Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Down Under Murder Trial Visits Beach At Which Deceased Was Found
Members of the jury involved in a widely publicized Queensland murder trial have been taken to the remote shore where the young woman was located.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and placed in a sandy resting place with little or no hope of surviving, the court has been told.
Her body were discovered by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach â a stretch of coastline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Court Inspection to Crime Scene
The panel of 10 men and two women plus several back-up jurors visited the location along with the judge and barristers 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 sneakers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers selected polo shirts, shorts and headwear.
Scene Particulars
The court members were led 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, several red and white cones showed where the vehicle had been left.
The trip was designed to help the jurors become acquainted with key locations in the case and no testimony was given.
Background of the Trial
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India â abandoning his spouse, family and parents.
He was not heard from until he was arrested four years later, the prosecution said.
State Case
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and belongings missing.
Those items were removed by the assailant to conceal evidence, prosecutors allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a stroll, was located tied up to a post hidden in bushland about 100 feet from the grave.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the prosecution says the evidence â though indirect â was made up of proof that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve testimony that DNA recovered from a stick at the location was 3.8 billion times more likely to have originated from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.
The jury has previously been told testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the scene after the incident â and that its travel corresponded with those of a vehicle belonging to the accused.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also suggested his involvement, the prosecution has argued.
Defense Position
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's remains, 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 initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer described his client as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed evidence to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had witnessed assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror â something he said was his "gravest error."
Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about other people "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.
Further Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities excluded as a person of interest, was one who gave evidence last week.
The court heard he was an initial police suspect â and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his partner's disappearance, prior to her remains were found.
Photographs depicting Mr Heidenreich on a hike with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the jury, with an specialist saying he was confident the photos were genuine and had not been doctored in any way.
The trial will resume to the standard environment of the courthouse on the next day.