Jury in High-Profile Australian Homicide Trial Tours Shoreline Where Deceased Was Discovered
Members of the jury involved in a widely publicized Queensland homicide case have been taken to the remote shore where the young woman was located.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a bladed weapon and buried in a shallow resting place with little or no chance of survival, the jury has been told.
The remains were found by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Court Visit to Crime Scene
The jury of 10 men and two women plus three alternates attended the location along with the judge and legal counsel on the start of the week local time.
In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a casual top, sport shorts and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Scene Particulars
The jurors were led around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, four red and white cones indicated where the victim's car had been left.
The visit was designed to help the jurors become acquainted with key locations in the case and no testimony was given.
Background of the Case
Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, three children and relatives.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended years after, the prosecution said.
State Case
It is alleged that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions missing.
Those items were taken by the killer to conceal evidence, prosecutors contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was located secured to a tree concealed in shrubland about 100 feet from the burial site.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the state says the evidence – though circumstantial – was made up of proof that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve testimony that genetic material recovered from a object at the location was 3.8 billion times more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the population.
The court has already heard testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the scene after the killing – and that its travel corresponded with those of a vehicle belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his involvement, the prosecution has claimed.
Defense Position
"While authorities were finding Toyah's body, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he opened his case.
The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire portrayed his client as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also hinted at testimony to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had witnessed assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."
The defense attorney has also said he will testify about individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom police quickly ruled out as a possible suspect, was among those who gave evidence previously.
The court heard he was an initial person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's disappearance, prior to her remains were discovered.
Images showing Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the court, with an expert saying he was certain the photos were authentic and had not been altered in any way.
The trial will resume to the standard environment of the courthouse on the next day.