Jury in Prominent Australian Homicide Case Visits Beach At Which Victim Was Discovered
Jurors overseeing a widely publicized Australian murder trial have been taken to the remote shore where the young woman was located.
The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly stabbed with a bladed weapon and buried in a shallow resting place with minimal hope of surviving, the court has heard.
The remains were discovered by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline nestled between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Court Inspection to Crime Scene
The panel of 10 men and two women plus three alternates attended the beach along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on the start of the week local time.
In a nod to the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a casual top, sport shorts and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers selected polo shirts, bottoms and baseball caps.
Location Details
The jurors were led around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, four markers showed where the victim's car had been parked.
The visit was intended to help the jurors become familiar with key locations in the case and no testimony was presented.
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 – leaving behind his spouse, family and parents.
He was out of contact until he was apprehended four years later, the state said.
State Case
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.
Those items were removed by the killer to conceal evidence, prosecutors allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was found tied up to a tree concealed in shrubland about 30 metres from the burial site.
No murder weapon was found, and no one have been found.
But the prosecution says the crown's case – though indirect – was made up of proof that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve testimony that genetic material recovered from a object at the scene was 3.8 billion times more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The jury has previously been told testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone left the beach after the killing – and that its travel matched those of a vehicle belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the prosecution has claimed.
Defence Stance
"As the police were discovering Toyah's remains, he was arranging... 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, 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 evidence to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had witnessed assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Further Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom authorities excluded as a person of interest, was one who gave evidence last week.
The trial was informed he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his partner's vanishing, prior to her remains were discovered.
Photographs depicting the witness on a hike 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 altered in any way.
The trial will return to the standard environment of the courthouse on Tuesday.
