Jury in Prominent Down Under Murder Trial Visits Beach Where Victim Was Found

Members of the jury overseeing a high-profile Queensland murder trial have traveled to the isolated shore where the young woman was located.

The 24-year-old victim was multiple times stabbed with a sharp object and buried in a shallow resting place with little or no chance of survival, the jury has heard.

The remains were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.

Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.

Court Visit to Beach

The jury of 12 individuals plus three back-up jurors 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, athletic wear and trainers rather than traditional court attire.

Both the lead prosecution and defense attorneys selected casual shirts, bottoms and headwear.

Scene Details

The court members were guided around 1.2km along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's remains were uncovered.

Earlier, as they arrived by bus, several red and white cones showed where the vehicle had been parked.

The visit was designed to help the panel become familiar with important sites in the trial and no testimony was presented.

Context 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, family and relatives.

He was not heard from until he was apprehended four years later, the prosecution said.

Prosecution Case

It is alleged that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the community of Innisfail, near Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.

The pharmacy worker was discovered wearing a bikini, with her attire and most of her possessions missing.

Those objects were removed by the assailant to avoid detection, the prosecution allege.

Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found tied up to a post concealed in shrubland about 30 metres from the burial site.

No murder weapon was found, and no one have been identified.

But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of findings that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."

This will include evidence that DNA recovered from a object at the location was 3.8 billion times more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.

The court has already heard evidence indicating that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the beach after the killing – and that its travel corresponded with those of a vehicle belonging to the accused.

Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his involvement, the state has claimed.

Defence Position

"As the police were finding Toyah's body, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he began arguments.

The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister the lawyer portrayed his defendant as a "calm" and "caring" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."

He also hinted at testimony to come subsequently that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had witnessed two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "gravest error."

The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under investigation.

Further Evidence

Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom authorities excluded as a possible suspect, was one who testified previously.

The trial heard he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's disappearance, prior to her body were found.

Photographs showing Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a companion on the day Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the jury, with an specialist saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been doctored in any manner.

The trial will resume to the more conventional setting of the courtroom on the next day.