Jury in High-Profile Australian Homicide Case Tours Beach At Which Deceased Was Found
Members of the jury involved in a widely publicized Australian homicide case have been taken to the isolated beach where the young woman was located.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times stabbed with a sharp object and placed in a sandy resting place with little or no chance of survival, the jury has been told.
The remains were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Jury Visit to Beach
The jury of 10 men and two women plus several back-up jurors attended the beach along with the presiding officer and barristers on the start of the week local time.
In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, the judge wore a casual top, sport shorts and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers selected polo shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Location Details
The court members were led around 1.2km north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, four markers indicated where the victim's car had been left.
The trip was intended to help the panel become familiar with key locations in the case and no testimony was given.
Context of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, the accused flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, three children and parents.
He was out of contact until he was arrested four years later, the prosecution said.
Prosecution Argument
It is claimed that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions missing.
Those items were removed by the assailant to conceal evidence, prosecutors contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was located secured to a tree concealed in bushland about 100 feet from the grave.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been identified.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of proof that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve evidence that DNA obtained 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 public.
The court has already heard testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone left the scene after the killing – and that its travel corresponded with those of a vehicle owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his guilt, the state has claimed.
Defence Position
"As the police were discovering Toyah's body, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he opened his case.
The defense is yet to present any evidence, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire portrayed his client as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed evidence to come subsequently that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed 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 testify about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.
Further Evidence
Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was one who gave evidence previously.
The court was informed he was an initial police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's disappearance, even before her remains were found.
Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the jury, with an specialist saying he was certain the photos were authentic and had not been doctored in any manner.
The case will return to the standard environment of the courthouse on the next day.