Jury in High-Profile Down Under Murder Case Visits Shoreline Where Deceased Was Discovered
Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Queensland homicide case have been taken to the isolated beach where the victim was located.
Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a sandy resting place with minimal chance of survival, the court has heard.
Her body were discovered by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Jury Visit to Beach
The panel of 10 men and two women plus three alternates visited the location along with the presiding officer and barristers on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, the judge opted for a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Location Particulars
The jurors were led around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, four red and white cones indicated where the vehicle had been left.
The visit was intended to help the jurors become acquainted with key locations in the case and no official evidence was given.
Context of the Trial
Previously, the court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, the accused flew from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, three children and relatives.
He was out of contact until he was arrested four years later, the prosecution said.
State Case
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a bikini, with her attire and belongings missing.
Those objects were removed by the killer to conceal evidence, the prosecution contend.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was located tied up to a tree hidden in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the prosecution says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was made up of proof that indicated 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 population.
The jury has already heard evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach after the killing – and that its travel matched those of a vehicle belonging to the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his involvement, the state has claimed.
Defense Position
"As the police were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he opened his case.
The defense is has not provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire described his client as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at evidence to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom police quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was among those who gave evidence last week.
The court heard he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his partner's vanishing, prior to her remains were discovered.
Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the court, with an specialist saying he was confident the photos were authentic and had not been doctored in any way.
The case will resume to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on the next day.
