Jury in High-Profile Down Under Homicide Trial Visits Shoreline At Which Victim Was Found
Members of the jury overseeing a widely publicized Australian homicide case have traveled to the remote shore where the victim was located.
The 24-year-old victim was repeatedly attacked with a sharp object and placed in a shallow grave with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has heard.
The remains were found by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Court Visit to Crime Scene
The jury of 10 men and two women plus several alternates attended the beach along with the presiding officer and barristers on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a acknowledgment of the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, the judge wore a casual top, sport shorts and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Scene Details
The court members were guided around three-quarters of a mile along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, four red and white cones indicated where the victim's car had been left.
The trip was designed to help the jurors become familiar with key locations in the trial and no testimony was given.
Background of the Trial
Last week, the court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's body were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, three children and relatives.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended years after, the prosecution said.
State Case
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the community 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 most of her possessions missing.
Those objects were removed by the assailant to avoid detection, prosecutors allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was found tied up to a tree hidden in shrubland about 100 feet from the burial site.
The weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of findings that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve testimony that DNA obtained from a object at the scene was 3.8 billion times more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the population.
The court has already heard testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the beach 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 prosecution has argued.
Defense Position
"While authorities were finding Toyah's body, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said last week as he began arguments.
The defence is yet to provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at testimony to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an plainclothes agent he had seen assailants attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under investigation.
Additional Evidence
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom police excluded as a person of interest, was among those who testified previously.
The court was informed he was an immediate police suspect – 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 found.
Photographs showing Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the court, with an specialist saying he was confident the pictures were authentic and had not been doctored in any manner.
The trial will return to the standard environment of the courthouse on Tuesday.
