Jury in Prominent Down Under Homicide Trial Tours Shoreline Where Victim Was Found
Members of the jury involved in a widely publicized Australian murder trial have traveled to the isolated shore where the victim was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and buried in a sandy resting place with minimal hope of surviving, the jury has been told.
Her body were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of coastline nestled between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Jury Visit to Crime Scene
The jury of 10 men and two women plus several back-up jurors visited the beach along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a nod to the tropical conditions and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley opted for a T-shirt, athletic wear and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the prosecuting and defence barristers selected casual shirts, shorts and headwear.
Scene Particulars
The court members were led around 1.2km north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, four markers showed where the vehicle had been parked.
The visit was designed to help the jurors become acquainted with important sites in the case and no testimony was given.
Background of the Trial
Previously, the court heard that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered, the accused departed from Australia to India – abandoning his wife, three children and parents.
He was not heard from until he was arrested four years later, the prosecution said.
Prosecution Case
It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, near 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 removed by the assailant to conceal evidence, the prosecution contend.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was located tied up to a tree concealed in shrubland about 30 metres from the grave.
The weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was comprised proof that indicated Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include evidence that genetic material recovered from a stick at the scene was 3.8 billion times more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the population.
The court has already heard evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the beach after the incident – and that its movements matched those of a vehicle owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also suggested his guilt, the state has claimed.
Defense Stance
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed single journey back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he began arguments.
The defence is yet to provided testimony, but in his opening address, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer portrayed his client as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."
He also foreshadowed testimony to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had witnessed two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.
Additional Evidence
Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities excluded as a person of interest, was one who gave evidence previously.
The trial was informed he was an initial police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his girlfriend's disappearance, even before her body were found.
Photographs showing the witness on a hike with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the photos were authentic and had not been doctored in any manner.
The case will return to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on the next day.