Panel of Jurors in Prominent Australian Murder Case Tours Beach At Which Deceased Was Discovered
Jurors involved in a widely publicized Queensland murder trial have been taken to the isolated shore where the victim was discovered.
Toyah Cordingley was multiple times attacked with a sharp object and buried in a sandy grave with little or no chance of survival, the court has been told.
Her body were found by a family member the following day on Wangetti Beach β a section of shoreline nestled between the tourist centres of Cairns and Port Douglas.
Rajwinder Singh, 41, denies murdering Ms Cordingley on a Sunday afternoon in October 2018 in northern Australia.
Jury Inspection to Crime Scene
The jury of 12 individuals plus several alternates visited the location along with the presiding officer and legal counsel on Monday morning in Queensland.
In a nod to the hot climate and temperatures above 30C, the judge opted for a T-shirt, sport shorts and trainers rather than traditional court attire.
Both the lead prosecution and defence barristers chose polo shirts, shorts and baseball caps.
Location Details
The jurors were led around 1.2km north up the sand to see where Ms Cordingley's remains were discovered.
Earlier, as they traveled to the site, several red and white cones indicated where the victim's car had been left.
The visit was intended to help the jurors become acquainted with key locations in the trial and no testimony was presented.
Background of the Trial
Last week, the court heard that the day after Ms Cordingley's body were discovered, Mr Singh departed from Australia to India β leaving behind his wife, three children and parents.
He was not heard from until he was arrested years after, the prosecution said.
State Argument
It is alleged that Mr Singh, 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 items were removed by the assailant to conceal evidence, prosecutors contend.
Her pet, Indie, which Ms Cordingley had brought along for a walk, was located tied up to a post concealed in shrubland about 30 metres from the burial site.
The weapon was ever recovered, and no eyewitnesses have been found.
But the state says the evidence β though indirect β was made up of proof that indicated Mr Singh "excluding other suspects."
This will involve evidence that DNA obtained from a stick at the scene was extremely more likely to have come from Mr Singh than a unrelated individual of the public.
The jury has already heard evidence suggesting that Ms Cordingley's mobile device departed the scene after the incident β and that its travel matched those of a vehicle owned by the accused.
Mr Singh's quick exit from Australia also suggested his guilt, the state has argued.
Defence Stance
"While authorities were finding Toyah's body, he was arranging... a hurriedly arranged single journey back to India," Mr Crane said last week as he opened his case.
The defense is yet to provided testimony, but in his initial statement, the defense attorney Greg McGuire portrayed his client as a "calm" and "compassionate" man, who was in the "incorrect location at the unfortunate moment."
He also hinted at evidence to come later in the trial that, after his arrest, Mr Singh told an plainclothes agent he had witnessed two masked men assault Ms Cordingley and then had fled in terror β something he said was his "gravest error."
The defense attorney has also said he will give evidence about other people "both known and unknown" who should come under suspicion.
Further Testimony
Ms Cordingley's boyfriend at the time, Marco Heidenreich, whom police quickly ruled out as a person of interest, was one who gave evidence last week.
The trial was informed he was an initial person of interest β and that he had faced questions from Ms Cordingley's parent about whether he was implicated in his partner's vanishing, even before her remains were discovered.
Photographs showing Mr Heidenreich on a walk with a friend on the date Ms Cordingley went missing have been shown to the jury, with an specialist saying he was certain the pictures were genuine and had not been altered in any manner.
The trial will return to the standard environment of the courtroom on Tuesday.