Jury in High-Profile Down Under Murder Trial Visits Shoreline At Which Deceased Was Discovered
Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Australian homicide case have traveled to the isolated beach where the young woman was located.
Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly attacked with a sharp object and buried in a shallow grave with little or no hope of surviving, the jury has been told.
Her body were found by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a section of shoreline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Court Visit to Crime Scene
The panel of 10 men and two women plus several back-up jurors visited the beach along with the presiding officer and barristers on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a nod to the hot climate and sweltering heat, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a T-shirt, athletic wear and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys selected polo shirts, shorts and headwear.
Location Details
The court members were guided around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, four markers showed where the victim's car had been parked.
The trip was designed to help the jurors become familiar with important sites in the trial and no official evidence was presented.
Context of the Trial
Previously, the court was informed that the following day Ms Cordingley's remains were found, the accused flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, three children and parents.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended years after, the prosecution said.
State Argument
It is claimed that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with her attire and belongings absent.
Those items were taken by the killer to conceal evidence, the prosecution allege.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was found tied up to a tree concealed in bushland about 30 metres from the burial site.
No murder weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the state says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was comprised findings that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will include testimony that DNA obtained from a stick at the scene was 3.8 billion times more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The jury has already heard evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the scene after the incident – and that its travel matched those of a vehicle owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his guilt, the prosecution has claimed.
Defence Position
"As the police were finding Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he began arguments.
The defence is yet to present any evidence, but in his opening address, the defense attorney Greg McGuire described his client as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the unfortunate moment."
He also foreshadowed testimony to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had witnessed two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
The defense attorney has also said he will testify about individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.
Additional Evidence
Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was among those who testified last week.
The court heard he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's disappearance, prior to her body were found.
Photographs showing the witness on a walk with a friend on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been shown to the court, with an expert saying he was confident the pictures were genuine and had not been altered in any way.
The case will return to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on the next day.
