Jury in Prominent Australian Murder Case Tours Shoreline At Which Deceased Was Discovered
Jurors overseeing a high-profile Queensland murder trial have been taken to the isolated shore where the victim was located.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times stabbed with a bladed weapon and placed in a shallow resting place with minimal chance of survival, the court has heard.
Her body were discovered by her father the following day on Wangetti Beach – a section of coastline between the popular destinations of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Jury Inspection to Crime Scene
The panel of 12 individuals plus three back-up jurors visited the location along with the judge and barristers on the start of the week local time.
In a acknowledgment of the hot climate and sweltering heat, the judge opted for a casual top, sport shorts and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers chose casual shirts, bottoms and headwear.
Location Details
The jurors were led around 1.2km north up the sand to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were discovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, several red and white cones indicated where the victim's car had been parked.
The visit was designed to help the jurors become familiar with important sites in the case and no official evidence was given.
Context of the Case
Last week, the Cairns Supreme Court was informed that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, Mr Singh departed from Australia to India – leaving behind his wife, three children and parents.
He was not heard from until he was apprehended years after, the prosecution said.
Prosecution Case
It is claimed that the defendant, who was working as a nurse in the community of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a confrontation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was discovered wearing a swimwear, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions missing.
Those objects were taken by the assailant to conceal evidence, prosecutors allege.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had taken to the beach for a walk, was found tied up to a post concealed in bushland about 30 metres from the grave.
No murder weapon was found, and no one have been identified.
But the prosecution says the crown's case – though indirect – was made up of findings that pointed to Mr Singh "and eliminated others."
This will involve evidence that genetic material recovered from a object at the location was 3.8 billion times more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the public.
The court has previously been told testimony suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device left the beach after the incident – and that its travel corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo belonging to the defendant.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the prosecution has claimed.
Defense Stance
"As the police were discovering Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he opened his case.
The defence is yet to present any evidence, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire described his defendant as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the wrong time."
He also hinted at testimony to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had seen two masked men attack Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror – something he said was his "gravest error."
Mr McGuire has also said he will testify about individuals "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.
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 person of interest – and that he had been interrogated from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was involved in his partner's disappearance, prior to her body were found.
Images depicting the witness on a hike with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley disappeared have been presented to the jury, with an expert saying he was certain the photos were genuine and had not been doctored in any way.
The trial will resume to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on the next day.
