Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Australian Homicide Case Tours Shoreline Where Victim Was Discovered

Wangetti Beach scene
The body of Toyah Cordingley were found on a secluded beach in northern Queensland back in 2018.

Jurors involved in a high-profile Queensland homicide case have been taken to the remote shore where the young woman was located.

Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly stabbed with a bladed weapon and placed in a shallow resting place with little or no chance of survival, the jury has been told.

The remains were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline nestled 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 northern Australia.

Court Inspection to Crime Scene

The jury of 10 men and two women plus several alternates visited the beach along with the judge and legal counsel on Monday morning in Queensland.

In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a casual top, sport shorts and sneakers rather than traditional court attire.

Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys chose polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.

Scene Particulars

The jurors were guided around 1.2km along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.

Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, several markers indicated where the vehicle had been left.

The trip was designed to help the jurors become acquainted with important sites in the case and no testimony was presented.

Context of the Case

Last week, the court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, family and relatives.

He was out of contact until he was apprehended years after, the state said.

Court officials at the beach
The judge with legal representatives and other court officials at Wangetti Beach.

State Case

It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.

The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.

Those objects were taken by the assailant to avoid detection, prosecutors contend.

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was located secured to a post hidden in bushland about 100 feet from the grave.

No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been found.

But the state says the crown's case – though indirect – was comprised findings that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."

This will involve evidence that DNA obtained from a object at the location was extremely more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.

The court has previously been told testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the beach after the incident – and that its travel matched those of a vehicle owned by the defendant.

Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his involvement, the prosecution has claimed.

Defense Position

"As the police were discovering Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he began arguments.

The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his opening address, the defense attorney the lawyer described his client as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."

He also foreshadowed testimony to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had witnessed assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."

Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.

Further Testimony

Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a person of interest, 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 father about whether he was implicated in his partner's disappearance, even before her body were found.

Images showing Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the court, with an specialist saying he was confident the pictures were genuine and had not been altered in any manner.

The trial will return to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on Tuesday.

Timothy Ingram
Timothy Ingram

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