Jury in Prominent Australian Homicide Case Visits Shoreline Where Deceased Was Found

Members of the jury overseeing a widely publicized Queensland murder trial have traveled to the isolated beach 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 jury has been told.

Her body were discovered by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.

Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.

Jury Visit to Beach

The jury of 10 men and two women plus several back-up jurors attended the location along with the presiding officer and barristers on the start of the week in Queensland.

In a nod to the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a casual top, sport shorts and trainers rather than a wig and robes.

Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, shorts and baseball caps.

Location Particulars

The jurors were guided around 1.2km north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.

Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, four red and white cones showed where the victim's car had been left.

The visit was designed to help the panel become acquainted with key locations in the case and no official evidence was given.

Context of the Trial

Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and parents.

He was not heard from until he was apprehended four years later, the prosecution said.

Prosecution Case

It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.

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

Those items were removed by the killer to avoid detection, the prosecution contend.

Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was found secured to a post concealed in shrubland about 100 feet from the burial site.

No murder weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.

But the state says the crown's case – though indirect – was comprised proof 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 come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.

The jury has previously been told testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the beach after the incident – and that its travel corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the defendant.

Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the prosecution has argued.

Defense Stance

"While authorities were discovering Toyah's body, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he opened his case.

The defense is yet to present any evidence, but in his opening address, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his client as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."

He also hinted at testimony to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."

Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.

Further Testimony

Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom police quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was one who gave evidence last week.

The court was informed he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his partner's disappearance, even before her remains were discovered.

Images depicting the witness on a hike with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the jury, with an specialist saying he was certain the photos were authentic and had not been altered in any manner.

The case will resume to the standard environment of the courtroom on Tuesday.