Panel of Jurors in High-Profile Australian Homicide Case Visits Shoreline At Which Deceased Was Found
Members of the jury involved in a high-profile Queensland homicide case have been taken to the remote shore where the young woman was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was repeatedly stabbed with a bladed weapon and placed in a shallow grave with little or no chance of survival, the jury has been told.
Her body were discovered by her father the next day on Wangetti Beach – a stretch of shoreline between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
The accused, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a weekend in October 2018 in Far North Queensland.
Court Inspection to Crime Scene
The jury of 10 men and two women plus three alternates attended the location along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on the start of the week local time.
In a nod to the hot climate and sweltering heat, the judge wore a T-shirt, sport shorts and trainers rather than a wig and robes.
Both the prosecuting and defence barristers chose casual shirts, shorts and headwear.
Scene Details
The court members were led around 1.2km along the beach to observe where Ms Cordingley's body were uncovered.
Upon arrival, as they arrived by bus, several markers showed where the victim's car had been parked.
The visit was intended to help the panel become acquainted with key locations in the case and no testimony was given.
Background 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 – abandoning his spouse, three children and parents.
He was not heard from until he was arrested four years later, the prosecution said.
State Argument
It is claimed that the defendant, who was employed in healthcare in the town of Innisfail, south of Cairns, had a altercation with Ms Cordingley.
The victim was found wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions absent.
Those items were taken by the killer to avoid detection, prosecutors allege.
Her dog, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was found tied up to a post hidden in bushland about 100 feet from the burial site.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been identified.
But the prosecution says the evidence – though circumstantial – was comprised findings that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will include evidence that DNA recovered from a stick at the location was extremely more probable to have come from Mr Singh than a random member of the population.
The court has already heard evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the scene after the killing – and that its movements corresponded with those of a blue Alfa Romeo owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also pointed to his involvement, the prosecution has claimed.
Defence Position
"While authorities were discovering Toyah's remains, he was arranging... a rushed one way trip back to India," the prosecutor said previously as he opened his case.
The defense is has not provided testimony, but in his opening address, the defense attorney the lawyer portrayed his defendant as a "placid" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "wrong place at the wrong time."
He also foreshadowed evidence to come later in the trial that, after his apprehension, Mr Singh informed an undercover officer he had seen assailants assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in fear – something he said was his "biggest mistake."
Mr McGuire has also said he will give evidence about individuals "identified and unidentified" who should come under suspicion.
Further Testimony
Ms Cordingley's partner, the witness, whom authorities quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was one who gave evidence previously.
The trial heard he was an initial police suspect – and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his partner's disappearance, prior to her remains were discovered.
Images showing Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a companion on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been presented to the court, with an specialist saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been doctored in any way.
The case will resume to the more conventional setting of the courthouse on the next day.