Jury in Prominent Down Under Homicide Trial Visits Beach Where 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 discovered.
The 24-year-old victim 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 heard.
The remains were found by a family member the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline nestled between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies killing Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Court Inspection to Beach
The panel of 10 men and two women plus several alternates visited the beach along with the presiding officer and barristers on the start of the week in Queensland.
In a nod to the tropical conditions and temperatures above 30C, Justice Lincoln Crowley wore a T-shirt, athletic wear and sneakers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers selected casual shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Scene Particulars
The jurors were led around 1.2km north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Earlier, as they arrived by bus, four markers indicated where the vehicle had been parked.
The visit was designed to help the jurors become acquainted with key locations in the case and no testimony was presented.
Context of the Case
Previously, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were found, Mr Singh flew from Australia to India – leaving behind his spouse, family and relatives.
He was out of contact until he was arrested years after, the prosecution said.
Prosecution Case
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 swimwear, with her attire and belongings missing.
Those objects were removed by the killer to conceal evidence, the prosecution contend.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a stroll, was located tied up to a post concealed in bushland about 100 feet from the burial site.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no one have been found.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though indirect – was made up of proof that pointed to Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will include evidence that DNA obtained from a object at the scene was 3.8 billion times more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the population.
The jury has already heard evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's phone departed the scene after the killing – and that its travel corresponded with those of a vehicle owned by the defendant.
Mr Singh's sudden departure from Australia also suggested his guilt, the prosecution has argued.
Defense Position
"While authorities were finding Toyah's remains, he was organizing... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," Mr Crane said previously as he began arguments.
The defence is has not provided testimony, but in his initial statement, Mr Singh's barrister Greg McGuire described his defendant as a "placid" and "caring" 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 plainclothes agent he had seen assailants assault 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 investigation.
Additional Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, the witness, whom police excluded as a person of interest, was one who gave evidence previously.
The trial heard he was an immediate police suspect – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's father about whether he was involved in his girlfriend's disappearance, even before her body were found.
Photographs depicting the witness on a walk with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the court, 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 standard environment of the courthouse on Tuesday.
