, prosecutors allege.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was located tied up to a post concealed in shrubland about 100 feet from the burial site.
The weapon was found, and no one have been found.
But the prosecution says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was comprised findings that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve testimony that DNA recovered from a stick at the location was 3.8 billion times more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The jury has previously been told testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the scene after the killing – and that its travel corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the accused.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the prosecution has argued.
Defense Position
"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed single journey back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he opened his case.
The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his opening address, the defense attorney the lawyer described his defendant as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed testimony to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had seen assailants attack 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 individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under investigation.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom police quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was among those who testified last week.
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, even before her body were found.
Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been altered in any way.
The case will resume to the standard environment of the courthouse on Tuesday.
