Jury in High-Profile Down Under Homicide Case Visits Beach At Which Victim Was Discovered
Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Queensland homicide case have traveled to the isolated beach where the young woman was located.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and placed in a sandy resting place with minimal chance of survival, the court has heard.
Her body were discovered by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Jury Inspection to Crime Scene
The jury of 12 individuals plus three back-up jurors visited the beach along with the presiding officer and barristers on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a nod to the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a casual top, athletic wear and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys chose polo shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Scene Particulars
The jurors were guided around three-quarters of a mile north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, four red and white cones indicated where the victim's car had been parked.
The visit was intended to help the jurors become familiar with important sites in the case and no testimony was presented.
Background of the Trial
Last week, the court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, the accused departed from Australia to India – abandoning his spouse, family and parents.
He was out of contact until he was arrested four years later, the prosecution said.
State Case
It is alleged that Mr Singh, who was working as a nurse in the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a bikini, with her attire and belongings absent.
Those items were taken by the assailant to avoid detection, the prosecution allege.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was found secured to a post concealed in shrubland about 30 metres from the grave.
No murder weapon was found, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the state says the crown's case – though circumstantial – was comprised proof that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will include evidence that DNA recovered from a object at the location was extremely more probable to have originated from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The jury has previously been told testimony indicating that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the beach after the incident – and that its movements corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the prosecution has argued.
Defense Position
"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was organizing... a rushed single journey back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he opened his case.
The defence is yet to provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his client as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also foreshadowed evidence to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an undercover officer he had witnessed two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had run away in terror – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about individuals "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 among those who testified previously.
The trial heard he was an immediate person of interest – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's vanishing, even before her body were discovered.
Images depicting the witness on a walk with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the photos were genuine and had not been altered in any way.
The trial will resume to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on Tuesday.
