Jury in High-Profile Down Under Homicide Case Tours Shoreline At Which Deceased Was Found
Members of the jury involved in a high-profile Queensland homicide case have traveled to the remote beach where the victim was located.
The 24-year-old victim was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and placed in a sandy resting place with little or no chance of survival, the court has been told.
The remains were discovered by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Court Visit to Crime Scene
The panel of 12 individuals plus several back-up jurors attended the beach along with the presiding officer and barristers on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a nod to the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, the judge wore a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defence barristers chose polo shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Scene Particulars
The court members were guided around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.
Upon arrival, as they traveled to the site, four red and white cones showed where the victim's car had been parked.
The trip was designed to help the jurors become familiar with important sites in the case and no testimony was given.
Context of the Case
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, three children and parents.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended years after, the state said.
State Argument
It is alleged that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was found wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and belongings absent.
Those items were removed by the assailant to avoid detection, prosecutors contend.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was found secured to a tree concealed in bushland about 100 feet from the burial site.
No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the prosecution says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was comprised proof that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve evidence that genetic material obtained from a object at the location was extremely more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the population.
The court has previously been told evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the scene after the killing – and that its movements matched those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the prosecution has claimed.
Defense Position
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's body, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he opened his case.
The defence is yet to present any evidence, but in his opening address, the defense attorney the lawyer described his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed testimony to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an plainclothes agent he had witnessed assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."
Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under investigation.
Further Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom police excluded as a possible suspect, was one who gave evidence previously.
The trial was informed he was an immediate person of interest – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his partner's vanishing, even before her remains were found.
Photographs showing Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the court, with an specialist saying he was confident the photos were authentic and had not been doctored in any way.
The trial will return to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on Tuesday.
